How To Make Your Own Icons For Windows

Personalizing your icons is a cracking way to brand a PC uniquely yours. Permit's take a wait at the dissimilar means Windows lets you customize your icons.

RELATED: How to Make an Icon for Windows x or xi Out of Any Paradigm

Windows has some congenital-in icons you tin choose from, simply at that place is likewise an untold number of icons you can download from sites similar IconArchive, DeviantArt, and Iconfinder—all of which have loads of free icons. And if you lot tin't find something you similar, you tin can even make loftier-resolution icons out of any prototype.

Once you lot have the icons of your dreams, salve them in a safe identify—some of these processes volition crave they stay in a detail location on your PC. In other cases, you'll probably want them at that place just in case something goes wrong and you take to re-apply them.

Alter Your Desktop Icons (Computer, Recycle Bin, Network, and then On)

Icons similar 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 ten don't evidence whatever of the desktop icons except for Recycle Bin, and fifty-fifty Windows 7 doesn't show them all. For a complete rundown, cheque out our guide to restoring missing desktop icons in Windows seven, 8, or 10.

But you can still alter how these icons announced elsewhere on your system. To practice so, you'll demand to access the "Desktop Icon Settings" window to turn these icons on and off or to alter the associated icons.  In Windows 10, y'all can access this window through Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop Icon Settings. In Windows eight and 10, it's Control Panel > Personalize > Alter Desktop Icons.

Utilise the checkboxes in the "Desktop icons" section to select which icons you want on your desktop. To change an icon, select the icon you want to change and then click the "Alter Icon" button.

In the "Change Icon" window, yous can select any icon you want from the built-in Windows icons, or you can click "Browse" to locate your own icon files.

If you browse for your own icons, you can select any EXE, DLL, or ICO file. Later selecting the file, the "Change Icon" window will show the icons independent in the file y'all selected. Click the one you lot want and so click "OK." Hither, we're changing the "This PC" icon to use one that looks more like a laptop than a desktop.

After changing your icon, you should see the new icon used in File Explorer, on the Desktop, and in the taskbar when the folder is open.

And if y'all desire to reverse the change, you can always become dorsum to the "Desktop Icon Settings" window, select the icon you want to modify dorsum, and and then click "Restore Default."

Modify Binder Icons

Changing the icon for a binder is not only a good way to pretty things up, but too to call attention to important items. To change a folder icon, right-click the folder yous desire to change and so cull "Backdrop."

In the folder's properties window, switch to the "Customize" tab and and so click the "Alter Icon" button.

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

If you browse for your ain icon file, yous can select whatever EXE, DLL, or ICO file. After selecting the file, the "Modify Icon" window will bear witness the icons contained in the file you selected. Click the i you lot want and then click "OK." Here, we're changing the icon for this binder to a blood-red i to make it stand out more than.

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

The folder should now evidence up with the new icon.

This characteristic works by creating a subconscious Desktop.ini file inside the binder that contains a few lines of data something like the following:

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

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

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

Change the Icon for a Type of File

You can also modify the icon for specific file types (those that terminate in certain extensions) so that all files of that type use the new icon. Why bother to do this? Suppose, for example, you use an image editing plan that uses essentially the same icon for all the different types of prototype files it supported—PNG, JPG, GIF, and so on. You might find it more than convenient if each of those file types used a different icon, so they were easier to distinguish—specially if you go on multiple file types in the same binder.

Unfortunately, there's no built-in style to do this in Windows. Instead, you'll need to download a free tool to do the job: File Types Managing director by Nirsoft. We've got a complete guide to using File Types Manager to change the icon for a certain file type, then if y'all call back this would be useful for you, requite it a read!

The one blazon of file that File Types Manager is not skilful at handling, though, is executable (EXE) files. For that, we've got another free tool recommendation: Resource Hacker. And of course, we as well accept a guide on using it to alter the icon for an EXE file.

Alter the Icon of Whatsoever Shortcut

Irresolute the icon for a shortcut in Windows is as well pretty uncomplicated and works the same whether it's a shortcut to an app, binder, or even Command Prompt command. Right-click the shortcut and choose "Properties."

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 one of the default icons or browse to any EXE, DLL, or ICO file that contains icons. After making and applying your pick, you'll encounter the new icon in File Explorer, on the Desktop, or on the taskbar if you have your Shortcut pinned there.

If y'all desire, y'all can even customize those shortcut icons further past 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 simply don't accept the arrow overlay and "- Shortcut" text normally associated with shortcuts. As such, you can customize their icons in nearly the aforementioned way that you customize any shortcut icon. Y'all just need to keep a few things in mind:

• You can but customize the icons of apps that are actually pinned to the taskbar. If the icon is only on the taskbar considering the app is currently running and it isn't pinned at that place, yous tin't customize it. So, pin it start.
• If an app is pinned, but is currently running, you'll need to close the app before you can alter the shortcut icon.
• Just correct-clicking a pinned app shows you the app's jumplist. To access the regular context carte du jour instead, hold the Shift key down while right-clicking the icon. Choose "Properties" from that menu and then the rest of the process will be familiar to you from the previous section.

Change the Icon of whatever Drive in File Explorer

There'southward no unproblematic congenital-in mode to alter the icons for drives in Windows. That doesn't mean you lot tin't do it though. The easy way is to utilise a free app named Drive Icon Changer. There'due south also a mode that works a fleck differently and involves a lilliputian Registry editing. You tin read all nigh both methods in our guide to changing drive icons in Windows.

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

---

Hopefully, this gives you enough information about changing icons that you can make things wait just the way you want them.

Source: https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/13631/customize-your-icons-in-windows-7-and-vista/

Posted by: shannontherfull00.blogspot.com

Share this post