Restore Deleted or Missing Show Desktop icon Shortcut in Windows 7 and Vista

By default, the Quick Launch toolbar comes with a Show Desktop icon, which allows you to quickly hide all open windows and access stuff on your desktop, and then quickly bring them all back when you’re done.Although I am aware of shortcut keys such as Win + D to show desktop, Win + M to minimize all opened windows and Win + Tab to switch between windows but I seldom use it. Maybe I’m just not use to it.I have the habit of using the Show Desktop icon Shortcut icons from quick launch more often.

Here is a question that I recently got which is how to restore the missing Show Desktop icon Shortcut if accidentally deleted it in windows 7 and vista?

Unlike most other toolbar buttons, the Show Desktop button isn’t a Windows Shortcut. Rather, it’s a Shell Command File (.scf), which is really just a plain-text file containing a special command Windows understands. To create a new .scf file, open your favorite plain-text editor (for example Notepad), and type the following five lines:

[Shell]
Command=2
IconFile=explorer.exe,3
[Taskbar]
Command=ToggleDesktop

Save the file as Show Desktop.scf   anywhere you like, including your desktop.Notepad might automatically append a .txt extension to the file name. Remove this extension if present. The file name should be Show Desktop.scf.

Then copy(or cut) the “Show Desktop.scf”  to this location. 

C:\\Users\\[YourUserName]\\AppData\\Roaming\\Microsoft\\Internet Explorer\\Quick Launch

If you can’t see the Default folder, you’ll have to go to Control Panel> Folder Options > View tab and select “Show hidden files and folders”.

You should see the Show Desktop icon Shortcut appear on your desktop.