Adobe Acrobat DC shortcut keeps reappearing on desktop.

I went to c:\users\public\desktop (it is hidden so you have to check view hidden files) and ran CMD as admin and hid the icon, then unchecked view hidden files.

Not the best solution but at least I do not see the icon. It has been 2 weeks so far.

Guess who updated last night?! Yup! Adobe Lightroom!!! Guess how I know?! Yup! left a little icon on my desktop!! Guess who hasn't fixed anything yet?! Yup Amal and the team behind this dumb ass thing that happens. LMAO! I like the last guy's deep dive, but honestly, I think they should fix it, not us. We have 15 licenses here at work... I don't know what's keeping us from going to CyberLink or DaVinci? lol I'm the one who signs off on that purchase every year. We have 14 young guys that could easily learn a new software (easier than me anyway) and not bat an eye. I laugh but now I think I'm done, I think I realized typing this that they (Adobe) isn't doing it for me anymore. Huh, today this started as a gripe, but it turned into a realization. Hope everyone here finds peace. Have a great day, week, month, year, life, I'm out.

I've had this same problem for years. This is actually a problem with many apps. It seems like a marketing type move to me as a developer myself.

What is actually happening is, the software updates and checks to see if the Desktop Shortcut exists. When it cannot find it, it then creates it in C:\Users\Public\Desktop. This causes it to appear on every users desktop on the machine.

To combat this, I have created a PowerShell script that runs on a scheduled task on my computer. Each time I log into my computer, the script is ran which deletes everything in the Public Desktop. Below is my script if you would like to use it. I'll also post below the instructions of setting the scheduled task up.

Copy/Paste the script into the file name below into your users home directory (or any directory your user can access).

clear_public_desktop.ps1

$BasePath = "C:\Users\Public\Desktop\"
$DirectoryItems = Get-ChildItem -Path $BasePath

foreach ($Item in $DirectoryItems) {
    if ((Get-Item ($BasePath + $Item)) -is [System.IO.DirectoryInfo]) {
        Remove-Item ($BasePath + $Item) -Recurse
    }
    else {
        Remove-Item ($BasePath + $Item)
    }
}

Open File Explorer and navigate to C:\Users\Public and right-click on Desktop. Select Properties. Click "Security" tab at top. Click Edit. Select INTERACTIVE in the "Group or user names" pane. Select Full Control under Allow in the "Permissions for INTERACTIVE" pane. Click OK.

Next, you need to open Windows Task Scheduler. This can be opened by clicking the Start/Window button and typing "Task Scheduler". 

At the top, click "Action", and then "Create Task".

In the new window, give the task a name. I named mine "Clear Public Desktop".

Click the "Triggers" tab at the top and click "New". Click the dropdown next to "Begin the task" and select "At log on". Click OK.

Select the Actions tab at the top of the window. Click New. Make sure the dropdown next to "Action" says "Start a program". If not, then make the change. Click "Browse". Navigate to the script you made above and select it.

Click the "Conditions" tab at the top of the window. Make sure all checkboxes under "Power" are not checked.

Click OK

At this point, you will be prompted for a user/password to use for running this script.

Congratulations! You are now beating "The Man" at his own game.

NOTE: If this is a work computer, your IT department could have you blocked from running scheduled tasks. If this happens, there is a way around that via WSL/Bash/Cron Jobs. However, this is a more advanced method and would require more permission configurations and scripts.

NOTE: This will delete everything in the C:\Users\Public\Desktop. You may want to check and see if there are shortcuts or files in that directory that you use and add them to your user's desktop or use another shared folder.

It's the end of February now and on every PC I own, the icon keeps appearing after an update.  This is a brazen breach of user privacy after telling the app during install that I don't want a desktop icon.  Seems to be a very tacky marketing move that needs to be removed immediately.  

There must have been an update yesterday, I once again found the Acrobat icon on my desktop…

I'm hoping I have finally found a solution. Even after going to System Configuration and disabling the Adobe Update Service, that irritating icon reappeared today. I checked System Configuration and the Update Service was unchecked and it showed disabled on 1/30/23 but the damn thing was RUNNING! Obviously Adobe isn't going to do anything if they've programmed Update to override System Settings. The FIX? Open Task Manager. Select AdobeARMservice. Right click on it. Select Open Services. Under Services (Local) select Adobe Acrobat Update Service. < mine was set to Automatic> Right click on it and select Properties. Under the General tab halfway down find Start Up Type and select Disabled from the drop down menu. Click Apply. Click OK.

In a couple weeks we'll see if that worked or if Adobe somehow manages to override Windows. Already have Foxit installed so if I see that Acrobat icon one more time it's GOODBYE ADOBE FOREVER.

Amal,

Sunday February 19, 2023. Lightroom and Lightroom classic updated and both left an icon on my desktop and guess who showed up without it being updated? You guessed it, acrobat. Managing updates using creative cloud desktop. I am not sending logs, you guys are aware of this, it is purposely done, your customers want you to stop, please stop it. 

Just to be clear, there were 3 new icon on my desk this morning. This is dumb. Stop it please. 

thank you

Amal,

When Adobe Acrobat runs an automatic update, it creates a shortcut on my desktop. Please add an option to disable this.

This is very annoying, and Adobe Acrobat appears to be the only application that creates desktop shortcuts every time it is updated...

-Kyle

02/18/2023 and this is still happening... I just installed the Foxit, will give a try. I hate so much desktop icons.

+1

This is super crumby and invasive user experince.   The worst part is, you've already got my f***ing CC money!  I've converted to a payer...stop bugging me.