If the Recycle Bin option is greyed out in the Desktop Icon Settings window in Windows 11/10, you can check out this step-by-step guide to troubleshoot the issue. It will help you get back the Recycle Bin option in the Desktop Icon Settings panel so that you can show or hide Recycle Bin on Desktop. You can fix the problem quickly when it is disabled by mistake or by any malware, adware, etc.
There are two ways to fix the issue on your Windows 10 computer. You can use either Local Group Policy Editor or Registry Editor. If you have Windows 10 Home edition, you should try out the Registry Editor method as Local Group Policy Editor is not available on your computer.
Recycle Bin is greyed out in Desktop Icon Settings
Using Group Policy Editor
To fix Recycle Bin is greyed out in Desktop Icon Settings window problem using Group Policy Editor, follow these steps-
- Open Local Group Policy Editor
- Navigate to the Desktop section under Administrative Templates
- Double-click on Remove Recycle Bin icon from desktop setting
- Select Not Configured and save your change
To know the steps in detail, you need to keep reading.
Open the Local Group Policy Editor on your Windows computer. You can press Win+R, type gpedit.msc, and hit the Enter button. Alternatively, you can search for it in the Taskbar search box. Following that, you must navigate to this path-
User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Desktop
After clicking the Desktop menu on your left-hand side, you should find some settings on your right-hand side. Double-click on Remove Recycle Bin icon from desktop setting, and make sure that the Not Configured option is selected.
If not, do choose that option, and save your change.
The second method is based on Registry Editor. It is recommended to backup the Registry or create a system restore point first.
Using Registry Editor
If Recycle Bin is greyed out in Desktop Icon Settings, follow these steps-
- Open Registry Editor on Windows computer
- Navigate to NonEnum folder
- Create a DWORD (32-bit) Value
- Name it as {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
- Set the Value data as 0.
Open the Registry Editor on your Windows computer. You can press Win+R, type regedit, and hit the Enter button. Also, you can search for it in the Taskbar search box and open the corresponding result.
After that, navigate to this path-
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\NonEnum
In the NoneNum folder, you should find a DWORD value named {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}. If it doesn’t exist on your computer, you need to create it. For that, right-click on the space, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Following that, name it as:
{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}
Now, check if the Value data is set to 0 or not. To do so, double-click on this DWORD Value, and check if it is set to 0. If not, you need to make the necessary change and save your setting.
TIP: You can also use our freeware FixWin to fix this problem with a single click.
That’s it! Now you should find the Recycle Bin option in the Desktop Icon Settings window.
