Desktop icon arrangement issues

Hey there.

I’m having an issue with my desktop icon layout. I'm running Windows 10.

Basically, ever since I hooked my laptop up to my TV via HDMI and then unplugged it, all my icons shifted down a few rows. I tried moving them back to where they were originally, but it's like there's this "ghost space" occupying a spot where they refuse to go, which just ends up pushing all the other icons out of alignment again.



To give you an idea: I can move Google Chrome to the top left corner just fine. But the second I try to put Adobe Photoshop right underneath it, Chrome jumps down below Adobe Photoshop. Why does this even happen? Is there some actual reason for this behavior? I already ran scans for viruses and other junk, and nothing came up. It's incredibly annoying if I have to manually reorganize everything every single time I plug my laptop into the TV. I'm just trying to keep my desktop organized.

I recorded a quick 20-second video to show exactly what I mean.

The thing is, your TV just has a lower resolution, so everything gets squished together because there isn't enough screen real estate for the icons to breathe.
The real headache here is that you're trying to run both displays on one single desktop—it’s a mess. You should set them up as extended displays instead... you know, so they act like two separate spaces. Like, keep your workstation stuff on the left monitor and let the TV handle the right side. That way, you only move the mouse over to the TV when you actually need to... just nudge it toward the right edge of the main screen. Honestly, just play around with the settings until it feels right to you. 😉 At least nothing is actually broken, so no harm done...

Lisa Perez50 said:Hey there.

I’m having an issue with my desktop icon layout. I'm running Windows 10.

Basically, ever since I hooked my laptop up to my TV via HDMI and then unplugged it, all my icons shifted down a few rows. I tried moving them back to where they were originally, but it's like there's this "ghost space" occupying a spot where they refuse to go, which just ends up pushing all the other icons out of alignment again.



To give you an idea: I can move Google Chrome to the top left corner just fine. But the second I try to put Adobe Photoshop right underneath it, Chrome jumps down below Adobe Photoshop. Why does this even happen? Is there some actual reason for this behavior? I already ran scans for viruses and other junk, and nothing came up. It's incredibly annoying if I have to manually reorganize everything every single time I plug my laptop into the TV. I'm just trying to keep my desktop organized.

I recorded a quick 20-second video to show exactly what I mean.

This used to drive me crazy too. My workaround was just to leave the very first vertical row empty, and that did the trick.
Since the last update, though, it hasn't been happening to me—partly because I adjusted my scaling settings. So, I'm honestly not entirely sure what caused the glitch in the first place.
Maybe try downloading a little utility called "CCleaner." It might save you the headache of rearranging everything if you can't find a permanent fix.

@Andrew Peterson2 and @ruggedpanther2, thanks for the input and the help.

@Andrew Peterson2, yeah, I get that the resolution is lower. But on my old laptop, everything would snap back to normal once I unplugged it. Now? Nothing happens. It just stays stuck. This current setup actually works best for me since I can let things run on the TV screen while the laptop display stays dark. But if it won't revert to the old settings automatically, I'll just stick to moving windows manually between screens.

@ruggedpanther2, I managed to get it working by centering them first and then dragging everything over to the left corner. So far, so good. I saved the layout using that program you suggested. Hopefully, I won't have to keep resetting my window positions constantly. Thanks.