Desktop icon overlapping

Hi guys.

I have customized my desktop icon size and distance, using WinAeroTweaker if I remember well.
The current result is perfect for me.

Only one thing puzzles me: when icons have long names (two lines), the second line isn't visible because of overlapping with the icon located below...



... but as shown by this second screen cap where the top icon has been selected, that overlapping is lonly for lack of transparency, because there's actually enough room for displaying two lines:



This didn't happen with Windows 7.

So here's my question: can something be done about this? Maybe enabling some "transparency option" so that icon text background and icon background become transparent?

That would help with icons 1 and 2 in my case (text background), and also with icons 2 and 3 (icon background).

If not then too bad, I'll still keep my settings, they're perfect like that. Thanks!

If you really want to solve this, you'll have to enlarge the distance or lower the size of the icons, so that the text can be displayed freely, without overlapping. Otherwise you will always keep problems in either way: the text overwriting the icon or the icon overwriting the text.

Jose Hidalgo said:

Maybe enabling some "transparency option" so that icon text background and icon background become transparent?

Click to expand...

I doubt if there is such an option. Not even with the third party apps I am familiar with (StartAllBack, ExplorerPatcher).

This is a screenshot from my old Win 7 desktop, with nothing selected. It proves that it used to work perfectly, with the same icon size and spacing.

I also agree, never seen a work around other than as mentioned above

Another thing I've just realized is that in Win 11, shortcut arrows take quite a LOT of space under the actual icon. Look at my Win 7 screencap : the green shortcut arrow was actually OVER the actual icon, not below it.

Maybe if there was a way to change the shortcut arrow position in Win 11, all my problems would be solved. Any thoughts?

There are apps that can hide the shortcut arrow altogether

You don't even need to use an app for that.

In the tutorials in this forum is described how to change the shortcut icon overlay:
As you can see there, the green arrow can be used in that way as well!

Edit: this will change the whole shortcut, not just the arrow.
I will keep searching if there is a general way to justchange the arrow.

In the tutorials is described too how to remove the shortcut arrow:

I did a test on my virtualbox testsystem:
Used the registryfile to remove the arrow, but changed the link (in the registryfile) to a blank icon into that of a green arrow that I extracted from the %SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll. The icon I took was the icon with number 16770.

That extracted arrow, size 24 pixels, I saved into the C:\windows folder. I called it: arrow.ico.
So the registry file is:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons] "29"="C:\\Windows\\arrow.ico"

That gives this result:



The icon file and the changed registry file you'll find in the attachment in a zipped file.
I have included the original regfile to remove and to restore the original arrow as well.

Of course in this way you could replace the arrow by any character of any size, if you would edit the icon file in a picture editor app.
And may be I choose a difficult way around to do this, where the may be a simpler way or indeed an app to change the arrow into anything you like. Would not be wondered if you can do that in Winaero Tweaker, but as I don't use that app anymore (doing everything I want by means of registry files), I did not look further to that.

PS. The arrow is rather big, but could be changed into a smaller item if wished so. But for that I would need to edit the icon file myself. I can do that (made my own start button icon), but that goes beyond the service I would like to offer. Please look for yourself if there indeed is some simpler way to estabish this, I just tested if it can be done.

I did another test, wanting to know why your (original) arrows are below the icon and my (original) arrows are (half) over the icon:
Found it: That depends on the size of the icon.

Small icons:

Medium icons:

Large icons: