Windows 10 users reported that the Microsoft community uses “blinking desktop icons”. Users reported that desktop and taskbar icons flash or flicker automatically every 4-5 minutes http://windowsbulletin.com/fixing-desktop-icons-flashing-on-windows-10/. This is annoying and frustrating to Windows users. They can’t click on the desktop icons when they blink or flicker.
Screen flickering in Windows 10 is usually caused by an incompatible application or display driver. To determine if the application or driver is causing the problem, check if the task manager is blinking. You should update either the application or the display driver based on this information.
What causes the Windows 10 desktop icon to blink?
- Two monitors: If you have connected more than one monitor to the same CPU or PC tower due to compatibility or an incorrect screen resolution, the desktop icons will blink.
- Faulty graphics card: Automatically update Windows or manually install a faulty graphics driver. Incompatible video drivers may also cause a problem.
- PC connected to remote desktop: For example, if you have two computers, one at home and one at work, you can use any remote desktop tool such as WebEx, Teamviewer, Logmein, and they are not disconnected from the network. Be sure to log off as soon as your work is done.
- Wrong user account and Explorer.exe : Wrong system files, user account and Explorer.exe may also cause problems flashing desktop icons.
- Antivirus : Antivirus programs play a very important role on every computer. If antivirus is not properly configured or configured, antivirus can cause a problem.
Update the display driver
- To update the display driver, you need to load your PC in safe mode, remove the current display adapter, and then check for driver updates.
- Start your PC in safe mode, then right-click the Start button and select Device Manager.
- Expand the Display Adapters section, right-click the specified adapter and then select Delete Device. Check the Uninstall driver for this device box, then select Uninstall and restart your computer.
- After your computer restarts, press the Windows + I logo key on your keyboard to open the settings. If this does not work, press the Start button and then select Settings.
- Under Settings, select Update and Security > Windows Update > Check for updates.
Run SFC and DISM Scan Commands
First, reboot your computer. If this does not help, open Task Manager and close Explorer.exe. Reboot your system and check for changes. If the desktop icons are still blinking, continue troubleshooting.
Flashing desktop icons may seem like a minor inconvenience, but the cause is not always important. Indeed, this may indicate some kind of corruption in the system. SFC and DISM are needed to check for possible corruption and fix it accordingly.
These are built-in utilities that run from the command line, and although System File Checker (SFC) is usually enough to solve most problems, we also recommend running DISM.
Here you can learn how to do it:
- In the Windows search bar, type cmd.
- Right-click at the command prompt and execute the command as administrator.
- On the command line, type the following command and press Enter
- sfc/scanning
- Then enter the following commands in the same window and press Enter after each command:
- DISM /online /Clean Image / ScanHealth
- DISM /Online /Clear Image /Restore Health
- Reboot the computer when you are ready.
Restart Windows Explorer
The procedure consists in completing the Explorer.exe process, removing IconCache.db and restarting Explorer.exe.
- open Windows Explorer. Go to %userprofile%\AppData\Local.
Make sure that the Show hidden files option is enabled. Change the properties of IconCache.db so that it is not hidden. (so that it can be seen in step 7 below). Close Windows Explorer.
Open the Task Manager (for use in step 6). - open a command line
- CD in %user% profile\AppData\local. DIR should display IconCache.db in the folder
- In the Task Manager window, sort by application and click Browse.exe Click Finish. Make sure that no Explorer process is running. The Start button and taskbar disappear.
- In the Command Entry window, delete the IconCache.db: DEL IconCache.db file.
- In the Command Entry window, restart Explorer by typing “Explorer Start Button” and the taskbar should appear again.
Or, after removing IconCache.db from the /r command line, you can turn it off to reboot your computer.