How to Change the Icon for a File Type in Windows?

It’s surprising that Windows doesn’t have a built-in option to allow users to set custom icons for file types. If you have a custom file type and the corresponding program doesn’t have a nice-looking icon in its .exe or .dll resource, you can change or customize the default icon for that file type manually.

This article explains how to change the default icon for a file type using different methods in Windows. Instructions apply to all versions of Windows, including Windows 10

How to Change the Default Icon for a File Type?

You can change the default icon for a file type using the built-in Registry Editor. In the second method, let’s see how to change the default icon using Default Programs Editor.

Method 1: Change file type icon using the Registry Editor

Let’s assume you want to change the file type icon for .txt files, and here is how to do that.

1. Click Start, type regedit.exe and press ENTER
2. Navigate to the following branch:
3. In the right-pane, note down the value data for Progid (e.g. txtfile ). This is the user chosen (via Default Programs or Open with dialog) Programmatic Identifier for the file extension.

Registry Branch Not Found?

If the DefaultIcon key does not exist by default, you need to create it manually.

In the right-pane, double-click (default) and mention the path to your custom icon (.ico file or reference to a icon inside a EXE/DLL file. See “Icons From DLL/EXE Files” paragraph at the end of this article).

Edit the (default) value data, mentioning the path to a icon file. For this example, I used a notepad icon file from the web, saved it to a permanent location and mentioned the full path.If you’re using a custom icon file, make sure it’s at least 128 x 128, although it’s not a rule but this is to make sure icons look nice when folder view is set to large or extra large icons.

Exit the Registry Editor.

Logoff and login back, or refresh the icons and see if the Text file icons are now updated.

Icons From DLL/EXE Files

If you don’t have a custom .ico file, you may use the icon picker dialog box to choose an icon from a EXE/DLL file. To launch the icon picker dialog, right-click on a folder in your system, click Properties. Click the Customize tab, and click Change Icon… button. Use the icon picker to choose the icon and make a note of the index. The index starts from “0” and you need to proceed vertically when counting (top to bottom.)

Browse to shell32.dll or imageres.dll and note down the icon index, simply cancel the icon picker dialog and close folder properties dialog.

For example, to set the 260 th icon in Shell32.dll, mention the following path, in Step 8:

To make it clear, this procedure doesn’t change the file type associations, only the icon assigned to that file type. If the icons don’t update even if you restart Windows, clear and rebuild the icon cache.

Additional note

As the icon change is made to the ProgId txtfile in the registry, it also affects the other file extensions that use the same ProgId. For instance, in my system, the txtfile ProgID is being used by .log , .scp & .wtx file extensions. Those files will also show up with the new icon.

To know which file extensions are using a ProgID (i.e., txtfile), run this command in the Command Prompt window:

RELATED: See article How to Remove File Type Associations Using the Registry Editor for more information on File extension → ProgID mapping.

It’s possible to change the default icon for a file type without affecting other file types. To do that, you’ll need to create a new file class or ProgID for the file extension, and assign the default icon in the newly created file class.

Method 2: Change file type icon using Default Programs Editor

Don’t want to edit the registry to change file type icons? There are 3rd party tools like Default Programs Editor and FileTypesMan that can change the file type icons and association settings.

Default Programs Editor is a very useful tool which helps you to edit file type associations, add or remove AutoPlay handlers and static context menu entries. We’ve covered Default Programs Editor before. Default Programs Editor – A Useful File Association Editor for Windows

In this method, let us see how you can accomplish the task using the Default Programs Editor.

1. Download Default Programs Editor, unzip and run the executable.
2. Select File Type Settings
3. Click Icon
4. Select the file extension for which you want to change the icon, in the next screen.
5. This screen shows the current icon for the file type. To change it, click on the Browse button.
6. In the icon picker dialog that’s displayed, browse and locate an icon, or point to a custom .ico file if you have one. The built-in imageres.dll and shell32.dll files contain many icons for you to choose from.
7. Click the Save Icon button to save the changes to the registry.

As you can see in the screenshot, you also have the option to save the settings to a file. In case you need to apply the changes to several computers, you can output the settings to a .REG file. This can be done by clicking the arrow mark near the Save Icon button, and choosing Save to .reg file. You can deploy or apply the .reg file on other computers without having to run the utility again.

That’s it! The default icon for .txt file type is changed would now refresh or update automatically!

[Before] .txt files showing standard icons [After] .txt files showing custom icons

Method 3: Change file type icon using FileTypesMan

FileTypesMan is an alternative to the Folder Options “File Types” tab (XP-era) in Windows. It displays the list of all file extensions and types registered on your computer. For each file type, the following information is displayed: Type Name, Description, MIME Type, Perceived Type, Flags, Browser Flags, and more. FileTypesMan also allows you to easily edit the properties and flags of each file type, as well as it allows you to add, edit, and remove actions in a file type. This utility works in all Windows versions including, Windows 10.

Screenshots

%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-102 is the Windows-default icon for .txt files. Windows-default icon for .txt files

After setting the default icon to %SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,14 via the icon picker dialog, here is how it shows up: Customized .txt files icon

Change the icon for unknown and extensionless files

File types that are not registered with the system and files that have no extension are assigned a generic icon from shell32.dll,0 by default. The unknown or generic icon for unregistered file types and extensionless files can be customized as per your choice so that you don’t have to see the boring icon anymore.

Windows stores the icon setting for unknown file types and extensionless files in this registry key:

The (default) or the unnamed value points to the following icon resource by default:

Using the Registry Editor (Regedit.exe), you can change the (default) value so that it points to a .ico file that you already have or an icon resource inside a .dll or .exe file by mentioning the file name and resource identifier.

Using the Icon picker (a.k.a. the Change Icon dialog), you can use a relevant icon in shell32.dll, 224 that can be assigned for unregistered and extensionless files. You just need to replace the existing Value data ( %SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,0 ) with %SystemRoot%\System32\shell32.dll,224 using the Registry Editor or using the REG files below.

Logoff and login back to your account.

Here is how it looked before:

We’ve changed that to:

Tip: In case the icons don’t automatically refresh even after a logoff-logon cycle, you can force a shell icons refresh using the ie4uinit.exe method or using Default Programs.

Hope the above guide helped you change file type icons on your Windows 10 computer easily!

How to Change Icon Sizes in Windows 10

Icons too small or too large? Change things up to get the size just right

What to Know

• Change desktop icon sizes: Right-click on the desktop-> go to View -> choose an icon size.
• Change file icon sizes: Go to Start ->File Explorer ->View ->Layout. Select an icon size.

This article explains how to change the size of icons on the desktop and File Explorer in Windows 10.

How to Change Desktop Icon Sizes in Windows 10

Your desktop is part of Windows 10 that hosts shortcuts to the Recycle Bin and your favorite apps. These shortcuts are represented by icons that can be made larger or smaller to match your tastes.

On the Windows 10 desktop, right-click anywhere to bring up a menu. Select View.

Select Large icons, Medium icons, or Small icons to change the size of the icons on your desktop.

Your current Windows 10 icon size setting has a black dot next to it in the menu.

After selecting an icon size, the icons on the desktop resize automatically. You can repeat this process as many times as you like to get your icons looking the way you want.

How to Change Windows 10 File Icon Sizes

When browsing your Windows 10 device’s folders in the File Explorer or when looking for a file to upload to an app or website such as Twitter, Instagram, or Twitch, it can be helpful to adjust the size of the file icons to make it easier to locate the file you need.

Open File Explorer from the Windows 10 Start Menu.

Depending on your Start Menu settings, the link to File Explorer may appear as a small icon that looks like a folder. You can also type «File Explorer» into the Windows search box to open File Explorer.

Select the View tab on the File Explorer window.

In the Layout section, point to Extra large icons, Large icons, Medium-sized icons, Small icons, List, Details, Tiles and Content. As you do, all the icons preview the selected size so you can see how each option will display.

Select the icon size you want to apply it.

Your icon size preferences are folder-specific in the File Explorer. For example, if you want the Extra large icons option enabled for every folder, you’ll need to change each one manually.

How to Change a File Icon in Windows 10 (for Any File Type)

If you have a file type that has no icon or using an ugly one, you can easily change the file icon. Follow these steps to change the file icon of a specific file type in Windows 10 to anything you want.

I generally dislike the blank file icons. For instance, even when I understand the language, I like to have subtitles for the movies I watch. However, the SRT file type in Windows has no icon whatsoever. This always bugs me. So, one of the first things I do is set an icon for the SRT file types.

The good thing is, it’s pretty simple to do. Here’s how.

Preparation

Before moving forward, I assume you already have an icon and the said icon is in the ICO format. If you’ve downloaded the icon from the Internet then it is probably in PNG or JPG format. In that case, convert the icon to ICO format. There are a lot of free services on the internet that can convert images to ICO format.

If you don’t already have an icon, use websites like IconArchive to download some nice free icons.

Also, store the icon somewhere safe. For example, I generally store all my icons in a dedicated folder so that I don’t accidentally delete the said icon. If you delete the icon after setting up, the file type will show default or no icon.

Change File Icon for Any File Type

Unlike the folder icon, there is no built-in option to change the file icon in Windows 10 or previous versions of Windows for that matter. You have to edit registry keys. It is messy and unnecessarily complex. So, we are going to use a free, portable, and small software called FileTypesMan from Nirsoft Utilities.

1. First, download FileTypesManager from Nirsoft. Being a portable application, there is no need to install it. Just extract the ZIP file and execute the application. In the main home screen, you will see all the file types in your system.

2. In the application, find the file type you are looking for, right-click on it and select “Edit Selected File Type” option.

3. Here, click on the “…” button next to the Default Icon field.

4. The above action will open the default Windows Icons list. Since we want to set a custom icon, click on the “Browse” button.

5. In this window, go to where you’ve stored the icon, select it and click on the “Open” button.

6. Back in the Change Icon window, select the newly added icon and click on the “Ok” button.

7. Click on the “Ok” button in the FileTypeManager window to save changes.

8. Close the application.

That is it. You’ve changed the icon of the target file type. From now on, you will see the custom icon for that specific file type. In my case, the SRT file type will have a new custom icon set by me rather than the blank icon.

If you are not seeing the changes immediately, either restart Windows File Explorer or reboot Windows. Doing any one of the two actions should reflect the changes.

Hope that helps. If you stuck in the procedure or need some help, comment below and I will try to help as much as possible.

3 thoughts on “How to Change a File Icon in Windows 10 (for Any File Type)”

Just discovered site and have found some great articles…

I’m hoping you can help with an issue I’ve been having for some time. The problem I am having is that all of my audio extensions get “bulked” together. For example, when I attempt to change the description or the icon for .mp3’s the description and icon changes for all audio extensions (.wav, .au, etc). Not only is this annoying, it’s a bit asinine too! (As a composer I’m constantly adding and removing samples into my DAW… nothing slows the process down more than thinking I’m dropping in a Wav file only to realize it’s Midi… ugh)

I’ve tried both FileTypeMan and ShellExt but no luck… I’m thinking it might be because my “user Choice” application if I simply point and click on a file in explorer is the AIMP app through The Microsoft Store.

Here’s what Appears in FileTypeMan “Notice – Changing the properties of this file type may affect the following extensions: .aac, .aif, .aiff, .flac, .m4a, .mid, .midi, .mka, .mp2, .mp3, .s3m, .wav, .wma, .xm” Then there’s the warning that says “UserChoice overwrites the actions and icon of the file extention.”

Thanks in advance for any assistance

Also running into the same problem like Christopher, in my case problems are coming up with .php, .js, .html and co that are assigned to Visual Code. Is there any way to ungroup them, that any file format can get its own icon?

Actually WindowsXP, Server2003, and WindowsXP64 all came with a file extension manager, Simply named “Extension Manager”. It not only allowed you to quickly search for file extensions, add extensions and manually set file associations, you could indeed also manually set the icon for a given extension, either by selecting supported image files or pointing to a executable or DLL file and choose from an embeded icon within the exe or library..
Why Microsoft chose to remove this very helpful tool from Vista, 7, 8, and 8.1 is quite mind boggling.
The windows 10 equivalent has a large clunky view, cannot search to quickly bring you to the extension you’re looking for in the huge list of extensions, and as already known by anyone reading this page, does not allow you to set extension icons.
Simply Amazing how frequently companies toss out utility and function purely for things that look new and perform poorly….