How to change file icons in Windows

Posted on May 29, 2008 at 5:23 am

Looking for a way to change the default file icons in Windows? Windows XP has some decent icons for your shortcuts like My Computer, My Documents, Recycle Bin, etc, but they are nothing very special. And after 7 years on the market, looking at those same icons over and over gets boring!

You can change the icons in Windows in two ways: manually by going to Properties or by using some icon tweaking programs. I’ll go through both methods just in case you prefer one over the other.

Firstly, you’ll need to have your icons ready that you want to use in place of the default icons. You can either download icons in .ICO format or download icon libraries (DLL), icon packages, or even know the executable file that contains the icons you want.

I’ve written several posts earlier on how to find icons and how to extract icons from EXE, DLL, and other file types, so read those posts first if you don’t already have a set of icons ready.

Change File Icon in Windows

So first, let’s go through the manual way of changing icons in Windows. There are two sets of icons: icons for file types and Windows icons, like My Computer, etc. Changing each set requires different steps. First let’s start out with Windows icons.

Step 1: Right-click on the desktop and choose Properties.

Step 2: Click on the Desktop tab and click on the Customize Desktop button.

Step 3: You’ll now see the default Windows icons in the scrollable box. It should contain My Computer, My Documents, My Network Places, and Recycle Bin (full and empty).

Step 4: Click on any of the icons and choose Change Icon. You’ll now have the option to browse for icons, icon files, programs and libraries.

And that’s it! You’ve now changed the icon to something a little more to your liking hopefully!

Change File Type Icon in Windows

Now what about all those files? Whatever program you install on your computer always has some kind of icon associated with it. There is one that shows up on the desktop, one for the quick launch bar, etc. You can also change these quite easily.

Again, you’ll need to already have the icons ready before going through the next steps.

Step 1: Open My Computer and go to Tools and then Folder Options.

Step 2: Click on the File Types tab and you’ll see a listing of all the registered file types on your computer along with the extensions and the icon.

Step 3: Scroll down to the file extension you want to change the icon for and then select it in the list. After that, click on the Advanced button at the bottom of the dialog.

Step 4: Click the Change Icon button at the top right and choose your replacement icon.

That’s how simple it is to change the file icons in Windows XP and Windows Vista. If you’re changing a bunch of file icons or the entire set of system icons, then this method could be quite tedious. In that case there are a couple of freeware programs you can try out to help make the process of changing file icons easier.

Icon Phile – Allows you to add homemade icons to your desktop.

ActivIcons – makes it simple to change properties for various icons on your Windows desktop and in Explorer, plus attributes for many other desktop settings.

IconTweaker - is a freeware application that allows you to customize all your Windows icons.

FileTypesMan – is an alternative to the ‘File Types’ tab in the ‘Folder Options’ of Windows that can also be used to change system icons.

WinIcon Customizer – is the standard way to change all the icons on your Windows PC.

Hopefully that’s enough to get your going on your journey to changing all of your Windows icons! Enjoy!

[tags]change file icon, change exe file icon, change file icon windows, change file icons, change file type icon, change icon files[/tags]

» Filed Under Computer Tips

Comments

16 Responses to “How to change file icons in Windows”

Prince234 said on : May 29th, 2008 at 9:02 am

Nice blog, full of good infos, keep the good work going.

akishore said on : May 29th, 2008 at 10:13 am

Prince – thanks a lot! I am glad you like the blog! Please do come back for more computer tips!

Prince234 said on : May 29th, 2008 at 10:27 am

I’m the one to thank you, i have learn more from you, infact i bookmark your blog already.

abhishek said on : May 30th, 2008 at 10:49 am

Well i would prefer a little application that does not cost too much on memory and allows me to change entire set of windows icons in one go…and u have just explained everything…really nice post.

Einstein said on : November 13th, 2008 at 7:01 pm

Thanks for sharing those facts and freeware programs.
Here are some questions I may ask before downloading those freeware programs.

1. Are they safe? Could I still undo those changes I made?
2. Do they not delete the original icons I have (Windows XP)? I am very glad you, yourself, or anybody here can answer my questions.

Cheers,
Einstein

Gordon said on : November 14th, 2008 at 7:59 pm

This doesn’t work in Vista.

castmo said on : November 20th, 2008 at 2:36 pm

Hi,

Thank you very much. Can i ask how to make it in Vista Home Basic Edition as well? Thank you.

Steve said on : January 31st, 2009 at 11:27 am

I concur with Gordon, this does not work in Vista. I have tried several other suggested pathways including using the system registry but none have worked to change a file icon in Vista. FYI, I was trying to change the icon for Zip files but it has been a failure. Has anyone else ever done that successfully in Vista?

Ateiyev said on : February 17th, 2009 at 10:46 pm

Please remove WinIcon Customizer from the list of softwares. It is seriously infected with a virus and loads of Spyware. It tries to install at least four different toolbars on your system. Avast Antivirus and Comodo Internet Security flagged the threats detected.

Kamilo said on : March 26th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

Nice, one can learn so many things by just reading a bit.

Prince said on : June 8th, 2009 at 1:08 am

Hi,

I have a problem. I tried to open a DBF file, but I couldn’t open it. So, right clicked that file, then chose “open with” and selected the Internet explorer. Then all DBF files are changed as IE (blue E) icon. I have to change those all IE icon to default icon. What shall I do?

Whitestar said on : November 7th, 2009 at 12:07 pm

To make your own icons, you don’t need to download anything. In MS Paint, either open an existing file or start a new one from scratch. When you are satisfied with the picture, save it as a 24-bit bitmap (.bmp). This is the standard saving option if you just created the image. Once you have saved the image, go to the folder it’s in and rename it as an icon file: yourfilename.ico. The system will warn you that the file may become unusable if you change the file name; just do it anyway. Then, attach it to whatever folder, hardware, or file type you want as described above, and you have a custom icon made with just MS Paint.

TIP: if you are going to create an icon from an existing image, try to make it EXTREMELY low-res, or else Windows will mess up its appearance when it’s used.

EOLO said on : December 2nd, 2009 at 9:34 am

Can you use this method to change file icons in Windows 7? What about folder icons? I want to customize the icons in Windows 7. How so?

Trista said on : December 9th, 2009 at 2:41 pm

Note that you can also change the icon for a single program or shortcut on your desktop by right-clicking and choosing Properties. You’ll see a Change Icon button at bottom of the Shortcut tab. Thanks.

polocanada said on : December 19th, 2009 at 2:48 pm

speedapps.com/winicon_customizer.htm

WinIcon Customizer

This is TROJAN – dont downlad..

mactaffy93 said on : January 11th, 2010 at 1:40 pm

Hey, your blog is great and has helped alot, but do you know what format your pictures have to be in to make your own icons?