<![CDATA[Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start]]>Hello,

I have updated to the newest Opera, cleared cache as mentioned in a previous post that has now been locked, but the issue remain.
I did try to uninstall opera, keeping only my data folder and reinstalling the standalone version. But it remains the same.

If I delete the icon, opera will create it again on next start.
If I keep the icon, opera will still refresh the whole desktop icons.

Am I alone having this issue ?

The only way I did fix was by using an older launcher, but opera is harassing me to update if I keep the older launcher.

Any help is welcome, Thanks.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/topic/35611/opera-standalone-will-refresh-desktop-and-create-icon-at-every-startRSS for NodeTue, 17 Mar 2026 10:42:33 GMTTue, 08 Oct 2019 09:00:07 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Sun, 20 Oct 2019 16:02:48 GMT]]>@jsssx said in Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start:

I've had a privacy issue with Opera showing continue shopping, the same I had for booking.com which I disabled in the past.

Options to turn those off are at the URL opera://settings/startPage in Opera Developer at least.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/185790https://forums.opera.com/post/185790Sun, 20 Oct 2019 16:02:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Sat, 19 Oct 2019 07:01:54 GMT]]>Sorry you couldn't sort out the refresh issue. Good luck!

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/185650https://forums.opera.com/post/185650Sat, 19 Oct 2019 07:01:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Sat, 19 Oct 2019 07:01:21 GMT]]>@jsssx said in Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start:

Today after doing some search on Amazon, I've had a privacy issue with Opera showing continue shopping, the same I had for booking.com which I disabled in the past.

That's the feature introduced here https://blogs.opera.com/desktop/2019/08/opera-63-0-3368-51-beta-update/ if you want to read more about it. You're supposed to be able to hide/disable that.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/185649https://forums.opera.com/post/185649Sat, 19 Oct 2019 07:01:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Sat, 19 Oct 2019 06:47:24 GMT]]>Thanks for your help but I'm giving up, icon and desktop refresh is still here.

Today after doing some search on Amazon, I've had a privacy issue with Opera showing continue shopping, the same I had for booking.com which I disabled in the past.

That was the straw that broke the camel's back, after almost 2 decades with Opera I will now switch to something else.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/185644https://forums.opera.com/post/185644Sat, 19 Oct 2019 06:47:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Wed, 09 Oct 2019 12:15:48 GMT]]>@jsssx said in Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start:

I have 3 monitors plugged to this computer, does it count ?

Not sure. Multiple desktops or extending a desktop or the virtual desktop feature might cause Opera to always create an icon and refresh. Not able to test that myself though. I supposed if you have the time and want to go through the trouble, you can disconnect all but one monitor and make sure you only have one desktop to see if there's any difference. Maybe there's something in the AMD driver config for how things are extended across screens that triggers it. Sounds unlikely, but...

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184216https://forums.opera.com/post/184216Wed, 09 Oct 2019 12:15:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Wed, 09 Oct 2019 12:09:32 GMT]]>Nothing special, nothing about opera before start, no desktop organising software.
I only have Windows Defender, and Windows Firewall Control for security.
Moving icons did not change anything too.

I have 3 monitors plugged to this computer, does it count ?
2 are plugged on the Intel GPU and the main is on a AMD RX580 (all up to date).

No Mircrosoft account, only local account, no password, no theme, no sync.

Sorry for this hard case and thank you for your time 🙂

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184207https://forums.opera.com/post/184207Wed, 09 Oct 2019 12:09:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Wed, 09 Oct 2019 09:26:16 GMT]]>Do you use a local account for Windows 10 or do you sign in with a Microsoft account? If the latter, do you have theme syncing on?

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184178https://forums.opera.com/post/184178Wed, 09 Oct 2019 09:26:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Wed, 09 Oct 2019 09:07:32 GMT]]>Anything special/non-default with the way your desktop is set up? Different view/arrange sortings?

Can you temporarily move all your icons off your desktop (to a folder somewhere else) and test again.

Can you test if any security programs are triggering the behavior?

Do you see anything in the task manager for Opera before you open it?

Do you have Opera pinned to the taskbar? Is so, can you unpin it to test if that make a difference?

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184177https://forums.opera.com/post/184177Wed, 09 Oct 2019 09:07:32 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 23:42:41 GMT]]>@burnout426

I was thinking that this is going to be the solution but unfortunately it does the same.
Icon is created at first launch and comes back at every restart.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184122https://forums.opera.com/post/184122Tue, 08 Oct 2019 23:42:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 16:23:36 GMT]]>Just to double check, can you make another standalone installation of the latest stable version of Opera on your drive to test with to see if it also does it?

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184072https://forums.opera.com/post/184072Tue, 08 Oct 2019 16:23:36 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:57:20 GMT]]>@burnout426

Same issue if I launch opera.exe instead of launcher.exe (desktop is refreshed and icon is back).

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184058https://forums.opera.com/post/184058Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:57:20 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:47:53 GMT]]>@jsssx No, it'll be fine. launcher.exe is used for the regular installation of Opera too. opera.exe (even in a standalone installation) will honor the installation_status and installation_prefs files and will still use the profile in the standalone installation folder.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184048https://forums.opera.com/post/184048Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:47:53 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:28:00 GMT]]>I haven't tried, but if I try this, will opera create a new user folder somewhere else ?

I think that the launcher is made for the standalone version, doesn't it ?

Thanks

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184044https://forums.opera.com/post/184044Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:28:00 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:19:41 GMT]]>If you launch opera.exe instead of launcher.exe, is the shortcut still created and the desktop still flickers/refreshes?

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184043https://forums.opera.com/post/184043Tue, 08 Oct 2019 15:19:41 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:47:25 GMT]]>Hi,

It was happening on my system some time ago, now it's gone - Stable | Dev -.

I've made a .bat to clean the desktop icons, I would share it despite your problem should be found and fixed.

--
"Off topic Tip"
Follow the Signature's BackUp | Reset link.
Take the opportunity to start a Backup plan and even create a Template Profile.

SyncBack | Synkron helps.

Windows 7 (x64)
Opera Test profile | Opera Back up | Reset

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184012https://forums.opera.com/post/184012Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:47:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:38:24 GMT]]>Also, maybe it counts in this issue, but Opera is not my default browser.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/184009https://forums.opera.com/post/184009Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:38:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:05:51 GMT]]>@burnout426

I am the admin of this PC and there is no other accounts on it.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/183999https://forums.opera.com/post/183999Tue, 08 Oct 2019 11:05:51 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:59:39 GMT]]>I believe you of course and many others have had this problem. Just not sure how exactly to reproduce.

Is your Windows user account an admin account or a standard user account?

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/183998https://forums.opera.com/post/183998Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:59:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:57:26 GMT]]>@burnout426 said in Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start:

I'll have to test with a standalone installation on another drive when I get a chance.

Tested on an external drive. Same behavior. Opera only creates a desktop icon once after I first pin it to the taskbar. If I delete the desktop icon, it doesn't come back. Same Windows version and build and Opera version as you.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/183996https://forums.opera.com/post/183996Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:57:26 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:24:21 GMT]]>@burnout426

The only way things are ok, is when I use a previous launcher.exe backup from 2018 that opera left on its folder.

This is really strange but as I completely uninstalled Opera and cleared the cache of my data folder, then installed again, there is no reason that this problem that I never had before comes from my pc, for sure it comes from opera.

Other browsers do not have this behaviour when I launch them.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/183995https://forums.opera.com/post/183995Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:24:21 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:18:16 GMT]]>I'll have to test with a standalone installation on another drive when I get a change. There was recently https://forums.opera.com/topic/35374/solved-desktop-actualisation-on-every-start btw.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/183994https://forums.opera.com/post/183994Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:18:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:17:24 GMT]]>@burnout426

Windows 10 (1903)
Opera 64.0.3417.47 (64 bits)
Standalone version installed on D drive

Launching directly from launcher.exe or from desktop shortcut or a 3rd party launcher will have the same effect (flashing desktop icons and creating opera shortcut again and again etc.).

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/183993https://forums.opera.com/post/183993Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:17:24 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:15:09 GMT]]>For a standalone installation, if I pin it to the taskbar, the next time Opera loads, a desktop icon will be created which might refresh the desktop. If I then delete the icon, it's not recreated after that. But, maybe there's something special I have to do to cause the behavior you're getting.

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/183992https://forums.opera.com/post/183992Tue, 08 Oct 2019 10:15:09 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Opera standalone will refresh desktop and create icon at every start on Tue, 08 Oct 2019 09:57:40 GMT]]>I can try to reproduce. What OS? What version of Opera? 32-bit or 64-bit Opera?

Also, where is the standalone installation folder at?

Since a standalone installation doesn't create shortcuts on its own (normally), did you initially right-click on launcher.exe and choose to create a shortcut and then move it to your desktop or something? Did you pin the taskbar icon one Opera was launched?

]]>https://forums.opera.com/post/183991https://forums.opera.com/post/183991Tue, 08 Oct 2019 09:57:40 GMT