How To Change Folder Icon Windows

Personalizing your icons is a great way to brand a PC uniquely yours. Allow'south accept a look at the different means Windows lets you customize your icons.

RELATED: How to Make an Icon for Windows 10 or 11 Out of Any Image

Windows has some built-in icons you can choose from, but in that location is also an untold number of icons you can download from sites like IconArchive, DeviantArt, and Iconfinder—all of which have loads of gratis icons. And if you can't find something y'all like, you lot tin can fifty-fifty make high-resolution icons out of any image.

Once you have the icons of your dreams, save them in a safe place—some of these processes volition require they stay in a particular location on your PC. In other cases, you'll probably want them there but in case something goes wrong and you accept to re-apply them.

Change Your Desktop Icons (Computer, Recycle Bin, Network, and So On)

Icons like This PC, Network, Recycle Bin, and your User folder are all considered "desktop icons," even though modern versions of Windows don't show them all on the desktop. Windows 8 and 10 don't evidence any of the desktop icons except for Recycle Bin, and fifty-fifty Windows 7 doesn't show them all. For a complete rundown, check out our guide to restoring missing desktop icons in Windows 7, viii, or 10.

Merely yous can however change how these icons appear elsewhere on your organisation. To do and then, yous'll need to admission the "Desktop Icon Settings" window to plough these icons on and off or to modify the associated icons. In Windows 10, you tin can access this window through Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop Icon Settings. In Windows 8 and 10, it's Control Console > Personalize > Change Desktop Icons.

Use the checkboxes in the "Desktop icons" section to select which icons y'all want on your desktop. To modify an icon, select the icon yous want to modify and then click the "Change Icon" button.

In the "Alter Icon" window, you can select any icon y'all want from the congenital-in Windows icons, or you lot can click "Browse" to locate your own icon files.

If you scan for your own icons, yous tin can select any EXE, DLL, or ICO file. After selecting the file, the "Change Icon" window will bear witness the icons independent in the file you selected. Click the one you desire and then click "OK." Here, nosotros're changing the "This PC" icon to use i that looks more similar a laptop than a desktop.

Later on changing your icon, y'all should run across the new icon used in File Explorer, on the Desktop, and in the taskbar when the binder is open up.

And if you want to reverse the modify, you can always go back to the "Desktop Icon Settings" window, select the icon you want to change dorsum, and then click "Restore Default."

Alter Folder Icons

Changing the icon for a binder is not only a good way to pretty things upward, simply also to phone call attention to of import items. To alter a folder icon, right-click the folder you want to modify and then choose "Properties."

select properties from a folder's context menu

In the binder'southward properties window, switch to the "Customize" tab and then click the "Change Icon" push button.

In the "Change Icon" window, you can select any icon you want from the born Windows icons, or you can Click "Browse" to locate your own icons.

If you browse for your own icon file, yous tin can select whatever EXE, DLL, or ICO file. After selecting the file, the "Change Icon" window will testify the icons contained in the file yous selected. Click the one you want and then click "OK." Here, we're changing the icon for this folder to a red ane to make it stand up out more than.

And back in the properties window, click "OK."

click OK to exit properties window

The folder should now show up with the new icon.

This feature works past creating a hidden Desktop.ini file inside the folder that contains a few lines of data something like the following:

[.ShellClassInfo] IconResource=D:\Walter\Documents\Icons\Oxygen-Icons.org-Oxygen-Places-folder-ruddy.ico,0 [ViewState] Mode= Vid= FolderType=Generic

This is ane of the cases where you absolutely must continue the ICO file in whatever location you had it when you applied the icon. Put it somewhere yous know you won't delete information technology first, or make the ICO file hidden.

And if yous want to fine-tune how folders look and operate on your PC, you should besides explore how to customize binder views with Windows' five templates and how to customize folder view settings in Windows.

Alter the Icon for a Type of File

You can also modify the icon for specific file types (those that end in sure extensions) so that all files of that blazon use the new icon. Why bother to do this? Suppose, for case, yous use an image editing program that uses essentially the same icon for all the unlike types of image files it supported—PNG, JPG, GIF, and so on. You might observe information technology more convenient if each of those file types used a different icon, so they were easier to distinguish—peculiarly if you keep multiple file types in the aforementioned binder.

Unfortunately, there'south no built-in fashion to do this in Windows. Instead, you'll need to download a free tool to do the task: File Types Manager by Nirsoft. We've got a complete guide to using File Types Manager to change the icon for a sure file type, so if yous think this would be useful for you lot, give information technology a read!

filetypesman window

The 1 type of file that File Types Manager is not adept at handling, though, is executable (EXE) files. For that, we've got another free tool recommendation: Resource Hacker. And of course, we as well have a guide on using information technology to modify the icon for an EXE file.

Change the Icon of Any Shortcut

Changing the icon for a shortcut in Windows is also pretty simple and works the same whether it's a shortcut to an app, folder, or even Command Prompt control. Right-click the shortcut and choose "Backdrop."

choose properties command on shortcut's context menu

On the "Shortcut" tab, click the "Change Icon" button.

This opens the standard "Change Icon" window we've seen a couple of times already. Choose i of the default icons or browse to any EXE, DLL, or ICO file that contains icons. Later on making and applying your selection, y'all'll meet the new icon in File Explorer, on the Desktop, or on the taskbar if you have your Shortcut pinned in that location.

If y'all want, yous can even customize those shortcut icons further by removing (or changing) the arrow overlays or preventing Windows from adding the "- Shortcut" text.

Modify the Icon of Apps that Are Pinned to the Taskbar

Icons that are pinned to your taskbar are really shortcuts—they merely don't accept the pointer overlay and "- Shortcut" text normally associated with shortcuts. As such, y'all tin can customize their icons in nearly the same way that you customize whatever shortcut icon. You simply need to keep a few things in mind:

You tin can only customize the icons of apps that are actually pinned to the taskbar. If the icon is only on the taskbar because the app is currently running and it isn't pinned there, you can't customize it. So, pivot it first.
If an app is pinned, merely is currently running, you'll demand to shut the app before you tin can change the shortcut icon.
Just right-clicking a pinned app shows you the app'southward jumplist. To access the regular context menu instead, hold the Shift key down while correct-clicking the icon. Choose "Backdrop" from that menu and so the remainder of the process volition exist familiar to you lot from the previous department.

choose properties command on taskbar shortcut's context menu

Change the Icon of any Drive in File Explorer

There'due south no elementary built-in way to modify the icons for drives in Windows. That doesn't mean you can't practise it though. The like shooting fish in a barrel manner is to employ a free app named Drive Icon Changer. There's besides a way that works a bit differently and involves a little Registry editing. Yous tin read all almost both methods in our guide to irresolute drive icons in Windows.

Drive Icon Changer is the easiest way, though you lot can do it from the registry if you'd adopt not to use extra software.

Hopefully, this gives you enough data about changing icons that you can make things look but the fashion y'all want them.