How To Change An Icon On Windows 10

While the default Windows icons go the task done, they aren't particularly exciting. If you desire to put a personal spin on your figurer, irresolute Windows x icons is a great mode to practice this.

Nosotros'll bear witness y'all how to change icons on Windows x, including programme and folder icons. With a fleck of piece of work, you lot'll take an all-new interface with a unique look! While we focus on Windows ten here, these tips largely work the same on Windows eleven.

Where to Find Custom Icons for Windows 10

Before you start changing your current Windows 10 icons, y'all need some new icons to replace them with. The Bone has a few additional icons built-in, just they're not that great.

Flaticon is a peachy resource for all your Windows icon needs. The site contains millions of high-quality icons arranged in thousands of convenient packs. You tin can grab everything in a pack at once, or download single icons.

The site offers downloads in several formats. We recommend downloading them in PNG for easy conversion to the ICO format. Keep all the raw downloads in a folder called PNG Icons or similar.

If you don't find what yous're looking for here, try Findicons, IconArchive, or GraphicBurger. We've besides looked at some great Windows icon packs in the past.

Converting PNG Images to ICO Icons

Windows uses ICO files for its icons. Thus, you'll need to convert images from PNG (or other image formats) earlier you utilize them as icons.

ConvertICO offers an easy way to exercise this. You tin upload up to 50 PNG images at once to convert them into the ICO format. If you adopt, y'all can also enter the URL of an image you want to catechumen, cut out the centre step of downloading the PNG.

Proceed all your ICO files in their own folder. Make sure y'all put this somewhere permanent, equally moving icon files afterwards y'all take assigned them will pause the link, requiring you lot to prepare them upwards over again.

How to Change Plan Icons in Windows 10

Windows ten makes it easy to change the program icon for a shortcut, simply not the main executable. Thus, you should make a desktop shortcut for the app icon you want to alter, if you don't have one already.

To do this, search for an app in the Commencement bill of fare, so right-click its name and choose Open file location. In the resulting folder, right-click the program name and choose Ship to > Desktop (create shortcut).

Now yous can change the new shortcut on your desktop. Correct-click it and choose Properties to open up a new window. Hither, switch to the Shortcut tab and click the Modify Icon button at the bottom.

You lot'll run into a listing of alternative icons included in the app, if there are any. To set your own icon, click Scan and navigate to the place where y'all saved your ICO files.

Double-click one to select information technology, and so choose OK on both open dialog boxes. That'due south all you accept to practice to modify a programme icon in Windows 10.

Pinning Custom Icons to the Taskbar

Desire to customize the icons on your Taskbar too? The easiest manner to practice this is to follow the steps above to create custom desktop icons. Afterwards that, only right-click a shortcut and choose Pivot to Taskbar.

If you'd rather, y'all can customize an icon already pinned to your Taskbar. While property Shift, correct-click the app icon and choose Properties. From here, you can follow the aforementioned steps equally above to set a new icon.

You may demand to wait a few moments for changes you brand in this way to take effect.

How to Change Individual Folder Icons in Windows 10

Changing a folder icon is similar to the above process: to begin, correct-click the folder you'd similar to change and cull Backdrop.

On the resulting window, switch to the Customize tab. Select the Change Icon button at the bottom to select a new icon from your computer. Windows includes many default icons for this, but most of them are old-school and ugly. Hit Browse to locate your custom icons instead.

If you ever change your mind, just open up this window and choose Restore Defaults to get the original folder icon back.

How to Alter All Windows Folder Icons at Once

Desire to change all the standard folder icons on your estimator with one activity? You'll have to dig into the Registry to do and then.

Recollect that information technology's possible to damage your system by modifying the Registry, and then take care non to affect any other values while inside.

Showtime, blazon regedit into the Start carte to open up the utility. You'll need to provide ambassador permissions to continue. Navigate to the following location:

          HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Now, correct-click on the Explorer folder in the left navigation tree and select New > Primal. Name the new key Shell Icons, then select information technology in the left panel. In the blank space on the right, right-click and cull New > Expandable String Value. Set its proper noun as 3. Repeat this to create some other string chosen iv.

At present, double-click the three string y'all only made. In the Value data field, enter the location of your folder icon in quotes. An piece of cake way to practise this is by holding Shift while right-clicking your ICO file, then selecting the Re-create as path option. It should look something like this:

          "C:\Users\User\Documents\ICO Icons\folder.ico"

Repeat this for the iv string, then click OK and get out the Registry Editor.

If yous don't see the alter take effect upon opening a new File Explorer window, you'll need to restart File Explorer for your changes to take issue. To exercise this, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open up the Task Manager. Click More details to aggrandize it if needed. On the Processes tab, find Windows Explorer. Right-click this and choose Restart.

This should utilize your new icon to all folders. To remove this in the future, merely delete the Beat Icons Registry key you created.

Windows 10 Custom Folder Icons All Folders

Nosotros tested this method equally working in Windows ten version 20H2, but other users have reported that it has no effect. Your mileage may thus vary depending on your version of Windows 10.

How to Change File Icons by Blazon

Normally, for each file type, Windows shows an icon of the default programme. If you lot'd like to alter this, yous tin can employ a free utility called FileTypesMan to change the icon for any file type.

Subsequently downloading and running information technology, press Ctrl + F to locate the file type you want to change. Double-click information technology in the list to open a new window with many more options. Next to the Default Icon field, y'all'll run across a ... (ellipsis) button.

Click this and you'll open the familiar Windows dialog box that lets y'all change the icon.

Using this, you can set up separate icons to distinguish file types, even if they open in the same program. You might desire to make it easier to highlight JPG and PNG files at a glance, or spot old Physician Word files non using the newer DOCX format, for instance.

How to Change Drive Icons in Windows

Want to change the icons that you see in This PC for your diverse reckoner drives? A free utility chosen Drive Icon Changer makes this like shooting fish in a barrel.

Information technology'due south similar to FileTypesMan mentioned higher up, simply much more bones. Only select a drive and the desired icon, and it will apply them for you lot subsequently a restart. That's all it takes.

How to Create Blank Taskbar Icons

Ordinarily, all of your Taskbar icons appear aslope each other. If you'd like to add some space—possibly to divide icons by type—y'all tin achieve this with a workaround.

Creating Dummy Batch Files

To starting time, create a new folder somewhere you can keep permanently. Name it Spaces or something similar. Inside this folder, right-click again and choose New > Text document. Double-click the file to open it.

Inside the text file, enter the following. This will create a batch file that's a dummy; it immediately opens and closes a Command Prompt window if y'all click on it.

          @echo off
exit

Subsequently this, become to File > Save As. In the saving dialog box, give the file a proper noun ending in .BAT. If y'all desire to create multiple spaces, you should and then re-create, paste, and rename the file so you have several named Space1.bat, Space2.bat, and then on.

Set Upwards a Blank Icon

Windows has blank icons built-in. But in our testing, these can announced as black squares on your Taskbar instead of transparent boxes, which is no good. This means you'll need to quickly make your own "blank" icon.

Open an image editor (nosotros used Paint.NET) and hit Ctrl + Shift + R to alter the canvas size. Create i that's perfectly square; 256x256 volition work. Printing Ctrl + A to select the unabridged image, then press Del to erase information technology. This will create a transparent foursquare when saved as a PNG.

Withal, if yous exit it like this, you'll run into the same black block problem. Thus, you need to take the Pencil tool, zoom in, and utilize it to draw a single pixel in a corner of the paradigm. This will effectively be invisible when information technology sits on your Taskbar.

Save the file as a PNG, then apply an online converter as mentioned higher up to catechumen this into an ICO file.

Creating and Pinning Shortcuts

Now, right-click each Space file you made and choose Create shortcut, as y'all'll demand a shortcut, not the principal BAT file, in social club to modify the icon. And then right-click each shortcut file, select Properties, and use the Change Icon button to select your new blank icon.

In one case this is done, you'll need to add together one more than element in lodge to add these shortcuts to your Taskbar. In the Shortcut tab of each BAT file, enter explorer in front of everything in the Target box. Make sure in that location'due south a space before the opening quotes.

At present you can right-click all your Space files and cull Pin to taskbar. They'll announced as blank icons, assuasive you to drag them wherever you like and group your other icons.

How to Change the Desktop Icon Size on Windows x

But want to suit the size of Windows ten icons on your desktop? That's an piece of cake fix. On the desktop, you tin correct-click whatever empty infinite and cull View to select Pocket-sized icons, Medium icons, or Large icons.

If you don't similar one of those presets, agree the Ctrl primal and roll your mouse wheel. This gives you lot more granular control over icon size.

In a File Explorer window, you'll find more size options under the View menu. The method of scrolling your mouse cycle while holding Ctrl works, besides.

Windows ten Desktop Icons Missing?

If you don't see whatever icons on your desktop, chances are that you've hidden them all. Getting them dorsum takes just a few clicks. Right-click anywhere on your desktop, then select View > Show desktop icons if it'south not already checked. With this enabled, y'all should meet your desktop icons with no problem.

If this didn't fix your problem, your estimator may be in tablet mode, which prevents your desktop icons from showing. To disable tablet style, visit Settings > Arrangement > Tablet.

Finally, if yous're missing the default Windows ten system icons, you'll demand to restore them in another menu. Go to Settings > Personalization > Themes and on the right side of the window, select Desktop icon settings.

This will launch a new window where you can toggle the icons for This PC, your user binder, Network, Command Panel, and the Recycle Bin. While here, you tin also change the icons for these shortcuts if you lot want.

Customize Every Icon in Windows

At present you know how to change nearly every icon on your Windows organization. Whether you desire to completely overhaul everything or just want to change a few shortcut icons, you lot have the tools to personalize your computer in a fun way.

If you love personalization, information technology thankfully doesn't end here. At that place are many other ways to customize the look and feel of your Windows environment.

How to Change the Look and Experience of Your Windows 10 Desktop