Phantom icons on desktop even after deleting them

nzricky wrote:

So weird, I feel like someone is playing one of those old pranks where they take a screenshot of your desktop, then hid the icons, then make the screenshot your background, and watch you crazily click fake icons...

For some reason, I have a selection of icons that I have deleted that can't be clicked selected or moved.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/a8c31004-4c0b-45fd-ae83-282eaaa09545

I have tried:•

Restarting

• Updating

• Changing desktop background

• trying to find the icons in finder (don't exist)

Specs:

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/8e5ce727-a470-4144-8f25-74b48e34b185

Please Help - It's driving me crazy lol

What do those folders say...seems knowing what they are, where they came from would be a clue...?

Hard to speculate.

What does the Information pane reveal ?... if you select a folder and use Command i

Updating what? the current stable release of Ventura including bug fixes, security updates is macOS Ventura 13.2.1

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

Keep your Mac up to date - Apple Support

Did you try relaunching Finder? >Force Quit>Finder>Relaunch

nzricky wrote:

Thanks for your response (the folders names are obscured for privacy.

I can’t select them to bring up the information panel. They technically don’t exist. It’s like it’s part of the wallpaper image of that makes sense

Well if for privacy—then you obviously recognize these folders, no(?) Does this include your user name or full name by default? Anything you can add here would be helpful.

Where did they come from originally

Did you create these folders originally with a "privacy" type name?

Were they on an external drive, internal drive, iCloud... originally?

Did you update the macOS as suggested above?

Your screen shot is showing Finder—that's your Desktop background of choice is a grey screen(?)

Those folders are mighty far to the left, typically folders/files populate the right side of the screen by default...(?)

What happens if you Control Click on the Desktop>Use Stacks does this change anything?

What happens if you change Desktop Wall Paper, does that change anything?

Did you migrate from a Windows machine?

Old issue, new issue, what changed?