By default, in Windows XP, every shortcut icon that is present in the desktop will contain an annoying arrow. Many don’t want that to be present in the shortcut icon. Unfortunately, there isn’t settings in control panel to remove this.

But for every problem, there is a solution, which means by tweaking the registry, its possible to remove the annoying shortcut arrow on the desktop icons.

Just follow the steps below to remove the shortcut arrow.

Step 1: Go to Start->Run. [This can also be achieved with the shortcut key combination Win+R]. Type in regedit and press Enter.

Step 2: In the Registry Editor, Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\lnkfile

Step 3: In that, just delete the IsShortcut registry value.

Step 4: Now just Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\piffile

Step 5: In that, just Delete the IsShortcut registry value like in step 3.

Step 6: Now Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\ConferenceLink

Step 7: There, we need to Delete the IsShortcut registry value as done before.

Step 8: Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\DocShortCut

Step 9: Again, Delete the IsShortcut registry value.

Step 10: Now, Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\InternetShortcut

Step 11: Once again, we need to delete the IsShortcut registry value.

Step 12: Then, Navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\WSHFile

Step 13: For the final time, Delete the IsShortcut registry value.

Once everything is done, just close registry editor and restart your computer.

Note: In some computers, doing this tweak will create duplicate items in your Explorer context menu.

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