Desktop icons auto-arranging since last update

paul59 · 29 May 2026 08:28

Since the last major update a few days ago my desktop icons are being auto-arranged in a column starting at top left (I can’t see any meaningful order eg date or alphabetical or folders than files).

I’ve tried moving icons and logging out then back in and things seem ok but after a reboot the issue recurs. I’ve tried doing a ‘save session’ but the same applies.

Searching the web this seems to have been an occasional issue going back years - some of the fixes suggested don’t seem to be applicable now.

Any help appreciated!

Manjaro Bian 26.1.0.pre

nikgnomic · 29 May 2026 12:21

Try deleting all files in ~/.config/xfce4/desktop/

[SOLVED] Desktop icons keep returning to a weird sorting / Desktop / Xfce forums

paul59 · 29 May 2026 14:11

Thanks for the reply but I’m afraid that doesn’t work, log out/in or reboot results in the original issue.

EDIT: Also tried deleting files then restarting panel but no joy.

soundofthunder · 30 May 2026 05:54

Please create a new User account for testing purposes, login to it normally via LightDM (do not use any kind of user-switching).

With that done, you will have a fresh environment – see if you can reproduce the issue in that new account – if you cannot, then it’s likely a local configuration issue in your prime account.

This will help to rule out a system wide cause.

Anecdotal:- A newly created Manjaro XFCE install in a VM has failed to exhibit the problem you describe.

In addition to:

you might also try deleting the cache directory from a TTY after logging out from the XFCE GUI.

Once in the TTY:

rm -rf ~/.cache

Then reboot.

Note: Deleting the ~/.cache directory is a safe action – it will progressively be rebuilt as you continue to use your computer.

paul59 · 30 May 2026 07:01

Thanks for the suggestions.

I deleted the contents of .cache as suggested. Logging back in I have the same issue as before (as expected .cache contains just a few items).

I created a new user ‘test’ and after logging in dragged the default desktop icons to different positions. Logging out then back in, the icons are still where I’d put them so it’s not a system wide problem.

(May or may not be related or an indication of a wider problem?: I logged back into my account and when I tried to delete the new user ‘test’ I received a ‘Failed to remove user…’ dialog.)

soundofthunder · 30 May 2026 07:09

Delete the user account (only):

sudo userdel test

Delete the user account and the directory:

sudo userdel -r test

If no output is displayed, the command has executed successfully.

paul59 · 30 May 2026 07:20

That command fails with:

’ userdel: user test is currently used by process 15872’

soundofthunder · 30 May 2026 07:23

Reboot, and try again. Did you reboot after creating the User? If not, this reboot should rectify that.

I agree. Something has changed in your local settings; either changed by you, or changed by an application you might have installed. As I’m not an XFCE user (I use Plasma) it’s difficult to say just what that setting might be.

Provide your system information (as described below) and this may help others identify possible contributors.

Regards.

[Mini-HowTo] Provide System Information

Basic details provided by *-fetch type apps might give enough information for someone wishing to buy a computer, however, for Support purposes it’s best to ask your system directly.

Output of the inxi command will generate more useful and detailed information for those who may wish to help:

Suggested inxi command (use either):


`inxi -zv8`	(short-form)
`inxi --filter --verbosity=8`	(long-form)

man inxi (The inxi manual)

Command output should be presented as pre-formatted text in accordance with forum guidelines.

Running inxi within a chroot environment

Add --color=0 to the long-form command, or…
Change the short-form command to inxi -zv8c0

Your privacy is respected

[Mini-HowTo] Present code or command output

Note: Grave accent (or, backtick) characters are used.

For inline code or to show a single command:

please follow this simple example: code here.

For multi-line command output:

place text beween two rows of three (```) backtick characters to form a scrollable text box, or …
use the </> button in the Compose window to achieve the same result.

The empty row between these rows of backtick characters is where to paste any multi-line command output (such as inxi).

An example of a pre-formatted text enclosure:

What is a Quark?

A. In Physics, an elementary particle and fundamental constituent of matter. 
B. A character from the Star Trek: "Deep Space Nine" television series.
C. A soft, creamy, usually unsalted cheese traditional to central Europe.

Teo · 30 May 2026 07:38

Of course, login as the other user as you delete one.
If you want to be extra sure, don’t even login graphically. On the login screen, press ctrl+alt+f4 for example, type the name of your user, password, the commands above specifying the test user, and finally type reboot.

paul59 · 30 May 2026 08:48

Here’s the inxi output:

System:
  Kernel: 6.12.91-1-MANJARO arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 16.1.1
    clocksource: tsc avail: hpet,acpi_pm
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-6.12-x86_64
    root=UUID=bfa44f25-adca-4e4c-9288-68c2349970bd rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet splash apparmor=1 security=apparmor
    resume=UUID=0b0fe95e-8fda-4111-9ba8-5d5d26428daa udev.log_priority=3
  Desktop: Xfce v: 4.20.2 tk: Gtk v: 3.24.52 wm: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0
    with: xfce4-panel tools: xfce4-screensaver vt: 7 dm: LightDM v: 1.32.0
    Distro: Manjaro base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: B450M-HDV R4.0
    serial: <superuser required> uuid: <superuser required>
    Firmware: UEFI-[Legacy] vendor: American Megatrends v: P3.20
    date: 07/31/2019
Battery:
  Message: No system battery data found. Is one present?
Memory:
  System RAM: total: 16 GiB available: 15.55 GiB used: 1.82 GiB (11.7%)
  Message: For most reliable report, use superuser + dmidecode.
  Array-1: capacity: 128 GiB note: check slots: 2 modules: 2 EC: None
    max-module-size: 64 GiB note: est.
  Device-1: Channel-A DIMM 0 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous unbuffered
    (unregistered) size: 8 GiB speed: 2400 MT/s volts: note: check curr: 1
    min: 1 max: 1 width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: Corsair
    part-no: CMK16GX4M2A2400C16 serial: N/A
  Device-2: Channel-B DIMM 0 type: DDR4 detail: synchronous unbuffered
    (unregistered) size: 8 GiB speed: 2400 MT/s volts: note: check curr: 1
    min: 1 max: 1 width (bits): data: 64 total: 64 manufacturer: Corsair
    part-no: CMK16GX4M2A2400C16 serial: N/A
PCI Slots:
  Permissions: Unable to run dmidecode. Root privileges required.
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen+ gen: 1+
    level: v3 note: check built: 2018-21 process: GF 12nm family: 0x17 (23)
    model-id: 8 stepping: 2 microcode: 0x800820D
  Topology: cpus: 1x dies: 1 clusters: 1 cores: 6 threads: 12 tpc: 2
    smt: enabled cache: L1: 576 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x64 KiB L2: 3 MiB
    desc: 6x512 KiB L3: 16 MiB desc: 2x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 3400 min/max: 1550/3400 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: schedutil cores: 1: 3400 2: 3400 3: 3400
    4: 3400 5: 3400 6: 3400 7: 3400 8: 3400 9: 3400 10: 3400 11: 3400 12: 3400
    bogomips: 81471
  Flags: 3dnowprefetch abm adx aes aperfmperf apic arat avic avx avx2 bmi1
    bmi2 bpext clflush clflushopt clzero cmov cmp_legacy constant_tsc cpb
    cpuid cr8_legacy cx16 cx8 de decodeassists extapic extd_apicid f16c
    flushbyasid fma fpu fsgsbase fxsr fxsr_opt ht hw_pstate ibpb lahf_lm lbrv
    lm mca mce misalignsse mmx mmxext monitor movbe msr mtrr mwaitx
    nonstop_tsc nopl npt nrip_save nx osvw overflow_recov pae pat pausefilter
    pclmulqdq pdpe1gb perfctr_core perfctr_llc perfctr_nb pfthreshold pge pni
    popcnt pse pse36 rapl rdrand rdseed rdtscp rep_good sep sev sev_es sha_ni
    skinit smap smca smep ssbd sse sse2 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 succor svm
    svm_lock syscall tce topoext tsc tsc_scale v_vmsave_vmload vgif
    vmcb_clean vme vmmcall wdt xgetbv1 xsave xsavec xsaveerptr xsaveopt
  Vulnerabilities:
  Type: gather_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: indirect_target_selection status: Not affected
  Type: itlb_multihit status: Not affected
  Type: l1tf status: Not affected
  Type: mds status: Not affected
  Type: meltdown status: Not affected
  Type: mmio_stale_data status: Not affected
  Type: reg_file_data_sampling status: Not affected
  Type: retbleed mitigation: untrained return thunk; SMT vulnerable
  Type: spec_rstack_overflow mitigation: Safe RET
  Type: spec_store_bypass mitigation: Speculative Store Bypass disabled via
    prctl
  Type: spectre_v1 mitigation: usercopy/swapgs barriers and __user pointer
    sanitization
  Type: spectre_v2 mitigation: Retpolines; IBPB: conditional; STIBP:
    disabled; RSB filling; PBRSB-eIBRS: Not affected; BHI: Not affected
  Type: srbds status: Not affected
  Type: tsa status: Not affected
  Type: tsx_async_abort status: Not affected
  Type: vmscape mitigation: IBPB before exit to userspace
Graphics:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere [Radeon RX
    470/480/570/570X/580/580X/590] vendor: XFX Pine driver: amdgpu v: kernel
    arch: GCN-4 code: Arctic Islands process: GF 14nm built: 2016-20 pcie:
    gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: HDMI-A-1 empty: DP-1, DP-2,
    DP-3, DVI-D-1 bus-ID: 08:00.0 chip-ID: 1002:67df class-ID: 0300
    temp: 34.0 C
  Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.22 with: Xwayland v: 24.1.11
    compositor: xfwm4 v: 4.20.0 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu unloaded: modesetting
    alternate: fbdev,vesa dri: radeonsi gpu: amdgpu display-ID: :0.0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-size: <missing: xdpyinfo>
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-A-0 model: VA24EHF serial: <filter>
    built: 2022 res: mode: 1920x1080 hz: 60 scale: 100% (1) dpi: 93 gamma: 1.2
    chroma: red: x: 0.651 y: 0.329 green: x: 0.310 y: 0.620 blue: x: 0.149
    y: 0.047 white: x: 0.314 y: 0.329 size: 527x296mm (20.75x11.65")
    diag: 604mm (23.8") ratio: 16:9 modes: 1920x1080, 1680x1050, 1280x1024,
    1440x900, 1280x960, 1366x768, 1280x800, 1152x864, 1280x768, 1280x720,
    1024x768, 832x624, 800x600, 720x576, 720x480, 640x480, 720x400
  API: EGL v: 1.5 hw: drv: amd radeonsi platforms: device: 0 drv: radeonsi
    device: 1 drv: swrast gbm: drv: radeonsi surfaceless: drv: radeonsi x11:
    drv: radeonsi inactive: wayland
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6 vendor: amd mesa v: 26.1.1-arch1.2 glx-v: 1.4
    direct-render: yes renderer: AMD Radeon RX 570 Series (radeonsi polaris10
    ACO DRM 3.61 6.12.91-1-MANJARO) device-ID: 1002:67df memory: 7.81 GiB
    unified: no
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo,glxinfo de: xfce4-display-settings
    x11: xprop,xrandr
Audio:
  Device-1: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD/ATI] Ellesmere HDMI Audio [Radeon RX
    470/480 / 570/580/590] vendor: XFX Pine driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 08:00.1 chip-ID: 1002:aaf0
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: Advanced Micro Devices [AMD] Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASRock
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 0a:00.3 chip-ID: 1022:1457 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: Texas Instruments PCM2902 Audio Codec
    driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid type: USB rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 bus-ID: 3-2:2 chip-ID: 08bb:2902 class-ID: 0300
  API: ALSA v: k6.12.91-1-MANJARO status: kernel-api with: aoss
    type: oss-emulator tools: alsactl,alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: sndiod v: N/A status: off tools: aucat,midicat,sndioctl
  Server-2: JACK v: 1.9.22 status: off tools: N/A
  Server-3: PipeWire v: 1.6.5 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8211/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet
    vendor: ASRock driver: r8169 v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1
    port: f000 bus-ID: 07:00.0 chip-ID: 10ec:8168 class-ID: 0200
  IF: enp7s0 state: up speed: 100 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IP v4: <filter> type: dynamic noprefixroute scope: global
    broadcast: <filter>
  IP v6: <filter> type: noprefixroute scope: link
  Info: services: NetworkManager,systemd-timesyncd
  WAN IP: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Message: No bluetooth data found.
Logical:
  Message: No logical block device data found.
RAID:
  Message: No RAID data found.
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 465.76 GiB used: 191.31 GiB (41.1%)
  SMART Message: Required tool smartctl not installed. Check --recommends
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WDS500G2B0B-00YS70 size: 465.76 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s tech: SSD serial: <filter> fw-rev: 40WD
    scheme: MBR
  Message: No optical or floppy data found.
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 448.66 GiB size: 448.66 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 191.31 GiB (42.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: N/A
    uuid: bfa44f25-adca-4e4c-9288-68c2349970bd
  ID-2: /home raw-size: 448.66 GiB size: 448.66 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 191.31 GiB (42.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: N/A
    uuid: bfa44f25-adca-4e4c-9288-68c2349970bd
  ID-3: /var/cache raw-size: 448.66 GiB size: 448.66 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 191.31 GiB (42.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: N/A
    uuid: bfa44f25-adca-4e4c-9288-68c2349970bd
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 448.66 GiB size: 448.66 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 191.31 GiB (42.6%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1 label: N/A
    uuid: bfa44f25-adca-4e4c-9288-68c2349970bd
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 60 (default) cache-pressure: 100 (default) zswap: no
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 17.1 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%)
    priority: -2 dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2 label: swap
    uuid: 0b0fe95e-8fda-4111-9ba8-5d5d26428daa
Unmounted:
  Message: No unmounted partitions found.
USB:
  Hub-1: 1-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 10 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 1-8:2 info: HP HP Wireless Mouse type: mouse
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 1 rev: 2.0 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s)
    lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA chip-ID: 03f0:2141 class-ID: 0301
  Hub-2: 2-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.1
    speed: 10 Gb/s (1.16 GiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-2x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
  Hub-3: 3-0:1 info: hi-speed hub with single TT ports: 4 rev: 2.0
    speed: 480 Mb/s (57.2 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 2.0 chip-ID: 1d6b:0002
    class-ID: 0900
  Device-1: 3-2:2 info: Texas Instruments PCM2902 Audio Codec
    type: audio,HID driver: hid-generic,snd-usb-audio,usbhid interfaces: 4
    rev: 1.1 speed: 12 Mb/s (1.4 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.1 power: 100mA
    chip-ID: 08bb:2902 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: 3-3:3 info: Logitech Keyboard K120 type: keyboard,HID
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid interfaces: 2 rev: 1.1
    speed: 1.5 Mb/s (183 KiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 1.0 power: 90mA
    chip-ID: 046d:c31c class-ID: 0300
  Hub-4: 4-0:1 info: super-speed hub ports: 4 rev: 3.0
    speed: 5 Gb/s (596.0 MiB/s) lanes: 1 mode: 3.2 gen-1x1 chip-ID: 1d6b:0003
    class-ID: 0900
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 35.6 C mobo: N/A gpu: amdgpu temp: 34.0 C
  Fan Speeds (rpm): N/A gpu: amdgpu fan: 1815
Repos:
  Packages: 1882 pm: pacman pkgs: 1857 libs: 564 tools: pamac,yay pm: flatpak
    pkgs: 25
  Active pacman repo servers in: /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
    1: https://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/os/Linux/distr/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    2: https://ftp.caliu.cat/pub/distribucions/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    3: https://manjaro.mirror-services.net/pub/stable/$repo/$arch
    4: https://ftp.cc.uoc.gr/mirrors/linux/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    5: https://mirror.kku.ac.th/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    6: https://mirror.2degrees.nz/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    7: https://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
    8: https://mirrors.ucr.ac.cr/manjaro/stable/$repo/$arch
Processes:
  CPU top: 5 of 428
  1: cpu: 9.6% command: firefox pid: 15400 mem: 573.0 MiB (3.5%)
  2: cpu: 4.3% command: firefox pid: 15890 mem: 281.2 MiB (1.7%)
  3: cpu: 3.8% command: firefox pid: 15653 mem: 251.8 MiB (1.5%)
  4: cpu: 2.5% command: xfce4-terminal pid: 16596 mem: 60.0 MiB (0.3%)
  5: cpu: 1.9% command: Xorg pid: 974 mem: 89.3 MiB (0.5%)
  Memory top: 5 of 428
  1: mem: 573.0 MiB (3.5%) command: firefox pid: 15400 cpu: 9.6%
  2: mem: 281.2 MiB (1.7%) command: firefox pid: 15890 cpu: 4.3%
  3: mem: 251.8 MiB (1.5%) command: firefox pid: 15653 cpu: 3.8%
  4: mem: 164.6 MiB (1.0%) command: firefox pid: 15835 cpu: 0.6%
  5: mem: 133.8 MiB (0.8%) command: firefox pid: 15896 cpu: 0.2%
Info:
  Processes: 428 Power: uptime: 33m states: freeze,mem,disk suspend: deep
    avail: s2idle wakeups: 1 hibernate: platform avail: shutdown, reboot,
    suspend, test_resume image: 6.19 GiB services: upowerd,xfce4-power-manager
    Init: systemd v: 260 default: graphical tool: systemctl
  Compilers: clang: 22.1.5 gcc: 16.1.1 Shell: Bash v: 5.3.9
    running-in: xfce4-terminal inxi: 3.3.40

^{Mod edit: changed apostrophes ''' to backticks ``` so that the inxi output appears as preformatted code}
Not sure there’s anything in there that will help with this particular problem. The system has been running pretty much faultlessly for 12 months, might be coincidence but the current problem emerged immediately after the last large update.

nikgnomic · 30 May 2026 10:49

If a user account has desktop icon locations saved to ~/.config/xfce4/desktop/ correctly they should not move if the desktop is reloaded

xfdesktop --reload

The active configuration can be checked with:

cat $(readlink -f ~/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen.latest.rc)

paul59 · 30 May 2026 13:15

Thanks again. The file icons.screen.latest.rc doesn’t exist in that directory. As far as I can recall, it didn’t exist before ~/.cache was emptied either.

EDIT: I created an empty icons.screen.latest.rc, moved some icons and tried xfdesktop --reload. There was no change to the .rc file (and no conflict/error because it already existed).

EDIT 2: According to catfish that file doesn’t exist anywhere else on my system (correction, in my home folder).

soundofthunder · 31 May 2026 00:17

In XFCE 4.20 current desktop icon positions can be checked by issuing the following command:

cat ~/.config/xfce4/desktop/icons.screen0.yaml

Note the warning: “Do not edit this file when xfdesktop is running”.

A quick Internet Search reveals that issues with icon positioning in XFCE have arisen for many years with no definitive solution on offer, although workarounds have been presented, mostly involving custom scripts to save and restore the configuration file.

Though it doesn’t solve the immediate issue, if you are interested in a solution that not only saves and restores icon positioning, but also current wallpaper and theme configuration, then SaveDesktop might be a welcome addition:

SaveDesktop works with GNOME, KDE Plasma, XFCE, Cinnamon, Budgie, Cosmic and others; available as flatpak:

flatpak install savedesktop

In a freshly installed Manjaro XFCE VM with default Session and Icon configurations, desktop icons are restored as expected.

Compare your settings with the following screenshot;

If you haven’t played with those settings, the only difference should be that “Placement direction” is set to “Top Left Horizontal” in the screenshot.

Try duplicating those settings – specifically, uncheck “Automatically save session on logout” – and see if that makes any difference. Additionally, if you are using Automatic login, disable that first.

paul59 · 31 May 2026 05:58

@soundofthunder Thank you for the detailed and helpful reply.

Yes, I noted in the OP that it’s an issue for some that seems to have been around a very long time. It’s odd that it’s suddenly started: I’m not one for customizing desktops and haven’t made any changes which might have sparked off the problem.

I’ve looked at that .yaml file numerous times - deleting it and re-logging/booting doesn’t make any difference, it gets replaced/rebuilt in the same way.

I’ve also already tried adjusting the settings shown in your screenshot but to no avail. I don’t want to install a third party workaround script which could introduce other bugs or become incompatible.

I’m not sure if you want to mark this as ‘solved’ even though it seems to be insoluble? I don’t want to spend any more time on it.

Thanks again to all who have tried to help!

soundofthunder · 31 May 2026 08:32