Arrange desktop icons horizontally on Windows and Mac computers

On Windows

Right click on an empty space on the desktop. To arrange icons horizontally, you first need to select or deselect some settings.

Move your mouse pointer over the View menu and deselect Auto arrange icons . With this setting, Windows will stop rearranging icons every time you restart or add new icons to the desktop.

Although this setting is enabled by default, you should also check to make sure that Align icons to grid is checked. This feature will keep the icons evenly spaced and nicely arranged. If you do not want the icons to be evenly spaced or automatically aligned to a grid, you can uncheck the box.

Drag and drop icons to align them horizontally. However, you need to proceed manually as there is no automatic setting for this. However, after disabling the Auto arrange icons setting , you will be able to customize the icons horizontally and they will not be automatically rearranged afterwards.

On Mac

Drag and drop icons to align them horizontally. You need to proceed manually as there is no automatic setting for this.

Right-click an empty space on the desktop and select Show View Options . This option is usually at the bottom of the menu that appears after right-clicking.

Adjust the settings you want, then close the window. In the "Show view options" window, you can change the way the icons appear, such as how big or small they are and the grid size. Once done, click the x icon in the upper left corner to close the window.

You can also change the size of the icon's built-in text as well as the position for the text label.

Kareem Winters

Update 26 October 2023