How to Remove Shortcut Arrow Overlay on Windows 10.
Shortcuts are an easy way to quickly open any application. However, creating a shortcut also results in an arrow overlaying the icon. I know this is just an indicator that the icon is a shortcut, but I’d rather have a clean icon rather than a small overlay. I agree that the indication comes to the rescue by distinguishing it from the original file, but the aesthetics, as some would say, are real too. There are several easy ways to fix this problem. So let’s see how to remove the shortcut arrow overlay in Windows.
Read: How to Center Taskbar Icons in Windows 10
Remove Shortcut Arrow Overlay on Windows 10
1. Use the registry
This is the easiest way to get rid of the arrow overlap. You don’t need an additional application and it doesn’t take long. Let’s see how to do it.
Open the Start Menu and find Registry Editor.
Click “Yes” when the prompt “Do you want this application to make changes to your computer?”
It is important to back up the registry before we proceed. To do this, click “File” and select “Export”. Give it a suitable name or add the current date and save. It helps a lot to restore the registry to its original state.
Using the browser bar on the left, navigate to the following path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SOFTWARE Microsoft Windows CurrentVersion Explorer
You may already have a subsection called Shell Icons. If not, create a new one by right-clicking the explorer folder, click New and click Key. Name the new folder with shell icons.
Then right click on the folder with the shell icon we created, or on an empty space inside the folder. Click New, select String Value and name it 29.
Now let’s change the value. To do this, double-click “29”. Now copy and paste the value below into the Value field and click OK. % windir% System32 shell32.dll, -50
Voila, you’re done. Now restart your computer or log out and log back in to see the changes you need.
2. Winaero Tweaker
Not everyone wants to go through multiple steps of using Registry Editor, this is another way to remove the shortcut overlay. All you have to do is download and install an app called Winaero Tweaker. For those looking for a simple click solution, this is the best way. Here’s how to do it.
Download and install the application from the link below
Open the app and go to the Shortcut tab in the sidebar. You can also enter it in the search bar at the top.
Click the Shortcut arrow and select No Arrow.
You will be prompted to restart File Explorer. If you want to see the changes immediately, select Restart File Explorer. You can also do it manually through the task manager.
There are many other things you can do with the application, such as add a custom icon instead of an arrow overlay, use the old classic Windows arrow, change themes, change the startup sound, etc.
Get Winaero Tweaker
Concluding remarks
Both methods work fine. However, some users have reported that the registry method sometimes doesn’t work, especially on Windows 10. In this case, use Winaero Tweaker. So here’s how to remove arrow shortcut overlay in Windows. Is there anything simpler? Let me know in the comment section below.
Also read how to fix “Missing Boot Manager” in Windows 10