To get rid of folders and shortcuts on your desktop you can use take advantage of the start menu, the taskbar or Cortana
The clutter on your computer's desktop is much more harmful than you might think. Tidying up your desk is a good way to work at your best, but you can't be efficient without tidying up your desktop PC as well.
Cleaning up your desktop is theoretically easy, just select unnecessary folders and press Delete, or drag them to the Recycle Bin. However, this method is definitely drastic and could cause us to delete some important files hidden inside the folders. But files and folders aren't the only icons that create annoyance in the desktop: the aspect that most of all creates disorder is the quick access to the programs you use most (for example the browser or the Office suite). The secret is to find other solutions to quickly access applications, files and folders. Also because a desktop full of folders, even with quick access, will only slow down your device.
The Start Menu
The new Windows Start Menu makes it easy to keep your desktop clutter free. The most used apps can be conveniently placed in this particular section. You can access them in two clicks, if needed. How can we associate an application in the Start menu? Easy, right-click on the icon that indicates our folder and select "Add to Start". The Start menu can also be customized and managed using groups, this will avoid having too many icons in the Start menu which will be divided into categories. Each app will be placed in its own category. For example under social we'll put Twitter and Facebook, and so on. We'll be able to rename the groups.
The Taskbar
If using the Start menu requires too many clicks (usually two or three) we can choose the Taskbar. In this way, one click is enough to open the program or folder. The taskbar is the one that appears at the bottom of the screen. We do not recommend putting too many apps in this section. Otherwise our computer will be much slower at startup. It's better to put only the browser, the music program or the ones you use the most. To add an app to the taskbar, right-click on it and choose "Add to taskbar". This section, as well as the start menu, can be customized. For example we can make the icons smaller to take up less space. Or, and we recommend it, set the bar vertical (by default it is horizontal). This makes launching apps more immediate.
Use File Explorer
Windows 10 has a section called File Explorer that is very useful for quickly accessing the most used documents. This is usually located in the taskbar under a folder icon. If there should be no problem just press the Windows button (the one with the small window symbol) + E. Inside the File Explorer we find the Quick Access feature that notifies us of the most used documents and files.
Using Cortana
All these methods make the desktop tidy but if we really want to clean up all the folders the advice is to delete them from the main screen (not from the computer) and use Cortana to open the programs or files that you need to use. It s a technique that takes a few extra seconds, but it will allow you to not leave folders scattered around the desktop.