A program for changing system icons. Changing the appearance of icons in Windows

I continue the theme of decorations for those who sometimes get bored with the standard Windows design. Although many are now being produced ready-made assemblies, which not only come with pre-installed (or optional) necessary programs, but also with a built-in theme. But still there are “clean” ones, for fans of minimalism or if licensed version. It is for these people that I wrote this article. In it you will learn how using standard methods change the icon (icon) of a file or folder without using programs. And for something sweet, I’ll answer the question - ?

In general, I think that if you want to change the Windows interface, then it will be much easier to download some theme with all the bells and whistles (wallpaper, folders, start, icons, shortcuts, cursor, etc. - everything will be changed), but my site is not is dedicated to this, so I will show you how you can change the icons on your own.

How to change a folder icon

1) Right-click (right mouse button) on the folder we need

2) In the menu, select the last one - Property

3) In this window, select the tab Settings

4) Click on the button Change icon

C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll

C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll

C:\Windows\System32\ddores.dll

For general information, I inform you - dll This is a library format. Exactly in these three Windows files stores its library of icons.

And that’s why I’ve now opened this question about storage - if what’s in the set isn’t enough for you, just replace SHELL32.dll in the “Look for icons in the next file” field with imageres.dll and if that’s not enough, then with ddores. dll and click Enter. This is important, you don’t need to go anywhere else!
These files are also needed for all sorts of perverts who want to see what’s inside and “pull” these icons out of there (I don’t know why). For them, I hid a small guide under the spoiler.

1) Open one of the proposed files using the program (Following the link you can download the free 30-day version).
2) In the panel Resource tree open the folder Icon
3) Select any of the icons you like.
4) In the panel Resource tree right-click on this resource and select Extract... → Extract as "resource_name.ico"
5) Select the folder to extract and click Save

You can also extract all the icons at once, to do this:
6) In the panel Resource tree right click on the folder Icon and select Extract... → Extract all as "Icon" type
7) Select the folder to extract and click OK

How to change a file icon
The principle is the same as for folders, only the difference is in the window Properties- there we need to click on Change icon

If there are no or few icons there, then you can put there the paths that are written in the above method for folders (for example C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll)

Icons are needed either in the library ( dll) or exe file or ico or png. Basically, they only change the icon on the folders.

And then my surprise appears. I have prepared for you a small collection of icons in the format ico. All you need is to download, save, unpack and specify the path to the icon using the button Review.. in the shortcut or folder settings.

This is more for informational purposes than to actually use them. Still, the article is more about standard methods. If there is anything more, write, I’m always happy to help.

Key Features

• assigning the necessary icons for a file type, one or more folders;
• using a set of ready-made icons;
• extracting icons from system resources and saving them in a group or individually in ICO/ICL formats;
• using graphics that are included in system files as icons;
• change skins.

Pros and cons

• free;
• Russian-language interface;
• a large set of built-in icons;
• quick access to a list of system resources with images of standard icons;
• ability to change interface themes;
• simple algorithm for working step by step mode with tips;
• managing the application from the Explorer context menu.

• lack of batch change function system icons.

Fences. Free program, designed for arranging and organizing icons on the desktop. Groups files by direction, type, creates special zones on which icons are placed, allows you to change their appearance, makes it possible to hide and return icons to their place.

SP Shell icons. A free program that changes the standard appearance of icons in Windows. Contains a set of 70 different icons.

Operating principles

First you need to specify the folders and files to replace:

Icon selection

For example, we need to change the image for the user's folder:

If you know the location of the icon, use the “Specify icon” command; if not, go to the “Favorites” and “Program” tabs of the main window. Each of them contains a list with available icons and libraries. To view available images, just click on the list item. After this, the icons will appear in the right column of the window. From them you need to select a suitable image, and then click “Set icon”. If folders or files need to be returned to their original appearance, add them to the program and use the “Remove icon from folder” button.

On your monitor screen there is large number different folders and icons that have a standard appearance. Perhaps you are tired of their usual look and would like to change it. It's possible! But in order to do this, you need to download some collection of different icons for files and folders. For example this one.

Download icon set. IN this set icons in two formats.

How to change a folder icon.

To replace the folder icon, move the cursor over the desired folder and press the right mouse button. A list will appear. Select “Properties” in it.

A window with icons will appear. You can choose your favorite folder icon from this list or select an icon from downloaded icons.

If you want to select an icon among the icons you have downloaded, then to do this, click the “Browse” button, go to the folder with icons, select the one you like among them and click “Open”, then click “OK” in the windows that appear. The icon you like will be applied to the folder.

For example, here is the folder that I got.

How to change a file icon?

Let's do it the same way! Right-click on the file, go to the “Properties” section, but here go to the “Shortcut” tab, click “Change Icon”.

By following these simple rules, you can gradually change all the folder and file icons to the ones you like best. The folder icons are all the same, so they most often need to be replaced. Then you will be able to distinguish them not only by name, but also by color and shape.

Now that you have tidied up your folder icons, you need to figure out how easy they are to use. Some programs are better used in portable version, so that in case of emergency you always have them at hand, namely on a flash drive. However, in this case, folders with programs become like a dump, and searching for an .exe file in them to launch becomes inconvenient. You can solve this problem by creating separate shortcuts located in the root of the flash drive. These “smart guys” run everything on their own necessary programs on absolutely any computer, regardless of where you place the storage device.

2. Return to its root and click on empty space right mouse button. Now select the “Create” and “Shortcut” functions.

3. After that, we need to specify the path to it like this:

%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /C start /B /D \*path to the program folder* \*path to the program folder*\*file name.exe*

When you register it, do not forget to indicate and backslash"\". In our case it looks like this:

%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /C start /B /D \Soft\OpenOffice \Soft\OpenOffice\X-ApacheOpenOffice.exe

A small footnote: if you decide to place all the shortcuts in a separate folder, creating an additional one in the root of the flash drive, indicate on the command line that it will need to go back to this folder. Just put a dot as the first slash. In our specific case it looks like this:

%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /C start /B /D .\Soft\OpenOffice .\Soft\OpenOffice\X-ApacheOpenOffice.exe

6. To window command line was not displayed at startup, select the “Collapsed to icon” function in the “Window” field:

7. Right on the tab at the bottom of the window, click the “Change icon” button, and then in the window that appears, open the program’s executable file, since this is what we are creating the shortcut for. Mark it and click “OK” - the same as in the properties window.

8. Now the shortcut will automatically change its icon, and we can launch the program from the root of the flash drive. You can easily move this folder, along with the program and the shortcut, to any convenient location. In this case, they will work normally with preservation relative path from a shortcut to a working executable file.

We hope that each of our articles helps you become more confident and not be afraid of any actions when working with a computer. Have a positive working mood!

Having released a new operating Windows system 10, Microsoft gave it many new features and significantly redesigned the system. Desktop icons have also undergone changes. Many users are accustomed to the old icons that were present on Windows 7. Therefore, the non-standard icons after the transition to the new Windows 10 did not appeal to many PC users. IN new Windows 10 they can be easily changed for any shortcut on the desktop. In this material we will describe all the ways to change icons in Windows 10. In addition, we will describe the process of creating new icons.

Changing the icons of the main desktop shortcuts

Basic desktop shortcuts include links such as " This computer», « Control Panel», « Basket" To change these icons, you need to go to the " Options» to links « CUSTOMIZATION/Themes».

Now let's try to change the shortcut " Basket" To do this, select the trash can and click on the Change icon button.

In the list of shortcuts that appears, we will select the one we like and confirm our decision with the Apply button. Below is a basket with a different image.

Users can also use icons not from the standard Windows 10 libraries, but from third party sources. One such source is the package free icons « Open Icon Library" You can download this package on its official website https://sourceforge.net/projects/openiconlibrary. After downloading and unpacking the archive, about 10 thousand icons will be available to you various formats. To use them from the “Open Icon Library”, click on the same button Change icon for the recycle bin shortcut. In the window that appears, click on the Browse button. . . . After that, select one of the “Open Icon Library” shortcuts. Below is a cart using images from the Open Icon Library.

Which Windows 10 desktop shortcuts can be changed?

The main desktop elements for which you can change icons are shortcuts (links to programs, files and folders) and folders. Let's describe an example of changing the icon in Google Chrome. To do this, go to the properties of the browser shortcut.

Now if we click on the button Change icon. . ., then we will have four options for choosing an icon.

From the example it is clear that when we get to the icon selection list window, the same window appears in front of us as in the first example. The only difference is that all icons are not taken from system library, and from executable file"chrome.exe". In this window, just like in the first example, you can select an icon from “ Open Icon Library"or any other.

Now let's look at changing the icon for folders on the desktop. For example, we will create a folder named “Icon” on the desktop. After creating it, we will go to its properties on the “ tab Settings».

On this tab, click on the button that is already familiar to us Change icon. . .. After this action, the same window will appear in front of us, as in the previous examples.

The principle of replacing folder icons with a third-party one, and not from the “shell32.dll” library, is the same as in the previous examples.

We create icons ourselves

For this example we will use the program IcoFX. This program can Easily create different icons from raster images . For this example we will take free photo from the site https://pixabay.com. This site has thousands of free images.

We will also download and install the program IcoFX. After that, open the IcoFX program, and also open our image in it.

When opening an image, the utility prompts us to make a choice. We will focus on the option " Create an icon from the image" This option will open our image in a reduced resolution, which can be saved for use as an icon.

After selection suitable size icon you can save it. In our case, the size is 256 × 256. It is saved in the “*ico” file format. Below is an example of a Shortcut user shortcut with our icon.

Using IcoFX, you can create various icons from raster and vector images, which are located on the desktop.

Setting label sizes

Changing the size of desktop shortcuts is quite easy. To do this, go to the active desktop and right-click on it. After this action it will open context menu, in which you need to go to the line “ View».

As you can see in the image above, you can make the size large, regular, and small. This setting allows you to adjust the size for monitors with different resolutions and diagonals. For example, for large monitors you can reduce the size of the labels, and for small diagonals you can make them larger. It is also worth noting that in the “View” item you can pin shortcuts in a grid and pin them automatically to the desktop.

In conclusion

After reading this article, you will learn how easy it is to change icons in Windows 10. In addition, the article shows how you can create icons from bitmap images yourself. We hope the material will help our readers change icons in Windows 10, as well as create new ones.

Video on the topic