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Is there an API or a database/settings file/registry for getting the positions of icons on the Desktop?

If you wonder why I want that, basically I want to create a replica of Desktop in my app for my personal use, so that I could access those icons, when multiple windows are open, without using the "Show Desktop" feature which minimises all windows. The problem of Window's "Show Desktop" is that if I opened a new window by clicking an icon on the desktop, performing "Show Desktop" again does not restore all minimised windows at once.

On macOS, I did not have this problem, because pinching-out with 4 fingers showed the desktop without minimising opened windows. It just temporarily moved them out of the screen, and pinching-in restored windows to their original states, even if I had opened a new window by clicking an icon on the desktop.

There are other ways to access those icons, without using "Show Desktop", like opening the Desktop location in File Explore, but then the icon locations are not the same as the Desktop, so it is difficult to find the item I want. Enabling multiple virtual Desktops, and switching to an empty Desktop to click the item is one way, but then it gets opened on that Desktop and I would have to move it to the other Desktop.

Damn Vegetables
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    [IFolderView::GetItemPosition](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/shobjidl_core/nf-shobjidl_core-ifolderview-getitemposition). – IInspectable Sep 27 '20 at 20:13
  • Does this [answer](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/58126669/where-are-positions-of-desktop-shortcuts-stored/58222958#58222958) solve your problem? – Zeus Sep 28 '20 at 01:58
  • A sample is here: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20130318-00/?p=4933 – Simon Mourier Sep 28 '20 at 06:35

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