Wondering how to change icons on your Windows 11 PC? This guide teaches you how to change icons on Windows 11.
Option 1: Change Desktop Icons
In order to change the desktop icons of your Windows 11 PC, follow the steps below.
- Right-click the Windows 11 Start icon on the taskbar and select Settings.
- Then, on the left pane of the Settings window, click Personalization.
- Next, on the right pane of the Personalization page, scroll down and click Themes.
- When the Themes page opens, scroll down to the Related Settings sub-menu and click Desktop Icon Settings.
- On the Desktop Icons Settings window, select the desktop icon you wish to change, then click Change Icon. For instance, according to the screenshot below, I want to change the Network icon.
- By clicking Change Icon, the Change Icon pop-up window appears, showing a bunch of icons you can choose. Hence, select your preferred icon and click the OK button.
- The desktop icon will change to the newly selected icon. Then, to save your changes, click OK.
- Finally, the desktop icon has been changed.
Option 2: Change Folder Icons
You can also change folder icons on your Windows 11 PC. Follow the steps below to do so.
- Right-click a folder on your Windows 11 PC and select Show more options to expand the menu.
2. On the expanded menu, click Properties.
- This will take you to the folder’s properties page. Then, switch to the Customise tab.
- On the Customise tab, beneath the Folder Icons section, click Change Icon.
- Thereafter, select a new icon and click the OK button.
- Doing that will take you back to the folder’s properties page. Thus, click OK to apply your changes.
Option 3: Change File Type Icons
The following steps show how to change the icon of a file type on your Windows 11 PC. However, you will need to download and install a 3rd party tool called FileTypesMan.
Below are the steps.
- Click FileTypesMan link. When the webpage opens, scroll down to the bottom and click the download link for your Windows 11 System Type.
- If your system is 64-bits, click on the second link. Otherwise, click the first link.
From the device specifications, you will see System type. Underneath the system type, you will be able to confirm if your PC uses a 32-bits or 64-bits Windows 11 OS.
- The file will be downloaded to your computer’s default download folder as a zip file.
- Thereafter, unzip the downloaded zip file. Then, open the unzipped folder and double-click FileTypesMan.
- You will receive a User Account Control prompt requesting you to allow FileTypesMan to make changes to your PC. Click Yes to proceed.
- When the application opens, locate the file extension type you wish to change its icon. For example, according to the screenshot below, I want to change the icon of the “.docx” extension – the “.docx” extension is for Microsoft Word files.
- Next, right-click the file type and select Edit Selected File Type.
- After that, on the right side of the Default Icon field, click on the 3 dots.
- Thereafter, select a new icon and click OK.
- Then, you will be directed back to the Edit File Type window. Hence, click OK to conclude the process.
Option 4: Change Shortcut Icons
Impressively, you can also change shortcut icons on your Windows 11 PC. To do so, follow the steps below.
- Firstly, right-click the shortcut you wish to change its icon and click Show more options.
- Then, at the bottom of the expanded menu, click Properties.
- By default, the Shortcut Properties window will be on the Shortcut tab. Thus, click Change Icon towards the bottom of the window.
- Then, a Change Icon pop-up window will appear – select a new icon for the shortcut and click OK.
- In doing so, you will return to the Shortcut Properties window. So, click OK to save the changes and close the window.
- You have successfully changed the shortcut icon.
Frequently Asked Questions
a) Navigate to Windows Settings. To do that, press Windows + I.
b) On the left pane of the Settings window, click Personalization.
c) Then, on the right pane, scroll down and select Themes.
d) Next, scroll down to the Related settings sub-menu and click Desktop icon settings.
e) On the Desktop icon settings window, select the icon you want to change and click Change Icon.
f) Then, choose a new icon and click OK.
g) Finally, back to the Desktop icon settings window, click OK to save the changes, and close the window.
Yes, you can. Follow the steps below to change the app icons on your Windows 11 computer:
a) Right-click on the shortcut of the app and navigate to Properties.
b) On the Shortcut tab of the Properties window, click Change Icon found at the bottom.
c) Next, choose a new icon and click OK.
Yes, it does. However, if your PC is not showing desktop icons, follow the steps below:
a) Right-click any area on your computer’s desktop.
b) Then, select View from the menu.
c) Finally, click Show desktop icons.
Icons are graphical representations of folders, files, programs, and shortcuts that identify the type of item they represent.
Windows icons are in the ICO file format. This is an image file format containing small-size images used for Microsoft Windows icons.
Conclusion
As small as they can be, icons help to give a graphical representation of file types in a Windows 11 computer. Furthermore, they beautify the desktop area of your computer.
Moreover, as discussed in this guide, you can change your Windows 11 desktop icons as well as file, shortcut, and folder icons. Hence, by following the steps provided in this guide, you should be able to achieve that easily.
I hope this post was helpful to you. If it was of any help to you, click on “Yes” beside the “Was this page helpful” question below.
You may also express your thoughts and opinions by using the “Leave a Comment” form at the bottom of this page.
Finally, visit our Windows 11 How-To page for more Windows 11 guides.