Stop Citrix Workspace From Creating Desktop & Start Menu Shortcuts

After Citrix Workspace app (formerly Receiver) signs in, it auto-creates shortcuts for every app the user is subscribed to — scattering icons across the desktop and the Start menu. On a shared or kiosk machine that’s noise. You control it from two places: the client registry (the Dazzle key) and the StoreFront side that decides which apps get shortcuts at all.

Back up the registry key before editing. 64-bit/ARM64 Workspace uses HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Dazzle; 32-bit uses HKLM\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle. Values are REG_SZ strings (“true”/“false”). On managed devices, ask the Citrix administrator to use the shortcut policy. Restart Workspace after applying the settings.

Fix 1: Turn off desktop shortcuts

Set, under the Dazzle key above:

PutShortcutsOnDesktop = false

That stops apps being placed on the desktop. (Set it to true and every app lands on the desktop — which is the opposite of what you want here.)

Fix 2: Turn off Start menu shortcuts

Set this string value under the same Dazzle key:

PutShortcutsInStartMenu = false

Administrators can also configure Citrix Workspace → Self Service → Manage App Shortcut in the Citrix Group Policy template. Keep the self-service UI available so users can launch apps there. SelfServiceMode=false hides that UI and enables shortcuts-only mode; it does not block shortcuts.

Fix 3: Control it at the source (StoreFront keywords)

For a managed deployment, the cleanest control is on the delivery group / application properties in Citrix Studio, via keywords in the description:

• KEYWORDS:Auto — makes the app a favorite automatically; the user can remove the favorite.
• KEYWORDS:Mandatory — makes the app mandatory so the user cannot remove it from the Workspace Home tab.

Review these together with PutShortcutsOnDesktop and PutShortcutsInStartMenu. Removing a keyword alone does not guarantee no shortcuts; favorite and mandatory apps follow the shortcut configuration.

Fix 4: Put them in a folder instead of loose

If you want shortcuts in a folder, enable shortcut creation for both locations and set their subfolder names. Folder names alone do not re-enable shortcuts disabled in Fix 1 or Fix 2:

PutShortcutsOnDesktop = true
PutShortcutsInStartMenu = true
DesktopDir  = \Citrix Apps
StartMenuDir = \Citrix Apps

Apply it in one step (.reg file)

Rather than click through regedit on every machine, drop the values into a .reg file and import it. Paste this into Notepad and save as no-citrix-shortcuts.reg:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Dazzle]
"PutShortcutsOnDesktop"="false"
"PutShortcutsInStartMenu"="false"

Then double-click it (or run reg import no-citrix-shortcuts.reg from an admin prompt), and have the user log off and back on.

• 32-bit Workspace app: change the key line to [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Citrix\Dazzle].
• Want the folder approach instead? Keep the same registry-key header and replace the two disabling value lines with all four values below (the doubled backslashes are required in .reg syntax):

"PutShortcutsOnDesktop"="true"
"PutShortcutsInStartMenu"="true"
"DesktopDir"="\\Citrix Apps"
"StartMenuDir"="\\Citrix Apps"

To push it to many machines, deploy the .reg import (or the equivalent values) via Group Policy Preferences or your management tool.

FAQ

Which registry path is mine? If you installed the standard (64-bit) Workspace app on 64-bit Windows, use HKLM\SOFTWARE\Citrix\Dazzle. Only the older 32-bit client uses Wow6432Node. If unsure, check both — the key that already has values is the live one.

I set the value but icons still appear. Restart Workspace, check the installer architecture and registry path, and have the administrator review the effective shortcut policy and StoreFront settings. Do not use SelfServiceMode=false as a shortcut-blocking fix.

Does this remove existing icons? New sign-ins won’t recreate them, but already-placed shortcuts may linger — delete them once, or use SilentlyUninstallRemovedResources/log-off cleanup behavior to clear them.

Sources: Citrix — Application delivery (Workspace app for Windows), Citrix Support — App Shortcuts with Receiver/Workspace app for Windows (CTX230318), Citrix — Configure shortcuts and reconnect options