RPi 4B - No Desktop Icons

Standard vanilla Gmoccapy 2.9.4, 3-axis turret mill, no internet connection,
Has operated fine, no problems, no faults, for quite some time,

Now it powers up with a blue screen devoid of icons,
Can still launch with/Applications/Accessories/LinuxCNC/drop-down-dialog-box/Gmoccapy/.

Web search tells me the absence of desktop icons is normal for Debian 12 Gnome desktop.
Also found a Gnome extension, "desktop-icons-ng", that can be applied to add the icons.

Will I break something if I attempt to apply this extension ?

Is there a better way ?

Thanks,
John.