Windows 10 icons. Where are they located? In which files and folders?

Whether you want to change the default icon of a certain folder or the icon of a shortcut you have created, you might wonder where you could find new icons. While there are lots of websites that offer custom made icon sets, you might, however, prefer to use icons that are already found on your Windows 10 computer or device. In this article, we show you where the icons are stored in Windows 10. If you want to find all the default Windows 10 icon files, read on:

How are Windows 10 icons stored?

Icons are usually stored inside ICO files. However, ICO files have a big disadvantage: they can hold only one icon. Windows 10 has lots of applications, folders, files, and shortcuts, and many of them have their unique icons. If Windows had an ICO file for each icon it uses, that would make for a considerable number of icon files.

To resolve this problem, instead of using ICO files to store icons, Windows uses DLL files. The main advantage of a DLL file is the fact that it can hold multiple icons inside. As a matter of fact, you could compare an icon DLL file with a library of icons. When you want to change the icon of a particular file, folder or shortcut, you can just set its icon location to point to a specific DLL file, and a specific icon from it.

Most icons from Windows 10 are stored inside DLL files. In the next section, we show you where these DLLs with icons are found in Windows 10.

Where are Windows 10’s default icons located?

We tried to organize our list of default Windows 10 icons, both by their DLL files location and by taking into consideration the primary purpose of the icons found inside the DLL files. Next, you can see our list of locations from Windows 10 where you find .DLL files containing icons:

The imageres.dll file contains many icons, used almost everywhere in Windows 10. It has icons for different types of folders, hardware devices, peripherals, actions, and so on.

The shell32.dll file also has lots of icons used in various parts of Windows 10. Together with imageres.dll, shell32.dll hosts one of the largest icon collections. Inside it, you can find icons for internet, devices, networks, peripherals, folders and so on.

Pifmgr.dll contains some old-style icons that were found in older versions of Windows, like Windows 95 and Windows 98. In it, you can find funny icons that depict things such as a window, a trumpet, a ball, a wizard hat, and others. 🙂

Explorer.exe has a few icons used by File Explorer and its older versions. The first icon is the default icon used by File Explorer, but the next ones were used in older Windows versions for things like printers, folders, actions, messenger apps, mail, and others.

Accessibilitycpl.dll has a set of icons that are used mainly for the accessibility features in Windows 10. It has icons with people, mouse cursors, a magnifying glass, a mouse and a keyboard, and so on.

Ddores.dll contains icons for hardware devices and resources, such as speakers, headphones, screens, computers, remotes, and gaming pads, mice and keyboards, cameras, printers and so on.

Moricons.dll is another file that contains old-style icons, used by Microsoft in old Windows versions. Most of the icons here are about MS-DOS programs, but you also have icons for old programming languages such as Turbo Pascal or FoxPro.

Mmcndmgr.dll is yet another file with vintage icons, which we believe were designed mainly for computer management related settings. Among others, it includes icons for networks, folders, authentication, time, computers, and servers.

Mmres.dll has a few icons with various audio resources, like speakers, headphones, microphones, and a webcam.

Netcenter.dll has a few icons for network related settings and features.

Netshell.dll contains icons for all kinds of network connections and associated hardware or technologies.

For instance, inside it, you can find icons for Bluetooth, wireless routers, and network connections.

Networkexplorer.dll another .dll file with a few peripherals such as phone, router, a printer or a fax machine, and some network-related icons.

Pnidui.dll has icons for network related settings (Ethernet or wireless status, network locations, etc.). Most of the icons here are transparent white, so you have to select them to see what they look like.

Sensorscpl.dll has a few icons for different kinds of sensors. While most of them look similar, their details indicate things like temperature, power, wind etc.

Setupapi.dll has icons used for the setup wizards of various hardware devices. It has screens, peripherals, hardware components, connectors and plugs, gaming pads, and others.

Wmploc.dll contains multimedia icons used for media devices, music and video files, folders, CD and DVD discs, and so on.

Wpdshext.dll has icons for some portable devices such as cameras, phones or mp3 players, and a few battery indicators.

Comstui.dll includes various classic icons from older versions of Windows.

It has icons with light bulbs, mail, printers, documents, telephones, fax machines and so on.

Ieframe.dll contains the icons used by Internet Explorer for its shortcuts, buttons and menus.

Dmdskres.dll contains icons only used for disk management.

Dsuiext.dll includes icons for network services. It has icons with servers, people, printers, office buildings, authentication services and so on.

Mstscax.dll stores just a few icons used for remote desktop connections, with computers, notifications, and security certificates.

Wiashext.dll has a few icons for various imaging hardware devices, like scanners, cameras, photo and video cameras, and a few similar icons.

Comres.dll contains a few icons that depict a user, a folder, a pencil, and some actions.

Mstsc.exe holds a few other network related icons but also includes other icons like a speaker, a microphone, and a Windows 8 logo.

26. actioncentercpl.dll, aclui.dll, autoplay.dll, comctl32.dll, xwizards.dll, ncpa.cpl, url.dll (all in %systemroot%\system32)

All these files contain icons; however, many have only one icon inside or just a few, so we decided to mention them all together. They have icons used in Windows 10’s Action Center, some error and info icons, an autoplay icon, some user icons, and websites icons.

How to use the icons stored inside a .DLL file

Icons stored inside .DLL files cannot be copied and saved elsewhere, at least not unless you use a special app that can extract icons from .DLL files. However, you can use any icon stored inside such a file, to set it as the icon used by a folder, a library or a shortcut. If you need guidance on how to change the icons associated with your shortcuts, this tutorial helps: How to change the icon of any shortcut in Windows. Just copy and paste the path we provided for the DLL that interests you, in the field named “Look for icons in this file.”

If you are not satisfied with the icons found in Windows 10, then you might want to look at other places to find icons: 7 sites where you can download free desktop icons for Windows 10.

Do you know any other DLL files with icons from Windows 10?

As you have seen, Windows 10 has lots of icon sets that are built-in. Depending on what kind of icon you need, it is a good chance that you’ll find it inside one of the DLL files that we have listed. Do you know other built-in icon locations from Windows 10? If you do, do not hesitate to share them with us, and we promise to update this article as soon as possible.

Where can I find the icons used for Music, Pictures, Videos etc. folders in Win10?

In Windows 10, the Music, Pictures, Videos etc. folders in the home directory ( C:\Users\mylogin\ ) have special icons, to show what they contain:

Where can I find the icons that are used for these folders so I can re-use them for other folders? In fact I don’t place my stuff there, I use other folders into a different drive for that purpose.

3 Answers 3

Where can I find the icons that are used for these folders?

The ones you are looking for are located in %systemroot%\system32\imageres.dll :

Where are Windows 10’s default icons located?

We tried to organize our list of default Windows 10 icons, both by their .DLL files location, and by taking into consideration the main purpose of the icons found inside these .DLL files.

Here’s our list of locations from Windows 10 where you can find .DLL files containing icons:

%systemroot%\system32\imageres.dll — contains lots of icons, used almost everywhere in Windows 10. It has icons for different types of folders, hardware devices, actions, and so on.

%systemroot%\system32\shell32.dll — also has lots of icons used in various parts of Windows 10. Together with imageres.dll , shell32.dll hosts one of the largest icon collections in Windows 10.

%systemroot%\system32\pifmgr.dll — contains old-style icons that were used for all kinds of things, since Windows 95.

%systemroot%\explorer.exe — has a few icons used mainly in File Explorer.

%systemroot%\system32\accessibilitycpl.dll — has a set of icons that are used mainly for the accessibility features in Windows 10.

%systemroot%\system32\ddores.dll — contains icons for hardware devices and resources.

%systemroot%\system32\gameux.dll — has a few gaming related icons.

%systemroot%\system32\moricons.dll — is another file that contains old-style icons, used by Microsoft in old Windows versions.

%systemroot%\system32\mmcndmgr.dll — is yet another file with old looking icons, which we believe were designed mainly for computer management related settings.

%systemroot%\system32\mmres.dll — has icons with various audio resources, like speakers, headphones, microphones etc.

%systemroot%\system32\netcenter.dll — has icons for network related settings and features.

%systemroot%\system32\netshell.dll — contains icons for all kinds of network connections and associated hardware or technologies. For instance, inside it, you’ll find icons for Bluetooth or for wireless routers.

%systemroot%\system32\networkexplorer.dll — another .dll file with a few network related icons.

%systemroot%\system32\pnidui.dll — has icons for network related settings (Ethernet or wireless status, network locations, etc.).

%systemroot%\system32\sensorscpl.dll — has a few icons for different kinds of sensors. While most of them look similar, their details indicate things like temperature, power, wind etc.

%systemroot%\system32\setupapi.dll — has icons used for the setup wizard of various hardware devices.

%systemroot%\system32\wmploc.dll — contains icons used for media devices, files, folders, and so on.

%systemroot%\system32\wpdshext.dll — has icons for some portable devices and battery indicators.

%systemroot%\system32\compstui.dll — includes various classic icons from older versions of Windows.

%systemroot%\system32\ieframe.dll — contains the icons used in Internet Explorer.

%systemroot%\system32\dmdskres.dll — contains the icons for disk management.

%systemroot%\system32\dsuiext.dll — includes icons for network services.

%systemroot%\system32\mstscax.dll — stores icons used for remote desktop connections.

%systemroot%\system32\wiashext.dll — has icons for various imaging hardware devices, like scanners and cameras.

The source link includes images of many of these icons.

Where are my icons in Windows 7?

In previous versions of Windows when I right click on a shortcut and dived in to change the icon the initial list populated with a whole catalog of default icons.

On Windows 7 (RTM) here is what I see:

I found those icons useful when making shortcuts to web applications.

Any idea where I can find them?! I had a little «Browse. » but couldn’t find much.

You’ve all so far provided excellent answers, thanks — unfortunately I can’t pick you all as the right one! 🙁 Three of the files you mentioned have had equally useful sets of DLLs:

9 Answers 9

In the box that says “Look for icons in this file:”, type or browse to: %SystemRoot%\system32\SHELL32.dll

The can be all over the place. For example, browse to this location .

But, they can be in any DLL, EXE or ICO file. You can also download cool ones.

There are more than 1,000 icons in total in these files:

• C:\Windows\System32\Shell32.Dll
• C:\Windows\Explorer.Exe
• C:\Windows\System32\AccessibilityCpl.Dll
• C:\Windows\System32\Ddores.Dll
• C:\Windows\System32\GameUx.Dll
• C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll
• C:\Windows\System32\MorIcons.Dll
• C:\Windows\System32\mmcndmgr.dll
• C:\Windows\System32\mmRes.Dll
• C:\Windows\System32\NetCenter.Dll
• C:\Windows\System32\netshell.dll
• C:\Windows\System32\networkexplorer.dll
• C:\Windows\System32\PifMgr.dll
• C:\Windows\System32\PniDui.Dll
• C:\Windows\System32\SensorsCpl.Dll
• C:\Windows\System32\SetupApi.Dll
• C:\Windows\System32\wmploc.DLL
• C:\Windows\System32\wpdshext.dll
• C:\Windows\System32\DDORes.dll
• C:\Windows\System32\compstui.dll

Additionally, lots of device icons are stored here:

and high res stuff from devices and printers (potentially) here:

There are 113 additional icons in:

The real decade-long legendary MS-DOS icons secretly reside in pifmgr.dll dynamic library file with the description of Windows NT PIF Manager Icon Resources Library in System32 folder of root of Windows contained in %windir% environment variable, that’s C:\Windows\System32 by default.

Looking for a new ICON for an application on your Windows 7 screen? Goto the bottom of your screen and click on «Start».

In the Search Programs and Files box, enter *.ico. Above it, you will see — «see more results» -select it and then select «Computer». Your Windows 7 search engine will then find and show you EVERY ICON that’s in your computer — sit back, this might take a minute or two (you’ve got Icons scattered all over your computer). To put them ALL in one place, after your search engine stops, copy them ALL into a single folder and they’ll always be available for you. Have fun everyone.

Several good answers but no one seems to have the capitalization quite right (to make copy-paste actually work).

This was my path:

the procedures are the same in Windows 7 and Windows 8.

1. Create a folder named Taskbar Shortcuts.
2. Move it to c:\Windows
3. Create a shortcut for the desired item within this folder.
4. Decide on the icon to be used for your Taskbar Shortcut (you may have to go to step 5) (do not try to apply the icon yet)
5. Right-click and drag the shortcut without releasing. (This may give you an idea of the true icon) (do not do any more here)

A. To apply a specific icon to your shortcut right-click\ properties\change icon

B. By default windows will offer you icons in the shell32.dll look through them to see if the desired icon is there. If it is then select it and click OK.

C. If you can’t locate your specific icon then follow these steps:

Once the shorcut has the proper icon Select your shortcut and press ctrl-c

When the New Shortcut Wizard opens key in the following:

ctrl-v

(example: explorer «C:\windows\Taskbar Shortcuts\Local Connection) click OK

If the new taskbar item needs right click functionality like Local Area Connection-Disable\Enable then do this: