How do I remove the Macintosh HD icon from the desktop?

Click on your desktop so that the "Finder" menu appears in the upper left. Then go to Finder > Preferences > General, and where it says "Show these items on the desktop," uncheck the box for Hard disks.

For the people who already have it unchecked: the problem for me was that I had forcibly removed an external disk. If unchecking external disk makes it disappear, check it again, plug the external disk back in, and remove it properly by dragging it to the trash.

Thanks.

I did as you suggested, but the box is already unchecked. When I checked the box to show the HD, another icon appeared. Unchecking the box still leaves one icon on my desktop. I'm afraid to drag it to the trash. Any ideas?

In your user/home folder. Select Library. Then go to Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist and com.apple.desktop.plist. Move the .plists to your desktop.

Re-launch Finder by restarting the computer and test. If it works okay, delete the plists from the desktop.

If the same, return the .plists to where you got it from, overwriting the newer one.

Thanks, saved me from having to post that question.

Fantastic! Thanks