Icons For Windows 10 Folders - How To Customize, Change An Icon, Install It, Remove An Arrow, Create A Shortcut, Etc

2024 Author: Bailey Albertson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 12:53

Customizing icons in Windows 10

Computer tuning is carried out not only to improve its performance, but also to improve the appearance of the system in accordance with the user's requirements. So, for example, you can change the appearance of folders, focusing on your taste and preferences.

Content

• 1 Why do I need to change folder icons in Windows 10

• 2 Changes to folder icons in Windows 10

  • 2.1 Video: how to change desktop icons using Windows 10

  • 2.2 How to remove arrows from labels

    2.2.1 Video: how to remove arrows from shortcuts in Windows 10

  • 2.3 How to remove the shield icon from shortcuts

    2.3.1 Video: how to remove the shield icon from shortcuts in Windows 10

  • 2.4 Displaying icons of hidden files and folders

    2.4.1 Video: How to Open Hidden Files and Folders in Windows 10

  • 2.5 Pinning an icon to the home screen
  • 2.6 Possibilities for sorting icons

• 3 Programs for replacing icons in Windows 10

  • 3.1 Video: How to Change Icons in Windows 10 Using Se7en Theme Source Patcher
  • 3.2 Icon packs on different sites
• 4 Problems when replacing icons

Why change folder icons in Windows 10

Changing the appearance of folders in the operating system is a useful feature that is often overlooked. After all, it allows:

• increase the speed of work - visual perception reacts much faster to individual drawings, and not to text. Therefore, choosing the right folder is much easier when it looks special;
• to provide a pleasant appearance of folders - you can choose those icons that you like. This provides a huge amount of creativity in creating a comfortable work environment;
• create visual cues for other users - drawings can be not only individual, but also useful. Typically, the drawing is selected to match the contents of the folder. So, for example, you can hang a wrench on a folder with technical documentation. This will allow people who first sat down at your computer to quickly find what they need.

Usually folder icons are stored under the Windows / Icons path. But to find all the folder icons on your computer, you just need to enter.ico into the search system.

Changes to folder icons in Windows 10

Changing the icon to another is not difficult at all. Consider this process for system folders:

1. Press the Win + I keyboard shortcut to open Windows 10 Settings. Select the Personalization section.

   

   Open the Personalization section in Windows Settings

2. Or right-click on the desktop and select the appropriate item in the context menu.

   

   Right-click on the desktop and select "Personalize"

3. In the Themes tab, click Desktop Icon Options.

   

   Select Desktop Icon Settings under Personalization

4. Click on the icon you want to change. The choice will be presented folders "Trash", "This computer" and other system sections to access certain capabilities of your computer. After selecting, click on the "Change Icon" button.

   

   The "Change Icon" key will allow you to select any icon for folders in the options window

5. Or choose a different icon from any folder. It must conform to the.ico format.

   

   Specify the icon you want to install instead of the standard one

6. After selecting the icon, press the "OK" key. Changes will be accepted.

If we are talking about ordinary, not system folders, this is also not difficult at all. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Call the context menu of the folder whose icon you want to change and open the "Properties" section.

   

   Go to the context menu of the folder on your desktop and open "Properties"

2. In the "Settings" tab, click on the "Change icon" button and select the icon to replace in the same way.

   

   In the properties of the folder, click on the "Change icon" button

In addition to replacing one icon with another, you can also change the size of the icon so that it is convenient to find the desired program or file and click on it with the mouse. To do this, you need to do the following:

• right-click on the icon and select a size in the "View" subsection;

  

  In the "View" section, select the size of the icons that suits you

• hold down the Ctrl key and turn the mouse wheel until the result suits you.

  

  Roll the mouse wheel while holding down the Ctrl key to resize the icons

You can also resize all Windows elements at once. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Windows settings in the way that was indicated above, and then go to the "System" section.

   

   Go to the system parameters section

2. On the first tab of this section, find the scale selection list. Set the value to your convenience. The higher the percentage, the larger the objects will be.

   

   In the "Display" tab, you can change the size of all elements at once

3. Click on the "Apply" button.

This will change the size of not only the folders on the desktop, but also other elements. But you can adjust the scale settings in the browser separately, which will allow you to set a value convenient for working with a computer.

Video: how to change desktop icons using Windows 10

youtube.com/watch?v=gfI-BRzmMVU

How to remove arrows from labels

If you actively use shortcuts to folders and programs, then the arrows on them can be annoying. They make it difficult to admire neat icons and spoil your desktop aesthetics. Fortunately, removing them is not difficult at all, but it will require making changes to the registry.

Follow these steps:

1. Open the Run window with the Win + R keyboard shortcut and type regedit into the input window. Confirm the command and open Registry Editor.

   

   Enter the command regedit in the Run window

2. Go to the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE / SOFTWARE / Microsoft / Windows / CurrentVersion / Explorer / Shell Icon. If the Shel Icon folder is missing, then it should be created.
3. Create a parameter named 29. It is he who will be responsible for the arrow in the corner of the labels.
4. The value of this parameter must be left blank. Close Registry Editor and restart your computer to accept the changes.

Video: how to remove arrows from shortcuts in Windows 10

How to remove the shield icon from labels

The shield icon can also spoil the appearance of the icons. It appears on those applications that require administrator rights to work properly. This icon can be disabled:

1. Open the Run window with the Win + R keyboard shortcut. Enter the msconfig command to open the settings.

   

   Enter the msconfig command in the Run window

2. Go to the "Service" section, and then to the User Account Control settings.

3. In this window, you will see a slider. Set it to the lowest value and all shield icons will disappear.

   

   Set the slider to the very bottom so that the flap disappears from the icons

Video: how to remove the shield icon from shortcuts in Windows 10

Show icons of hidden files and folders

The Windows operating system has long had the ability to hide files and folders. In this case, their icon and name will not be displayed in the place where they are. However, there is a simple way to enable the display of hidden icons in File Explorer:

1. Open any folder such as This PC to access File Explorer on your system.
2. Switch to the "View" tab.

3. In the top bar, select the "Options" section and open it.

   

   In the "View" tab, select "Options" to configure hidden files

4. Uncheck the box "Hide protected system files" and set the flag on hiding files to the position "Show hidden files …".

   

   Uncheck the box "Hide protected system files" and set opposite "Show hidden files …"

5. Confirm the changes. All hidden files and folders will be displayed on your computer.

Video: how to open hidden files and folders in Windows 10

Pin an icon to the home screen

Pinning to the Start screen in Windows 10 means adding an icon to the Start menu. Such icons may well become an alternative to the desktop, as they are presented in the form of convenient tiles. To add icons to this menu, follow these steps:

1. Right click on the shortcut or executable file.

2. Select "Pin to Start" from the context menu.

   

   Right-click on the icon and select "Pin to Start"

3. On the initial screen, you can also use the right mouse button to resize the icon or move it to a convenient location.

   

   You can individually adjust the size of each icon on the home screen

Sorting options for icons

For a more convenient search for the desired file or folder, you can sort the icons by many parameters:

• by name - icons will be arranged in ascending or descending alphabetical order (depending on the settings);

  

  Sorting by name helps you arrange files alphabetically

• by date - sorting by the date the file was last modified or created, as well as from recent files to earlier ones and vice versa;

  

  Sorting by modified date will sort the files by the time they were last modified

• by type - splitting files depending on the format. Folders will be next to folders, and pictures next to pictures. This sorting is useful if there are many different types of elements in one place;

  

  Sorting by type will separate different file formats from each other

• by size - sorting items by size is useful in cases where you need to clean your hard drive of unnecessary files. It will immediately highlight the heaviest and lightest documents among others;

  

  Sorting by size will reveal the heaviest and lightest files

• by tags - tags are optional, but if you use them, you can sort by them as well.

  

  Sort by tags is used to sort the files linked by a tag

Programs for replacing icons in Windows 10

There are many programs that allow you to change the icons of folders and files. Many of them do this automatically. Some programs replace icons for all documents at once, while others help, for example, change the image format to create the icons themselves. Let's take a look at some of them:

• Icon Changer. This small utility is easy to use and runs without installing on the system. It is enough to load it in order to change all the icons by pressing one button. By default, instead of Windows 10 icons, it puts Windows 7 icons, but if necessary, you can download your own icon packs;

  

  Icon Changer is a small utility that does not require installation

• ICO Factory. Program for changing the aspect ratio. It allows you to create an icon of any size from the pictures you choose. The interface of this program is extremely simple: just drag the images into the ICO Factory workspace and select the required size. After that, all pictures will be converted;

  

  ICO Factory allows you to change the format of pictures to the format of icons

• Dr. Folder. A convenient program for working with a large number of documents at the same time. Allows you to download large quantities of icons from the network and assign them to folders right in the program window. A flexible tool that has many settings and even supports converting images to the desired.ico format for icons.

  

  Dr. Folder allows you to change the appearance of a large number of folders at once

• IconTo. This program allows you to change the icons of not only folders, but also hard drives. With its help, you can change the picture of both connected drives and internal ones. Among other things, the program supports about three hundred icons, from which you can pick something to your liking.

  

  IconTo allows you to change the appearance of icons of hard drives and external media

Video: How to Change Icons in Windows 10 Using Se7en Theme Source Patcher

Icon packs on different sites

To quickly personalize your computer, you can download icon packs from various sites. Here are some of them:

• www.winscreen.ru/icon/ - a stylish site where you can find many icons for Windows 10. It features a large selection of icons that are unusual in shape and style. For example, you can set icons in the style of the Iron Man computer from the Marvel movie comics;

  

  The WinScreen website contains a large number of packages of unusual icons

• winzoro.net/icon/desktop_icons/ - this site contains icons for all occasions. They are divided into categories, in each of which the user can choose a set, focusing on his preferences;

  

  On the WINZORO website, icons are categorized to make it easy to find the icon packs you want

• icons8.ru/windows-icons/ - at this address you can find over four thousand different icons. It has a convenient system for searching icons by tags, with the help of which you will select icons for any subject;

  

  Icons8 has a huge number of free icons for Windows 10 and search by tags

• oformi.net/icons-png/ - This site also provides a lot of icons. In general, this site specializes in customizing the desktop and system, so you can choose an unusual mouse cursor or a cute theme for Windows 10 for the icons.

  

  The Oformi website specializes in customizing the desktop, so the user can pay attention not only to icons, but also to mouse cursors and unusual themes for Windows 10

Problems when replacing icons

There are not many problems you can run into when replacing icons. However, there are some general tips that can help if your files, for example, stop moving after changing icons:

• check the system with a quality antivirus. The problem may lie in viruses that you managed to catch while looking for the icons you need. In this case, check your computer with a quality anti-virus utility, for example, Dr. Web CureIt !;
• restart the system. A simple restart of the computer can fix the problem and the icons will start moving again;
• turn off utilities that replace icons. If you have an active icon replacement utility, try disabling it and check if the problem is fixed;
• install the latest system updates. Older versions of Windows 10 may contain bugs and vulnerabilities. In this case, updating to a new version of the operating system will help.

The ability to replace icons for folders or files is extremely useful. This can be done either manually using the system tools or by downloading special programs that work in an automated mode.