Among the possible customizations for Windows PCs, one of the best is surely that of icons, choosing logos and icons different from the standard ones for the various desktop shortcuts and folders.
Windows has a number of built-in icons to choose from to change the default, but there is also the possibility to download icon packages of all types, going to specialized sites to download free icons of all kinds. Once you get the icons you like best, they can be saved in a folder and used by changing the Windows icons, all or only some elements.
The desktop shortcuts icons can be easily changed thanks to the integrated Windows function, also in Windows 10.
To change the icon of a shortcut on the Windows desktop by right-clicking on it and entering the Properties where, in the Connection tab, the Change Icon button appears.
In the Change Windows Icon, choose, if present, the one you want from the list of embedded ones or press on Browse and select the folder in which the downloaded ones have been saved.
Then find the ICO file (or even the EXE or DLL file that contains icon packages) that you want to use, double-click on it and press OK on the next window.
If the change does not work immediately, press the right mouse button on the desktop and then click Update. In the same way you can change the icons fixed on the taskbar at the bottom.
These are normal connections, the important thing is that when you change the icon, the program is closed.
To make things easier, it is easier to change the shortcut icon on the desktop first, then press the right mouse button and select Add to taskbar. Some icons on the desktop are hidden by default Windows.
In Windows 7 and 8 you can view the icons of the computer, the profile folder, the network and the control panel, by pressing the right mouse button on an empty space on the desktop, going to Personalize and then clicking Change desktop icons.
In Windows 10, however, you need to open the Settings> Personalization> Themes, scroll down the right window and click on Desktop icon settings. From the window that appears, the same in Windows 7 and Windows 10, select the icons you want to see.
In addition, in this window of icons selection, you can press on the icons to select them and then on the icon button to select the one you prefer.
The icons that can be changed from here are those of “This PC“, Full and Empty Recycle Bin, Network and Profile Folder
In the “Change Icon” window, you can select any icon of those included in Windows or by clicking on “Browse”, using downloaded icons or create.
In Windows it is also possible to change the folder icons
Changing the icon of a folder is also a good way to draw attention to the most important ones, making them stand out from the others.
For example, you can change the color of a specific folder by making it another color to distinguish it from the others.
To change the icon of a folder, right-click on the folder to be changed and select “Properties“.
In the folder properties window, go to the “Customize” tab and then click on “Change icon“.
In the “Change icon” window, select the one you prefer from the Windows icons or click on “Browse” to locate the downloaded icons.
From here you can choose an ICO, EXE or DLL file.
After selecting the file, the “Change Icon” window will show the icons contained in the selected file, among which you can choose the one you want.
In another article, some automatic programs for coloring folders in Windows are shown, changing colors to icons.
To make it easier to change icons on Windows, there are some small programs that make the task automatic.
let’s see some free tools to customize the default windows icons.
1) CustomizerGod is the latest program available to customize Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1. With this tool you can customize the Start button, the Charms bar, all the icons, the Windows tape menus, the icons of the Operation Center, the folders, the notification bar, the login screen and everything.
The tool automatically backs up the original system files before replacing them with the custom ones. The only flaw of CustomizerGod is that the installation brings with it some sponsor program to be deactivated during the process.
2) 7Conifier is a small tool for changing Windows icons and replacing them with a different set already included in the program.
You can change both the Windows 7 taskbar and the Start menu
3) 7LibraryIconsChanger is a tool to change the icons of Windows 7 collections (Documents, Music, Images and videos) that appear in the side panel of each folder.
At any time you can always restore the original icons with a click.
4) Tray Icons Changer allows you to change the notification area icons, those of background programs reported in the lower right corner, near the clock such as volume, LAN and Wi-Fi.
5) Types for Windows 7, XP and Vista, allows you to change the icons that identify the various file types and formats such as PDF, JPG, DOC and so on.
Very easy to use, applies only to the buttons set in the taskbar, the Windows toolbar.
If you do not want to change the icons but simply change their size to make them bigger, in Windows 7 and Windows 10 the procedure is the same and is, trivially, to right click on the empty space in a folder, and use the View menu.
Even faster, just hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard and move the mouse wheel up and down.