How To Change The Design Of A Folder On Windown 10

Personalizing your icons is a swell way to brand a PC uniquely yours. Allow's have a look at the different ways Windows lets you lot customize your icons.

RELATED: How To Make High Resolution Windows vii Icons Out of Whatever Paradigm

Windows has some built-in icons you can cull from, simply there is besides an untold number of icons you lot can download from sites like IconArchive, DeviantArt, and Iconfinder—all of which have loads of free icons. And if you lot can't find something you like, y'all can even make high-resolution icons out of any epitome.

One time y'all take the icons of your dreams, save them in a safe identify—some of these processes volition require they stay in a particular location on your PC. In other cases, you lot'll probably want them at that place simply in case something goes wrong and yous take to re-apply them.

Change Your Desktop Icons (Estimator, Recycle Bin, Network, and 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 show any of the desktop icons except for Recycle Bin, and even Windows vii doesn't prove them all. For a complete rundown, check out our guide to restoring missing desktop icons in Windows 7, 8, or 10.

But you tin still alter how these icons appear elsewhere on your arrangement. To do and so, you lot'll need to admission the "Desktop Icon Settings" window to turn these icons on and off or to change the associated icons. In Windows x, you can admission this window through Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop Icon Settings. In Windows 8 and 10, it's Command Console > Personalize > Change Desktop Icons.

Use the checkboxes in the "Desktop icons" department to select which icons you lot want on your desktop. To change an icon, select the icon you want to change and and so click the "Change Icon" push button.

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

If you browse for your own icons, y'all tin select any EXE, DLL, or ICO file. After selecting the file, the "Modify Icon" window will prove the icons contained in the file y'all selected. Click the 1 you lot want and then click "OK." Here, we're irresolute the "This PC" icon to use i that looks more than like a laptop than a desktop.

After changing your icon, yous should meet the new icon used in File Explorer, on the Desktop, and in the taskbar when the binder is open.

And if you desire to contrary the modify, you can ever go back to the "Desktop Icon Settings" window, select the icon y'all desire to modify back, and and so click "Restore Default."

Change Folder Icons

Changing the icon for a binder is not only a good way to pretty things up, merely also to telephone call attention to important items. To change a binder icon, correct-click the folder you lot want to alter so choose "Backdrop."

select properties from a folder's context menu

In the folder'due south backdrop window, switch to the "Customize" tab and then click the "Modify Icon" button.

In the "Change Icon" window, you tin select any icon you want from the built-in Windows icons, or y'all can Click "Browse" to locate your own icons.

If you browse for your own icon file, you can select whatsoever EXE, DLL, or ICO file. After selecting the file, the "Change Icon" window volition show the icons contained in the file you selected. Click the one y'all want and so click "OK." Here, we're changing the icon for this binder to a scarlet ane to brand it stand out more.

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 binder that contains a few lines of data something like the post-obit:

[.ShellClassInfo] IconResource=D:\Walter\Documents\Icons\Oxygen-Icons.org-Oxygen-Places-binder-red.ico,0 [ViewState] Fashion= Vid= FolderType=Generic

This is 1 of the cases where you absolutely must keep the ICO file in whatever location you lot had it when you applied the icon. Put it somewhere you know you won't delete it first, or brand the ICO file subconscious.

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

Modify the Icon for a Blazon of File

You lot can also change the icon for specific file types (those that end in sure extensions) then that all files of that type use the new icon. Why bother to practice this? Suppose, for example, yous employ an prototype editing programme that uses essentially the same icon for all the different types of image files it supported—PNG, JPG, GIF, and then on. You might find information technology more user-friendly if each of those file types used a different icon, so they were easier to distinguish—especially if you keep multiple file types in the same folder.

Unfortunately, at that place's no built-in way to do this in Windows. Instead, you'll need to download a gratuitous tool to do the job: File Types Manager by Nirsoft. We've got a consummate guide to using File Types Director to change the icon for a certain file type, so if you think this would be useful for y'all, give it a read!

filetypesman window

The one type of file that File Types Manager is not good at handling, though, is executable (EXE) files. For that, nosotros've got another free tool recommendation: Resource Hacker. And of form, we likewise have a guide on using it to alter the icon for an EXE file.

Change the Icon of Any Shortcut

Changing the icon for a shortcut in Windows is as well pretty simple and works the same whether information technology's a shortcut to an app, folder, or fifty-fifty Command Prompt command. Right-click the shortcut and choose "Properties."

choose properties command on shortcut's context menu

On the "Shortcut" tab, click the "Modify Icon" push.

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

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

Change the Icon of Apps that Are Pinned to the Taskbar

Icons that are pinned to your taskbar are really shortcuts—they just don't have the arrow overlay and "- Shortcut" text commonly associated with shortcuts. As such, you can customize their icons in about the aforementioned manner that yous customize any shortcut icon. You just need to keep a few things in mind:

You 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 information technology isn't pinned there, you lot can't customize it. Then, pivot information technology first.
If an app is pinned, but is currently running, you'll need to close the app before y'all tin change the shortcut icon.
But correct-clicking a pinned app shows you the app'southward jumplist. To admission the regular context menu instead, agree the Shift central downward while correct-clicking the icon. Cull "Properties" from that card so the rest of the procedure will be familiar to y'all from the previous section.

choose properties command on taskbar shortcut's context menu

Change the Icon of any Bulldoze in File Explorer

In that location's no simple built-in way to change the icons for drives in Windows. That doesn't hateful y'all can't do it though. The piece of cake style is to use a gratuitous app named Bulldoze Icon Changer. There'south as well a mode that works a bit differently and involves a petty Registry editing. Y'all tin can read all near both methods in our guide to changing bulldoze icons in Windows.

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

Hopefully, this gives you plenty information about irresolute icons that you can brand things look but the way yous want them.