Hey what happened to my desktop icons?

I was reorganizing some files into new folders but don't recall doing anything unusual with the desktop folder. Suddenly all file and app icons disappeared. I don't see a "display" option anywhere to check/uncheck HIDE DESKTOP CONTENTS or somesuch. Must be a simple solution. Any help out there?
-Cliff in Nova Scotia

I've had this occasionally happen - have you tried logging out and back in again, powering off and back up again? Did this happen after a recent update? If it's a kernel conflict try booting in to an earlier version. If Zorin is the only OS on the machine you won't see GRUB at boot time - hold down the left shift key while booting to see GRUB and choose Advanced option then choose an earlier kernel to the one you have installed.

I've had the same experience but usually restricted to when dragging images from the Browser to the desktop. Every now and then after I dragged an image to the desktop, the desktop went blank. However, I simply toggled "Zorin Appearance - Desktop - Icons on Desktop" switch and the desktop icons came back again.

Using XFCE desktop over Zorin OS, I've had the same issue. There is no resolution for this bug that I am aware of, and its not documented enough for anybody to care to fix it either. I used to be used to using my desktop space, as I had done that for all years of computing. But, I have now gotten used to the desktop space being clean, and I no longer need to use it for app or file icons. I can display Widgets instead on the desktop space, and use Nautilus or Thunar file managers to work with my files.