Alex Ruben
How To Customize Default Icons and Folder Icons on Windows 10 / 11
Trying to make your PC look a bit more personal? Changing default icons—like those for folders, This PC, or Recycle Bin—can add some style and make things easier to recognize at a glance. It’s not super complicated, but yeah, Windows has a way of making it slightly more convoluted than necessary, so here’s a rundown that actually helps.
Preparation: What You Need Before Starting
Before jumping into icon customization, make sure you’ve got:
- A Windows 10 or 11 computer (no surprises here).
- Some .ico files ready. You can create your own with a converter or grab some free sets from trusted sites like IconArchive or DeviantArt.
- Basic knowledge of how to open system properties or folder settings.
Step 1: Access Icon Settings in Windows
First off, you need to get into the properties of whatever icon you want to change:
- Right-click on the folder or system icon (like Recycle Bin or This PC). Important: Some icons, especially system ones, might need a bit of extra fiddling—more on that in a bit.
- Select Properties from the menu. If you’re doing this for a folder, it’s straightforward. For system icons, you’ll usually go through the Personalization settings under Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop icon settings.
- Pro tip: On some machines, clicking Properties or the Desktop Icon Settings doesn’t seem to do much until you refresh or restart Explorer (
Task Manager > End Task explorer.exe > File > Run new task > type explorer.exe).
Step 2: Customize the Folder or System Icon
Once you’re in the right window:
- Navigate to the Customize tab for folders, or if you’re in Desktop Icon Settings, just select the icon you want to change.
- Click on the Change Icon button. Be prepared for a window with a bunch of default icons that Windows provides.
- If you want something custom, hit Browse and navigate to where your .ico files are stored. Note: Windows only accepts .ico files here—no other image formats. You can use online converters like ConvertICO to create .ico files from PNG or JPG images.
- Select your icon, click OK, then Apply, and finally OK again.
Step 3: Picking and Using Good Icon Files
This part can be weird because not all icons are created equal. Make sure your icon files are high-res and clear—poorly designed icons can make everything look sloppy.
- Stick with .ico for compatibility. Windows is kinda picky about that.
- If you’re customizing system icons and don’t see changes immediately, try restarting Windows Explorer (
Task Manager > End Task on explorer.exe > File > Run new task > type explorer.exe) or rebooting. - On some setups, icons won’t refresh until you manually refresh the desktop (F5), or log out and back in.
Bonus: Customizing Icon for System Folders like This PC or Recycle Bin
This is often the tricky part — because Windows doesn’t always want you to change system icons easily. But it’s doable:
- Go to Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop icon settings.
- Select the icon (like Recycle Bin), and click Restore Default if you want to start fresh.
- Then, follow the previous steps: right-click, go to Properties, then Customize (or use a tool like Winhance from https://github.com/memstechtips/Winhance for deeper customization).
- When you get to the Change Icon dialog, browse to your custom icon files and select.
Pro tip: If Windows throws errors or refuses to change the icon, try running System File Checker or restarting in Safe Mode before editing system icons.
Extra Tips & Common Troubles
Yeah, changing icons isn’t perfect. Sometimes, icons just won’t update immediately. The usual tricks are:
- Refresh desktop with F5.
- Clear icon cache with commands like:
taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F
del /A iconcache.db
start explorer.exe(You might need to do this if icons keep showing up wrong after changing files.)
Summary
- Have your .ico files ready before starting.
- Use the Properties > Customize or Desktop Icon Settings to get into icon menus.
- Remember, sometimes a reboot or explorer refresh is needed to see the changes.
- For system icons, be careful—system updates and Windows security can revert or block changes.
Hopefully, this shaves off a few hours for someone. Just remember, Windows likes to make simple things oddly complicated, but patience and some command-line magic usually do the trick.