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Windows 7

Change Default Icons of A Shortcut

Oct 17, 2010·Dustin·Comments (1)

Estimated Reading Time: 1 min

Windows has always allowed you to change the appearance of your icons, and the procedure is pretty much the same in Vista and 7. If you don’t like the way your default icons look, you can always change them. There are plenty of built in icons to choose from, as well as many able to be downloaded. If you feel extremely adventurous, you can try your hand at designing one yourself.

Here is how to change the default icon in Windows.

1. Right click on a Folder, Shortcut, or Drive and click Properties.

2. On the Shortcut tab, click the Change Icon… on the bottom of the panel.

3. Select the icon of your choice, browse for a new icon collection (usually in c:WindowsSystem32imageres.dll or shell32.dll) or a custom .ico that you’ve built or downloaded.

4. That’s it. You’re done.

Before and After

Before & After

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#Default Icon #Shortcut
Written by
Dustin · Founder and Head Editor, News Poster
Sr. Cybersecurity Engineer - Microsoft MVP Windows Experience (2014-2015)

Dustin is the founder and head editor of MSTechpages. He started the site to help other users of Windows. He has been very active with helping others throughout the years, from USENET to Microsoft Answers to the latest Microsoft Communities as well as other internet forums such as Reddit. He is a Sr. System Administrator, holds several industry certifications and degrees.

View all 1500 articles by Dustin →

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