April 17th, 2012 by ElizaP

Have you looked at your computer’s desktop lately? It can sometimes be like your dining room table; a clutter attractor that can end up piled with mail, car keys and anything else you may not be able to find a place for at the time.

What makes a messy desktop even more frustrating is that the icons sometimes re-arrange themselves, which can make hunting for your files resemble a scene from an Indiana Jones movie. But you can tame the beast that is your desktop using a few simple tips.

Get On The Grid

Auto-arranging your desktop icons will align them to an invisible grid, which means they will always arrange themselves neatly on your desktop. But beware; deleting anything on your desktop will move your items to the next spot on the grid, which may still make some things difficult to locate.

Ask The Wizard

If you feel you need the help of a professional organizer to clean up your desktop, consulting the Desktop Cleanup Wizard may offer you a solution. But this will only work if you are running Windows XP. However, you can click in any empty area of your desktop and choose “Personalize” in Windows 7 to see the options for making your desktop a little prettier.