It isn’t a simple case of highlighting it and deleting it, however. There are various ways to remove it, one of which is to use the Personalisation options in the Control Panel. Here’s how to get rid of the HomeGroup icon on your PC or laptop. Step 1: From the Windows 8 Start Screen, search for ‘Show or hide common icons on the desktop’. Alternatively, right-click on the desktop in the bottom-left corner to show the small menu which includes Control Panel. From there, click Appearance and Personalisation, then Personalisation. Finally, click Change desktop icons on the left.
Step 2: Even if the box next to Network is unticked, click it to enable it, then disable it again. (If it’s ticked to start with, untick it).
Step 3: Click OK and you should find the HomeGroup icon has gone from the desktop. There seems to be a bug where the HomeGroup icon can reappear at random. It’s simple enough to run through this quick process when that happens, but hopefully a future Windows update will fix this problem. See also: How to shut down Windows 8 with your computer’s power button Jim has been testing and reviewing products for over 20 years. His main beats include VPN services and antivirus. He also covers smart home tech, mesh Wi-Fi and electric bikes.
