• Drop shadows on icon text on the Windows 10 desktop

    Posted on May 29, 2016 at 06:02 CDT by • Comment in the Forums

    Good, obscure question from JK:

    The titles on all my desktop icons have suddenly developed shadows.  Not the icons, just the titles.  Makes the titles hard to read, and I can’t find any way to turn the shadows off.

    Not even in your Windows 10 in 1 huge book for Windows 10 (which has helped me quite a few times).  Any help to get rid of the shadows?

    Usually that happens when you move to a white background – you don’t see the shadows with a colored background, but they become blindingly obvious when viewed on white.

    They’re called “drop shadows” and they’ve been around at least since XP times. They’re enabled by default – they’ve always been there, you probably just didn’t notice them.

    To get rid of them… Right-click Start > System. In the top box, Performance, click Settings. Scan down the list and at the bottom uncheck the box marked “Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop.” You might also want to uncheck “Smooth edges of screen fonts” – it’s a matter of personal preference. Click OK. Then reboot.

    Here’s the tricky part. I’ve seen Win10 refuse to follow these settings. I have no idea why, but sometimes you go through the motions, and the drop shadows are still there. (This is a big deal for people taking screenshots on white background. It has absolutely no measurable effect on performance.) If you can’t get Windows to obey the Control Panel settings, you can go into the registry and force the matter.

    Change this value:

    HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced\ListviewShadow

    to zero.

    Other
DON'T MISS OUT!
Subscribe to the Free Newsletter
We promise not to spam you. Unsubscribe at any time.
Invalid email address

View the Forum

  • Recent Replies
  • My Replies
  • My Active Topics
  • New Posts in the Last day
  • Private Messages
  • Knowledge Base
  • How to use the Forums
  • All Forums

    • Recent Topics

    My Profile

    March 2025
    S M T W T F S
     1
    2345678
    9101112131415
    16171819202122
    23242526272829
    3031  

    Want to Advertise in the free newsletter? How about a gift subscription in honor of a birthday? Send an email to sb@askwoody.com to ask how.

    Mastodon profile for DefConPatch
    Mastodon profile for AskWoody

     

    Home • About • FAQ • Posts & Privacy • Forums • My Account
    Register • Free Newsletter • Plus Membership • Gift Certificates • MS-DEFCON Alerts

    Copyright ©2004-2025 by AskWoody Tech LLC. All Rights Reserved.