Change Icon Labels to Make Them Transparent

Making Desktop Icons Text Label Backgrounds Transparent is really very simple in Windows XP. It's done by Using Drop Shadows for Icon Labels.

Here is a sample question I received from someone using Windows XP

:

My Desktop Icon letters are in a highlighted colored box. How do I remove the colored box so that you just see the letters only? OS Windows XP.

Steps for making Icon Text Transparent.

1. Click on Start
1. Choose Control Panel
2. Click on System Icon
3. Choose the "Advanced" tab, click "Settings" under "Performance"
4. Under the "Visual Effects" tab I Chose (checked) Use Drop Shadows for Icon Labels

OR

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click Performance and Maintenance, and then click System.
3. On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Performance.
4. Click to clear the Use drop shadows for icon labels on the desktop check box, click Apply, and then click OK two times.
5. Close Control Panel


Still having problems ?

A user writes:

I don’t know how it happened, but the names of my icons now show the background color of my desktop. Until yesterday, they were opaque, meaning that I would see the background picture.  No one can figure out how to reset this.

Four things are required in order to maintain transparent icon backgrounds:

1) System Properties>Advanced>Performance Settings>VisualEffects - check
"use drop shadows for icon labels".

2) Right-click on Desktop ->Arrange Icons by>Lock Web items must be cleared.

3) If you have any web content on your desktop, transparency won't work.
To check for web content: Display Properties>Desktop>Customize
Desktop>Web - make sure all checkboxes are clear.

4) Wallpaper must be an image file, not html.