Prevent Sonoma creating "Screenshots", "Documents" and "PDF Documents" folders/collections on desktop

With macOS Sonoma, Apple introduced a new feature that automatically organizes certain file types—like screenshots, documents, and PDFs—into grouped folders or “collections” on your desktop. While the intention was to reduce desktop clutter, it can be frustrating if you prefer to manage your files manually or rely on quick access to recent items. Unfortunately, there isn’t a direct toggle in System Settings to turn this behavior off completely. However, one workaround is to right-click on your desktop and select “Use Stacks” if it's enabled—this is what triggers the automatic grouping. By turning off Stacks, your files will stop being automatically sorted into folders.

FWIW, the reason why this is not dealt with in System Settings it is because it is a feature of one specific application, namely the Finder. That is why you set it by control-clicking on the Desktop, or via the View menu: you can click on the Desktop, then View->Use Stacks to check or uncheck it.