Desktop Icon Toggle

Toggle desktop icons on/off with a single keyboard shortcut. Built for Linux Mint / Cinnamon.

What It Does

Press Super+H and your desktop icons instantly hide. Press it again, they're back. Perfect for screen sharing, presentations, or keeping a clean workspace.

A desktop notification confirms the current state each time you toggle.

Requirements

• Linux Mint with Cinnamon desktop (or any DE using Nemo file manager)
• gsettings (pre-installed on Cinnamon)
• notify-send (pre-installed — part of libnotify)

Install

git clone https://github.com/markdborden/desktop-icon-toggle.git
cd desktop-icon-toggle
chmod +x install.sh
./install.sh

This copies the script to ~/.local/bin/ and registers Super+H as a custom keybinding in Cinnamon.

Manual Install

1. Copy the script somewhere on your $PATH:

cp toggle-desktop-icons.sh ~/.local/bin/
chmod +x ~/.local/bin/toggle-desktop-icons.sh

2. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts → Custom Shortcuts
3. Add a new shortcut:
   • Name: Toggle Desktop Icons
   • Command: ~/.local/bin/toggle-desktop-icons.sh
   • Keybinding: Press your preferred key combo

Customize the Keybinding

To use a different shortcut, edit the keybinding after install:

1. Open System Settings → Keyboard → Shortcuts → Custom Shortcuts
2. Find "Toggle Desktop Icons"
3. Click the keybinding and press your new combo

Or edit via CLI:

dconf write /org/cinnamon/desktop/keybindings/custom-keybindings/toggle-desktop-icons/binding "['<Control><Alt>h']"

How It Works

The script is 12 lines of bash:

#!/bin/bash
CURRENT=$(gsettings get org.nemo.desktop show-desktop-icons)

if [ "$CURRENT" = "true" ]; then
    gsettings set org.nemo.desktop show-desktop-icons false
    notify-send "Desktop Icons" "Hidden" -t 1500
else
    gsettings set org.nemo.desktop show-desktop-icons true
    notify-send "Desktop Icons" "Visible" -t 1500
fi

It reads the current show-desktop-icons setting via gsettings, flips it, and sends a brief notification.

Adapting for Other Desktops

GNOME (Ubuntu):

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons false

KDE Plasma: Desktop icons are handled by the "Desktop Folder" widget — toggle it via right-click → Configure Desktop.

Uninstall

./uninstall.sh

Removes the script and keybinding.

License

MIT