Finder can't be activated and no icons on desktop

[nickmjones]

I've run into a truly bizarre issue. After installing 10.13.3, I can no longer activate the Finder by clicking on the desktop. Doing so does nothing. Once I *do* activate the Finder by clicking on the Dock, I still can't right click on the desktop to change wallpaper, etc. My icons are also missing from the desktop, even though my preferences for the Finder are set to show hard drives, etc.

I initially thought this might be related to having my machine connected to a TV—but after reconnecting and disconnecting there's no change. I also reinstalled 10.13.3 over night last night to no effect. Any ideas?

 

[Gregg2]

Try a different User Account. If it doesn't happen, migrate over.
You probably want to figure out why it's happening. How much longer do you expect to live?

 

[nickmjones]

You have a point. I made a new user and everything was working fine there, so I just bailed and formatted/reinstalled. Everything I need is either in iCloud, Dropbox or Github.