How to hide desktop icons by double clicking the desktop using c#

Question

Hi, I wanted to know if there is a way to toggle desktop icon to show/hide when the desktop is double clicked. Similar to how it is done in Stardock Fences. I wanted it to be done using visual c#.

Answer 1

The second part of your question (when the desktop is double-clicked) is relative simple. You need to install an application-defined hook procedure into a hook chain. Sounds pretty difficult, but is explained in detail in the code sample found here. You may want to download the source here (requires a free account there).

For the first part, the hiding/unhiding of desktop icons, I found several similar code samples like this, however, none seem to work on my pc so you might want to look for another solution to that problem.

Answer 2

For hiding the desktop icons there is a registry key (have a look here).

I guess you will have to restart your explorer after that to apply the changes by using

  Process[] proc = Process.GetProcessesByName("Explorer");
  foreach(Process p in proc)
   p.Kill();

  Process.Start("explorer.exe");