Whenever you do a presentation, you should always be asking yourself how you can deliver it as simple and as enjoyable as an experience for your audience as possible?
There are different reasons for speakers to show their desktops – having technical demonstrations, showing something on the web, etc. The problem here is that the desktop of those presenters is more often than not full of icons that do not add value to the presentation itself. If the icons on your desktop do not add value to what you are showing and speaking about, remove them. No one wants to know what you have on the desktop. Not to mention that there may be something confidential that can lead to an even bigger problem, and that’s just 2 of the cases.
So how can you hide your icons from your desktop and then get them back without removing them? It’s pretty easy, actually.
On Windows:
1. Right-click on your desktop
2. Uncheck the Show Desktop Icons from the View option
3. That’s it. (then after the session, go back there and check it again)
On macOS:
Open the terminal and copy/paste the following commands.
First to hide the icons: defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop false && killall Finder
And then to show the icons when you finish with your presentation: defaults write com.apple.finder CreateDesktop true && killall Finder
You can also download one of the numerous apps made with this in mind like the free app HiddenMe or the $14,99 Camouflage app.
There you have it. Put “hide my desktop icons” on your checklist of things you double-check before a presentation and make your audience’s experience even better. Keep it simple. Remove anything that does not add value and yes, your icons are one of those things that don’t, so let’s hide them.
Better than putting everything in a folder marked ‘x’….wish I found this earlier!
Haha! Yeah! Glad it was helpful, David!