Desktop Icon Auto Hide

Automatically hides Windows desktop icons after 10 seconds of user inactivity. OLED-friendly.

Features

• Hides desktop icons after a configurable idle timeout
• Shows desktop icons immediately after user input
• Uses Win32 API calls through PowerShell Add-Type
• No external dependencies
• Works with the normal Windows desktop SysListView32 icon view
• Lightweight polling loop, defaulting to 8 ms polling

Requirements

• Windows 10 or Windows 11
• Windows PowerShell 5.1 or PowerShell 7+

Usage

Download DesktopIconAutoHide.ps1, then run it in PowerShell:

powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\DesktopIconAutoHide.ps1

Or with PowerShell 7:

pwsh.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File .\DesktopIconAutoHide.ps1

The script will keep running until the PowerShell window is closed.

Configuration

Edit these values near the top of DesktopIconAutoHide.ps1:

$idleSeconds = 10
$pollMs = 8

Setting	Description
$idleSeconds	How many seconds of inactivity before desktop icons are hidden
$pollMs	How often the script checks for input, in milliseconds

Common polling values:

Target	$pollMs
60 fps-ish	16
120 fps-ish	8
Lower CPU usage	33

The default 8 ms polling is intentionally aggressive so icons reappear quickly. If your machine starts acting like it has discovered suffering, increase this value.

Run at login

To run automatically when you sign in, create a scheduled task:

1. Open Task Scheduler.
2. Choose Create Task.
3. On General, select Run only when user is logged on.
4. On Triggers, add At log on.
5. On Actions, add:

Program/script:
powershell.exe

Add arguments:
-ExecutionPolicy Bypass -WindowStyle Hidden -File "C:\Path\To\DesktopIconAutoHide.ps1"

Replace the path with wherever you put the script. Revolutionary stuff, paths needing to be correct.

Notes

This script finds the desktop icon list view by locating SHELLDLL_DefView under either Progman or WorkerW, then toggles the SysListView32 window with ShowWindow().

It only hides the desktop icon view. It does not delete icons, rearrange them, or perform other desktop crimes.

License

MIT License. See LICENSE.