Comments on: Hide All Desktop Icons in Mac OS X

By: Seth

Seth — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 15:35:58 +0000

I love this command, thank you. I have used it since Lion and I started seeing a strange behavior the last few weeks since a Mountain Lion update and this is the only thing I can think of that causes it. I am curious if anyone else has seen it.

If I have a desktop that has no windows on it, when I use a gesture to switch to that desktop, the desktop will snap back to the last desktop I was on.

I just tested it and used the command to show the desktop icons again and the snap back is no longer happening.

By: CSchuster

CSchuster — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 05:12:55 +0000

Well, after soooo many years and sooooo many people asking for this feature: APPLE must finally implement this feature as a part of Mac OS.

Its time to stop praying, we should firmly call for that as a matter of course.

By: Robin

Robin — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 10:33:59 +0000

Completely agree with you on this one… terminal works like a charm and does the job effectively, no need for external shells/apps to do the job.

By: am-guy

am-guy — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 05:52:36 +0000

thanks.. just saw it as well… now I feel dumb.

By: typo

typo — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 05:48:43 +0000

use “true” instead of “ture”

defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool true

By: am-guy

am-guy — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 05:47:14 +0000

First of all, thanks for the command, it works well to hide the icons. Now I want icons back, and when I enter the command in terminal, I get the following in the terminal:

$ defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool ture
Command line interface to a user’s defaults.
Syntax:

‘defaults’ [-currentHost | -host ] followed by one of the following:

read shows all defaults
read shows defaults for given domain
read shows defaults for given domain, key

read-type shows the type for the given domain, key

write writes domain (overwrites existing)
write writes key for domain

rename renames old_key to new_key

delete deletes domain
delete deletes key in domain

domains lists all domains
find lists all entries containing word
help print this help

is ( | -app | -globalDomain )
or a path to a file omitting the ‘.plist’ extension

is one of:

-string
-data
-int[eger]
-float
-bool[ean] (true | false | yes | no)
-date
-array …
-array-add …
-dict …
-dict-add …

And now I dont have icons back. What can I do to get icons back.
Thanks

By: Charles

Charles — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:55:45 +0000

This is a great tip except for one thing: Once you desktop items are hidden you no longer have any Contextual menu functionality on the Desktop – only in icons in open windows.

Also there is no more clicking the Desktop to get back to the Finder (for example, if you use a utility like QuicKeys to open an often-used folder in the Finder).

By: Theodore

Theodore — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:00:38 +0000

Thaaaanks! Fantastic workaround! Upgraded to Mountain Lion and Camouflage does not work there… this worked like a charm and no load on memory!

By: Brian

Brian — Wed, 06 Jun 2012 13:24:39 +0000

FYI
I just came here looking for the answer to this question for Lion, and just discovered its a moot point.
1. In Lion, you can not show drives on desktop
2. You can move all your desktop files to another place
3. Clean desktop.

–
Finder -> Prefs -> uncheck all the show on desktop boxes

Create a folder somewhere called ‘Desktop’, (like in your documents folder)

Drag all the clutter from your desktop there.

Remember that thats where you’re stuff is

Bob’s yer uncle.

By: poptal

poptal — Thu, 03 May 2012 05:02:21 +0000

Thanks you so much for this tip.

By: Danny

Danny — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:58:00 +0000

Sweet. Thank you!

By: Danny

Danny — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:56:06 +0000

Sorry, i readily admit i don’t have a solution for you, but– out of curiosity, why do you want for the hard drive to be *in* the Desktop folder?

It wasn’t in there before the icon fix either, so it won’t be now.

My guess is, that’s separate from the code that regulates folders– you’ll have to dig deeper into your computer for that special protocol that makes your HD sit on, but not in, your Desktop.

I’ll bet someones got a command, but i wonder if it won’t cause more harm to extract the function than just leaving it in(?)

Good luck, friend; i sure know what it’s like to wanna play with your computer– mostly my reasoning for spending hours searching & scratching my head is, “Just ‘cuz”

I must have total control- huzzah!

By: Danny

Danny — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 09:44:28 +0000

The problem with that is, the icons are still there and taking up memory.. Camouflage just sets your wall paper to float on top (like you can set a music player, say).

You can test it by setting a much smaller wallpaper than your screen size and then toggling Camouflage on & off; the smaller picture is in a sea of icons, and merely drifts in front of the icons it covers, and the back behind them as you toggle “off.” The surrounding icons haven’t moved, and therefore nothing on the desktop has moved.

Basically its purpose is aesthetic, which would be fine– but doesn’t do the functional work of taking all that media off of your computers mind.

Too bad because i also liked that little app.

By: New Wallpaper – Switching things up » duncanleung.com

New Wallpaper – Switching things up » duncanleung.com — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 12:07:35 +0000

[...] the way, for the clean look with no desktop icons, I’ve used this little trick. I also use Rainlender for the calendar, and GeekTool for all the Date, Time, and System stats. [...]

By: Cameron

Cameron — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 16:33:09 +0000

I had a problem with my desktop, it wouldn’t let me click or show anything on it… So I tired the terminal code “defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop -bool true”
Then typed “killall Finder”
Then suddenly everything was back
THANK YOU