The latest version of Gnome desktop has removed all of the desktop icons. The global configuration will not allow for the change that is needed and will require each user to implement the change within their shell.

1. Login to a Linux desktop
2. Open a terminal window
3. Copy and paste the following without the quotes
4. “gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.background show-desktop-icons true ”
5. Your desktop icons will appear.
6. You should never need to do this again.