Rename Your Recycle Bin

IDevice Icon Can I Do This?

"I would like to rename the "Recycle Bin" into something more interesting, can I?"

"If so, how?"

You can personalize your XP installation by renaming your recycle bin to whatever you wish, but be warned, this requires a registry edit.

Editing your registry can cause problems and computer crashes. Only do it if you know what you are doing (remember neither the authors nor the RSC-Northwest shall be responsible or liable for any errors or omissions).


  • Click Start
Image showing Start being clicked
  • Click Run
Image showing Run being clicked
  • Type regedit and...
  • hit ENTER
Image of dialog Box with regedit in the Open pane and OK being clicked
  • In the registry editor go to the following key:
  • HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\MUICache

  • Double click on the following value:
    @C:\WINDOWS\system32\SHELL32.dll,-8964


Image showing double-clicking
  • Change the value to whatever you wish. (In this example I've renamed it eLearning Rubbish)
  • Click OK and close down regedit
Image showing name change and clicking OK
  • Right-Click on a blank area of the desktop and select Refresh from the menu that appears.
Image showing Refresh being selected
  • After the screen refreshes, your recycle bin will be renamed to whatever you decided. (This is an image of my Bin!)
Image of Renamed Bin
« Previous | Next »

Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Produced and edited by John Dalziel (eLearning Adviser) JISC RSC-Northwest