i have what is probably a very stupid question

how do i get the hardrive icons not to show up on the desktop? any help would be much appreciated. thanks

Besides stomping through the terminal... how would you get to your "documents", "Pictures", "Libraries", etc... just stuff in general????


You can QUIT finder to give yourself a taste of what it would be like.
NOTE: It doesn't "taste" very good...

EDIT: Oh yeah.... Welcome to the Forum Creeve.

Why would we want to make our HD's disappear?

Just sayin'.

so you are saying i cant keep finder in my dock (so i could use that to get to everything) while taking the hardrive icons off the desktop

creeve said:

so you are saying i cant keep finder in my dock (so i could use that to get to everything) while taking the hardrive icons off the desktop

Click to expand...

Finder, Preferences and the general Tab. Here is a pic. You click on the Finder dropdown by the Blue Apple in the bar up top.

creeve said:

so you are saying i cant keep finder in my dock (so i could use that to get to everything) while taking the hardrive icons off the desktop

Click to expand...

No... I'm not saying that at all. You can do that if you like.... It just seems like a lot of extra work...

1st you have to Open finder
2nd Wait for it to load
3rd Then go up to the upper right corner and double click the HD icon

I just prefer going str8 to step 3 directly.


You may want to "shrink" the size of the HD icon to make it less noticeable.

To do that:

Click on the HD Icon to Highlight it.
Then APPLE+J
Then Adjust the Icon size...

dtravis7 said:

Finder, Preferences and the general Tab. Here is a pic. You click on the Finder dropdown by the Blue Apple in the bar up top.

Click to expand...

thank you. i didnt think it was that rediculous an idea

dtravis7 said:

Finder, Preferences and the general Tab. Here is a pic. You click on the Finder dropdown by the Blue Apple in the bar up top.

Click to expand...

Hey that's good dtravis... Then you can leave Finder open/running and just click the Finder Icon to Open a Finder window.

I much prefer the HD Icon to be on the desktop, but good info none the less.

+Rep to you!

Just wanted to say Hi! and welcome to Mac-Forums, creeve! :girl:

Yes Welcome creeve to Mac Forums.

Ride, I am the same way, but learned that for the people that don't want their drive icons on the desktop.

Great job!!!

RIDE said:

Great job!!!

Click to expand...

personally i hate having anything on the desktop for extended periods of time, i have everything sorted in a folder in the dock called "desktop stuff" where stuff normally found on most peoples desktop is stored. I prefer to be streamlined...? haha

Ok... So a lot of time I save a file to the desktop (temporarily), from the web, a screenshot, what ever it may be... Then when I'm ready to save it "permanently" I just drag it over and hold it above the HD icon for a moment while I wait for the folder to "Spring" open... Then drag it wherever...

Without the HD icon the only way would be to double-click the Finder in the dock, then go back and drag the file into the new finder window... correct???

ste6168 said:

personally i hate having anything on the desktop for extended periods of time, i have everything sorted in a folder in the dock called "desktop stuff" where stuff normally found on most peoples desktop is stored. I prefer to be streamlined...? haha

Click to expand...

I agree.. the vast majority of the time me desktop is perfectly clean.. EXCEPT for the HD icon

Welcome to MacForums, Creeve!

If I understand you correctly, you want to get rid of your "Macintosh HD" icon. I wouldn't recommend it. If it's an aesthetic thing, though (you don't like having a picture of an ugly silver box on your desktop), you can download a nice pretty icon set and have, I dunno, a flower for your HD icon.

I personally employ the app Overflow to keep my desktop in a constant state of cleanliness.

A big welcome to you Creeve! See you're not alone, it seems that a lot of folks here like a totally clean desktop and numerous ways to accomplish it. I personally like the HD on mine with a custom icon. But hope you've found the info you want here. Come back often ;>)

Sheehan said:

I personally employ the app Overflow to keep my desktop in a constant state of cleanliness.

Click to expand...

A second for that program. I use it to clean up my dock mostly.

I put the programs that I open ALL the time in my dock, like safari, adium, itunes, sys prefs, etc. Then I keep a couple important ones but less opened ones in the desktop like Coconut battery and the like, and then I just use folders on the desktop to store downloaded things. I have a DMG's folder and a Torrents folder. It works for me I guess. Just letting you know.

This is of course a very personal item. Some people clutter their desktops with the files they are working on currently, some prefer a pristine clean desktop. It is all a matter of what organizational style works best for you. There probably isn't a right or wrong here... but there certainly ARE a lot of opinions!!! :dive:

I think you can drag your HD icon to your toolbar for quick access and have it off your desktop that way.