Desktop Icons all moved to the right side after updating to 26.1

Do you have Stage Manager on? I don’t know because I have never used it but that area may be reserved by Stage Manager. Go to System Settings->Desktop & Dock, and turn Stage Manager off, see if it helps.

Randall_2023 wrote:

Thanks leroydouglas. Turning the widgets back on then choosing edit widgets and clicking the 'minus' icon removed them and restored the desktop to normal. I'm not sure if this is a feature or a bug. Does this behavior sound normal to you? It seems that when a user turns off widgets, it should allow that portion of the desktop to be used for icons. I never had used widgets before so I was surprised to even see it turned on after the installation reboot.

Good computing Randall_2023 !

All I can say it has been reported before this little detail, does seem an oddity either way.

To be proactive you can file a bug report / submit your Apple Feedback here:  Product Feedback - Apple

Randall_2023 wrote:

I took the plunge today from 15.7.2 to 26.1. After a successful update, A widget panel appeared on the left side of the screen pushing all my desktop icons to the right. I then turned off Widgets in Settings > Desktop & Dock. I also insured the 'sort by' was set to none on the desktop.

I can't seem to move any icons into the area where the Widget panel was. If I drag an icon to the left side it just bounces back to the right. What new feature do I need to check to fix this? Thank you!

Widgets on the Desktop

Add and customize widgets on Mac - Apple Support

remove from Desk Top orphaned widgets

Control click the widget? Control click the Desktop, Edit Widgets(?) move your mouse over widget the x (–) to remove the individual widgets