22 Jan 2021 Technology

Windows 10: Fix Flashing Desktop Icons in 3 Steps

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Flashing desktop icons in Windows 10 are usually caused by a corrupted icon cache, problematic registry settings, or Windows Search indexing consuming excessive CPU. Fix the issue by deleting the icon cache via a batch file run as administrator, setting the relevant registry keys to zero, then disabling or suspending Windows indexing using an elevated command prompt.

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1.
What it is
A troubleshooting guide for fixing Windows 10 desktop icons that continuously flash while explorer.exe consumes high CPU resources.
2.
Why it matters
This flickering icon problem can make your computer sluggish and unusable, but these three steps can restore normal desktop performance without reinstalling Windows.
3.
Key takeaway
Desktop icon flashing with high CPU usage can usually be fixed by clearing the icon cache, adjusting registry settings, or disabling Windows indexing.

~1 min read

Just popping this here as I have had this a few times. Have you ever had your desktop icons flash and if you check explorer.exe its using high CPU. If so try:

Step 1. Delete the Icon Cache

Save the following as a batch file on your desktop and run it as admin:

cd /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer 
attrib –h iconcache_*<em>.db  </em>
<em>del iconcache_</em>*.db 
start explorer
pause

Step 2. Tweak the Registry

Try setting these two reg keys to zero:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop:ForegroundFlashCount
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop:ForegroundLockTimeout

Step 3. Switch of Indexing

Run either of these commands (as admin) to stop or suspend windows indexing

sc config cisvc start= disabled

sc config cisvc start= demand