How To Change File Icon Windows 10

While the default Windows icons get the job done, they aren't particularly exciting. If you want to put a personal spin on your computer, irresolute Windows 10 icons is a great manner to practise this.

Nosotros'll show you how to change icons on Windows 10, including program and folder icons. With a scrap of piece of work, you'll take an all-new interface with a unique look! While nosotros focus on Windows ten here, these tips largely work the same on Windows eleven.

Where to Notice Custom Icons for Windows 10

Before you get-go irresolute your current Windows ten icons, you lot demand some new icons to supercede them with. The OS has a few boosted icons built-in, but they're not that great.

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

The site offers downloads in several formats. We recommend downloading them in PNG for like shooting fish in a barrel conversion to the ICO format. Go on all the raw downloads in a folder chosen PNG Icons or similar.

If you don't find what you're looking for here, try Findicons, IconArchive, or GraphicBurger. We've also looked at some peachy 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 epitome formats) before you use them as icons.

ConvertICO offers an easy way to practise this. You can upload up to l PNG images at one time to catechumen them into the ICO format. If you lot adopt, you lot can as well enter the URL of an image y'all desire to convert, cutting out the middle step of downloading the PNG.

Go along all your ICO files in their ain folder. Make certain you put this somewhere permanent, equally moving icon files after you lot have assigned them will break the link, requiring you to prepare them up again.

How to Alter Program Icons in Windows 10

Windows 10 makes information technology easy to change the program icon for a shortcut, merely not the main executable. Thus, you should make a desktop shortcut for the app icon you lot want to modify, if you lot don't take one already.

To do this, search for an app in the Start card, and then right-click its name and choose Open file location. In the resulting folder, right-click the program proper noun and choose Send to > Desktop (create shortcut).

Now yous tin can modify the new shortcut on your desktop. Right-click it and cull Properties to open a new window. Here, switch to the Shortcut tab and click the Change Icon push button at the bottom.

You lot'll run across a list of alternative icons included in the app, if in that location are any. To set your own icon, click Scan and navigate to the place where you saved your ICO files.

Double-click one to select information technology, then choose OK on both open up dialog boxes. That'due south all you have to do to change a program icon in Windows x.

Pinning Custom Icons to the Taskbar

Want to customize the icons on your Taskbar also? The easiest manner to do this is to follow the steps in a higher place to create custom desktop icons. After that, but correct-click a shortcut and cull Pin to Taskbar.

If y'all'd rather, you lot can customize an icon already pinned to your Taskbar. While belongings Shift, right-click the app icon and choose Backdrop. From here, you lot can follow the aforementioned steps every bit above to set a new icon.

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

How to Modify Individual Folder Icons in Windows 10

Changing a folder icon is similar to the higher up procedure: to begin, correct-click the folder you'd like to change and cull Backdrop.

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

If you lot e'er change your listen, simply open this window and choose Restore Defaults to get the original folder icon dorsum.

How to Change All Windows Folder Icons at Once

Want to change all the standard folder icons on your computer with one action? You lot'll have to dig into the Registry to practice then.

Recall that it'south possible to damage your system by modifying the Registry, so take care not to touch any other values while inside.

First, type regedit into the Start menu to open the utility. Yous'll demand to provide administrator permissions to continue. Navigate to the post-obit location:

          HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Now, right-click on the Explorer binder in the left navigation tree and select New > Central. Name the new central Shell Icons, and so select it in the left console. In the blank space on the correct, right-click and cull New > Expandable String Value. Fix its name as 3. Repeat this to create another cord chosen 4.

Now, double-click the 3 string you just fabricated. In the Value information field, enter the location of your folder icon in quotes. An easy style to do this is by holding Shift while right-clicking your ICO file, so selecting the Copy as path option. It should look something like this:

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

Repeat this for the four cord, then click OK and exit the Registry Editor.

If you don't see the modify take effect upon opening a new File Explorer window, you'll need to restart File Explorer for your changes to take consequence. To practice this, press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open the Chore Manager. Click More than details to aggrandize it if needed. On the Processes tab, find Windows Explorer. Correct-click this and choose Restart.

This should apply your new icon to all folders. To remove this in the future, simply delete the Beat Icons Registry central you created.

Windows 10 Custom Folder Icons All Folders

We tested this method as working in Windows 10 version 20H2, simply 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 past Type

Normally, for each file type, Windows shows an icon of the default programme. If y'all'd like to change this, you can use a costless utility called FileTypesMan to change the icon for any file type.

After downloading and running it, press Ctrl + F to locate the file blazon you want to modify. Double-click it in the list to open up a new window with many more options. Next to the Default Icon field, you'll meet a ... (ellipsis) button.

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

Using this, y'all tin fix divide icons to distinguish file types, even if they open in the same program. You lot might want to make information technology easier to highlight JPG and PNG files at a glance, or spot old Doc Word files not using the newer DOCX format, for example.

How to Alter Drive Icons in Windows

Want to change the icons that y'all meet in This PC for your various computer drives? A free utility called Drive Icon Changer makes this piece of cake.

It's similar to FileTypesMan mentioned above, but much more than basic. Simply select a drive and the desired icon, and it will use them for you lot after a restart. That'south all it takes.

How to Create Blank Taskbar Icons

Ordinarily, all of your Taskbar icons announced alongside each other. If yous'd like to add together some space—perhaps to separate icons by blazon—you can achieve this with a workaround.

Creating Dummy Batch Files

To start, create a new folder somewhere you can go on permanently. Proper name information technology Spaces or something like. Inside this folder, correct-click once more and cull New > Text document. Double-click the file to open information technology.

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

          @echo off
leave

After this, get to File > Save Every bit. In the saving dialog box, give the file a name ending in .BAT. If yous want to create multiple spaces, you should then re-create, paste, and rename the file so you have several named Space1.bat, Space2.bat, and and so on.

Gear up a Blank Icon

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

Open an image editor (we used Paint.Net) and hitting Ctrl + Shift + R to modify the canvas size. Create ane that'southward perfectly foursquare; 256x256 will work. Press Ctrl + A to select the entire image, then press Del to erase it. This volition create a transparent square when saved as a PNG.

However, if you lot go out it like this, you'll run into the aforementioned blackness block trouble. Thus, you lot need to take the Pencil tool, zoom in, and employ it to draw a single pixel in a corner of the epitome. This will finer exist invisible when it sits on your Taskbar.

Relieve the file as a PNG, then apply an online converter as mentioned above to convert this into an ICO file.

Creating and Pinning Shortcuts

Now, right-click each Space file you made and choose Create shortcut, equally you'll need a shortcut, not the principal BAT file, in order to alter the icon. Then correct-click each shortcut file, select Properties, and apply the Change Icon button to select your new blank icon.

Once this is washed, you'll need to add i more element in social club 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 certain there's a infinite before the opening quotes.

At present you lot can right-click all your Space files and choose Pivot to taskbar. They'll announced as blank icons, allowing you to drag them wherever you similar and group your other icons.

How to Alter the Desktop Icon Size on Windows 10

Only desire to adapt the size of Windows x icons on your desktop? That's an piece of cake fix. On the desktop, you can right-click whatever empty space and choose View to select Minor icons, Medium icons, or Large icons.

If you don't like i of those presets, hold the Ctrl key and scroll your mouse wheel. This gives you more granular command over icon size.

In a File Explorer window, you'll notice more size options under the View menu. The method of scrolling your mouse wheel while holding Ctrl works, as well.

Windows 10 Desktop Icons Missing?

If you don't encounter any icons on your desktop, chances are that you lot've hidden them all. Getting them back takes just a few clicks. Correct-click anywhere on your desktop, then select View > Show desktop icons if it's not already checked. With this enabled, you lot should come across your desktop icons with no trouble.

If this didn't ready your problem, your computer may exist in tablet mode, which prevents your desktop icons from showing. To disable tablet fashion, visit Settings > System > Tablet.

Finally, if you lot're missing the default Windows 10 arrangement icons, yous'll need 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 yous can toggle the icons for This PC, your user folder, Network, Command Panel, and the Recycle Bin. While here, you lot tin can besides change the icons for these shortcuts if you want.

Customize Every Icon in Windows

Now you lot know how to change nearly every icon on your Windows arrangement. Whether y'all want to completely overhaul everything or just want to alter a few shortcut icons, you have the tools to personalize your estimator in a fun way.

If y'all love personalization, information technology thankfully doesn't finish here. There are many other ways to customize the look and feel of your Windows surroundings.

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