How to change folder icons in Windows 7. How to change, including system icons. Video: how to install new icons using the IconPackager program
Greetings, blog readers.
Many users, trying to make the appearance of their operating system unique, change everything they can. These are window colors, backgrounds, sounds, icons, and often the entire design together. I've already touched on different topics related to this area. At the same time, I did not tell you how to change the folder icon in Windows 7. Well, in the article below I will tell you about this.
This procedure is simple and does not require any special skills from users. In general, to change the directory picture in Windows 8 or similar versions, you need to perform a few simple movements:
It is best to use files whose size does not exceed 256×256 points. To return standard image, just click on “ Restore to default" At the end we confirm the actions.
Before the final movements, you can preview the icon to be installed. If everything is fine, click " OK».
If you want to know in which folder the icons are stored - Shell32.dll. It would be more accurate to say that this is a library that is responsible specifically for icons.
As a result, a configuration file is created in the directory. It states required parameters and the path to the image. By default it is hidden. To see it, you need to go to the tab “ View" and then in " Options. This is where you uncheck the box that hides these types of documents.
Manually( )
How to change the folder icon manually? Simple - you can create the above file yourself:
It is worth noting that not all catalogs can be changed to your own image. For example, this is prohibited for the Windows partition.
All folders( )
The first thing you need to do is a restore point. Only after this proceed to the procedure itself:
This way you will be able to change the images in directories in Windows 10 and other versions.
Disk( )
If you want to put new picture on a flash drive or any other partition, refer to this article
On your monitor screen there is a large number of different folders and icons having standard view. Perhaps you are tired of their usual look and would like to change it. It's possible! But in order to do this, you need to download some collection of different icons for files and folders. For example this one.
Download icon set. IN this set icons in two formats.
How to change a folder icon.
To replace the folder icon, move the cursor over the desired folder and press the right mouse button. A list will appear. Select “Properties” in it.
A window with icons will appear. You can choose your favorite folder icon from this list or select an icon from downloaded icons.
If you want to select an icon among the icons you have downloaded, then to do this, click the “Browse” button, go to the folder with icons, select the one you like among them and click “Open”, then click “OK” in the windows that appear. The icon you like will be applied to the folder.
For example, here is the folder that I got.
How to change a file icon?
Let's do it the same way! Right-click on the file, go to the “Properties” section, but here go to the “Shortcut” tab, click “Change Icon”.
By following these simple rules, you can gradually change all the folder and file icons to the ones you like best. The folder icons are all the same, so they most often need to be replaced. Then you will be able to distinguish them not only by name, but also by color and shape.
Now that you have tidied up your folder icons, you need to figure out how easy they are to use. Some programs are better used in portable version, so that in case of emergency you always have them at hand, namely on a flash drive. However, in this case, folders with programs become like a dump, and searching for an .exe file in them to launch becomes inconvenient. This problem can be solved by creating individual shortcuts, located in the root of the flash drive. These “smart guys” independently run all the necessary programs on absolutely any computer, regardless of where you put the storage device.
2. Return to its root and click on empty space right key mice. Now select the “Create” and “Shortcut” functions.
3. After that, we need to specify the path to it like this:
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /C start /B /D \*path to the program folder* \*path to the program folder*\*file name.exe*
When you write it, don’t forget to include the backslash “\“. In our case it looks like this:
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /C start /B /D \Soft\OpenOffice \Soft\OpenOffice\X-ApacheOpenOffice.exe
A quick footnote: if you decide to place all the shortcuts in separate folder, having created an additional flash drive in the root of the flash drive for this purpose, indicate on the command line that it will need to go back to this folder. Just put a dot as the first slash. In our specific case it looks like this:
%windir%\system32\cmd.exe /C start /B /D .\Soft\OpenOffice .\Soft\OpenOffice\X-ApacheOpenOffice.exe
6. To window command line was not displayed at startup, select the “Collapsed to icon” function in the “Window” field:
7. Right on the tab at the bottom of the window, click the “Change icon” button, and then in the window that appears, open the program’s executable file, since this is what we are creating the shortcut for. We mark it and click “OK” - the same as in the properties window.
8. Now the shortcut will automatically change its icon, and we can launch the program from the root of the flash drive. You can easily move this folder, along with the program and the shortcut, to any convenient place. In this case, they will work normally with preservation relative path from a shortcut to a working executable file.
We hope that each of our articles helps you become more confident and not be afraid of any actions when working with a computer. Have a positive working mood!
Having released a new operating system Windows 10, Microsoft has given it many new features and significantly redesigned the system. Desktop icons have also undergone changes. Many users are accustomed to the old icons that were present on Windows 7. Therefore, non-standard icons after the transition to the new Windows 10 did not appeal to many PC users. IN new Windows 10 they can be easily changed for any shortcut on the desktop. In this material we will describe all the ways to change icons in Windows 10. In addition, we will describe the process of creating new icons.
Changing the icons of the main desktop shortcuts
Basic desktop shortcuts include links such as " This computer», « Control Panel», « Basket" To change these icons, you need to go to the " Options» to links « CUSTOMIZATION/Themes».
Now let's try to change the shortcut " Basket" To do this, select the trash can and click on the Change icon button.
In the list of shortcuts that appears, we will select the one we like and confirm our decision with the Apply button. Below is a basket with a different image.
Users can also use non-standard icons Windows libraries 10, and from third party sources. One such source is the package free icons « Open Icon Library" You can download this package on its official website https://sourceforge.net/projects/openiconlibrary. After downloading and unpacking the archive, about 10 thousand icons will be available to you various formats. To use them from the “Open Icon Library”, click on the same button Change icon for the recycle bin shortcut. In the window that appears, click on the Browse button. . . . After that, select one of the “Open Icon Library” shortcuts. Below is a cart using images from the Open Icon Library.
Which Windows 10 desktop shortcuts can be changed?
The main desktop elements for which you can change icons are shortcuts (links to programs, files and folders) and folders. Let's describe an example of changing the icon in Google Chrome. To do this, go to the properties of the browser shortcut.
Now if we click on the button Change icon. . ., then we will have four options for choosing an icon.
From the example it is clear that when we get to the icon selection list window, the same window appears in front of us as in the first example. The only difference is that all icons are taken not from the system library, but from the executable file “chrome.exe”. In this window, just like in the first example, you can select an icon from “ Open Icon Library"or any other.
Now let's look at changing the icon for folders on the desktop. For example, we will create a folder named “Icon” on the desktop. After creating it, we will go to its properties on the “ tab Settings».
On this tab, click on the button that is already familiar to us Change icon. . .. After this action, the same window will appear in front of us, as in the previous examples.
The principle of replacing folder icons with a third-party one, and not from the “shell32.dll” library, is the same as in the previous examples.
We create icons ourselves
For this example we will use the program IcoFX. This program can Easily create different icons from raster images . For this example we will take free photo from the site https://pixabay.com. This site has thousands of free images.
We will also download and install the program IcoFX. After that we will open IcoFX program, and also open our image in it.
When opening an image, the utility prompts us to make a choice. We will focus on the option " Create an icon from the image" This option will open our image in a reduced resolution, which can be saved for use as an icon.
After selection suitable size icon you can save it. In our case, the size is 256 × 256. It is saved in the “*ico” file format. Below is an example of a Shortcut user shortcut with our icon.
Using IcoFX, you can create various icons from raster and vector images, which are located on the desktop.
Setting label sizes
Changing the size of desktop shortcuts is quite easy. To do this, go to the active desktop and right-click on it. After this action, a context menu will open in which you need to go to the line “ View».
As you can see in the image above, you can make the size large, regular, and small. This setting allows you to adjust the size for monitors with different resolutions and diagonals. For example, for large monitors You can reduce the size of the labels, and for small diagonals make them large. It is also worth noting that in the “View” item you can pin shortcuts in a grid and pin them automatically to the desktop.
Finally
After reading this article, you will learn how easy it is to change icons in Windows 10. In addition, the article shows how you can create icons from bitmap images yourself. We hope the material will help our readers change icons in Windows 10, as well as create new ones.
Video on the topic
I continue the theme of decorations for those who sometimes get bored with the standard Windows decoration. Although many are now being produced ready-made assemblies, which are not only pre-installed (or optional) the necessary programs, but also with a built-in theme. But still there are “clean” ones, for fans of minimalism or if licensed version. It is for these people that I wrote this article. In it you will learn how using standard methods change the icon (icon) of a file or folder without using programs. And for something sweet, I’ll answer the question - ?
In general, I think that if you want to change the Windows interface, then it will be much easier to download some theme with all the bells and whistles (wallpaper, folders, start, icons, shortcuts, cursor, etc. - everything will be changed), but my site is not is dedicated to this, so I will show you how you can change the icons on your own.
How to change a folder icon
1) Right-click (right mouse button) on the folder we need
2) In the menu, select the last one - Property
3) In this window, select the tab Settings
4) Click on the button Change icon
5) This window will open, in which you simply select the icon you like for the folder from the list (note that you can “twist” it left and right using the slider. Don’t think that there are few icons there
Well, for those for whom this is not enough, I’ll answer the “sweet” question right away - Where are icons stored in Windows??
Here is the answer:
C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll
C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll
C:\Windows\System32\ddores.dll
For general information, I inform you - dll This is a library format. Exactly in these three Windows files stores its library of icons.
And that’s why I’ve now opened up this question about storage - if what’s in the set isn’t enough for you, just replace SHELL32.dll in the “Search for icons in” field next file"on imageres.dll and if this is not enough, then on ddores.dll and click Enter. This is important, you don’t need to go anywhere else!
These files are also needed for all sorts of perverts who want to see what’s inside and “pull” these icons out of there (I don’t know why). For them, I hid a small guide under the spoiler.
1) Open one of the proposed files using the program (Following the link you can download the free 30-day version).
2) In the panel Resource tree open the folder Icon
3) Select any of the icons you like.
4) In the panel Resource tree right click on this resource and select Extract... → Extract as "resource_name.ico"
5) Select the folder to extract and click Save
You can also extract all the icons at once, to do this:
6) In the panel Resource tree right click on the folder Icon and select Extract... → Extract all as "Icon" type
7) Select the folder to extract and click OK
6) After you have selected the icon you need, click OK and enjoy the result of your work.
How to change a file icon
The principle is the same as for folders, only the difference is in the window Properties- there we need to click on Change icon
A window like this will appear in which you need to select an icon
If there are no icons there or few, then you can put the paths there that are written in the method described above for folders (for example C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll)
Icons are needed either in the library ( dll) or exe file or ico or png. Basically, they only change the icon on the folders.
And then my surprise appears. I have prepared for you a small collection of icons in the format ico. All you need is to download, save, unpack and specify the path to the icon using the button Review.. in the shortcut or folder settings.
This is more for information purposes than to use them specifically. Still, the article is more about standard methods. If there is anything more, write, I’m always happy to help.
Over time, the appearance of the “Desktop” can become quite boring. Many users limit themselves to simply changing the wallpaper. The fresh picture of the main window, however, can be supplemented with new shortcut icons. How to change different types icons, we will consider in this article.
Standard or third-party icons in ico format
First you need to decide what icons you need: classic from Microsoft, which are already stored in the PC memory, or third-party images. In the second case, you must first create a picture yourself or find an image on the Internet. The main condition is that it must be small and have an ico extension.
You can find ready-made icon files with different designs on third party resources and download them from there, and then install them using any of the methods presented below, depending on the type of icon (folder, application shortcut or main Windows icon). To search, use Google services or Yandex: enter the request “Desktop icons for Windows 10” in the line. The variety of icons available for download on the Internet is quite large: copyrighted, themed, standard for certain versions
Windows and stuff. You can change the icons for all shortcuts at once using an icon pack - a separate collection of icons packaged in one file with dll extension . Such packages can also be downloaded from various sources
. However, be careful when searching for and downloading such files: trust sites that indicate that the files have been scanned by an antivirus. Otherwise, you risk downloading a malicious program along with the file.
Photo gallery: icon sets for the “Desktop” Shortcuts on the “Desktop” may be non-standard, but they must be in ico format. On the Internet you can find many original icons for folders. The Aero icon pack is suitable for users who love modern design
The choice of icons on the Internet is large: from simple to thematic and custom ones
How to change the appearance of the main icons on Windows 10 Main Windows icons
on the “Desktop” - icons with the names “Trash”, “My Computer”, “Network”, “User Files”, “Control Panel” and some others. They are placed on the “Desktop” by default after installation. You can independently determine which of them should be present on it and which should not. You also have the right to change their appearance in the system “Options” window or using third-party utilities.
The easiest way to change the appearance of the main icon is to go to the window with system parameters:
- To make the “Settings” window appear on the display, the easiest way is to simultaneously press two keys: Win + I. But this combination may not work. In this case, there is another way: click on the “Start” button in the lower left corner of the screen, and in the menu itself, select the second icon from the bottom - the gear.
Click on the gear icon in the Start menu - We find ourselves in large menu"Settings" with many sections. We need the last tile in the first row - “Personalization”.
In the “Options” window, click on the “Personalization” section - The desired section with tabs will open. You can launch the same window in another way: click on the “Desktop” in an area free of icons, and in context menu select the very last item - “Personalization”.
Click on the “Personalization” item in the context menu of the “Desktop” - Go to the “Topics” block.
Immediately go from the “Background” tab to “Themes” - In the right column with links to other windows and sections, click on the line “Desktop icon settings”.
Click on the “Desktop Icon Settings” link on the right side of the window - A small window will open on top of the “Settings” - select the desired icon from the menu with the left mouse button, for example, “This computer”. Next, click on the “Change Icon” button.
Click on the icon you want to change and click on the “Change Icon” button - In the third window, select an icon from the list of standard Windows icons or upload your own using the “Browse” button.
Select an icon from among the available ones or upload your own using the “Browse” button - If you chose the second option (uploading your icons), the Explorer window will appear. We are looking for the folder with the desired icon file in ico format. Click on the “Open” button and then click OK.
Find the one you need in Explorer ico file and click on “Open” - In the “Icon Options” window, first click “Apply” for all changes to take effect. If you want to change the icon for other main Windows icons, repeat the same procedure for each of them. Click on "Apply" again and then on OK to close the window.
Using special utilities
There are many applications from various developers that allow you to change the icons of both main shortcuts and other icons, for example, folder icons, beyond recognition. In programs, you can change individual icons or all icons at once, that is, install an entire package.
IconPackager: convenient and fine-tuning the appearance of icons
IconPackager is a product from Stardock, which develops utilities for customizing the Windows desktop interface. This utility comes pre-installed with several icon packs. It is also possible to upload your own and change icons in the available collections, that is, create your own unique packages.
The utility supports Windows versions higher than version seven. The downside is that it is paid, but at the beginning it offers a month of free testing. Although the interface is English language, using the application is quite convenient:
- Open the official website of the application developer. To download the installer, click on the blue Try It Free button.
Click on the blue Try It Free button to download the installer - Run the installer and install the program by following simple instructions in the window.
- Click on the Finish button so that the application window appears on the display.
Click on Finish to close the “Setup Wizard” and open the program window - To start using trial version, click on the Start 30 Day Trial button.
Click on Start 30 Day Trial to start using the program for free for a month - If you want to download third party icon, which you previously downloaded on the Internet, in the Look & Feel tab, click on the Icon Package Options drop-down menu. Select the penultimate item Add Icon Package, and then Install from disk.
Click on Add Icon Package and then select Install from disk to download your collection - In Windows Explorer, find the file with the icon pack and click on “Open” - the collection will be added to the list of currently available ones.
- You can also select a topic from those presented in the list. Let's try to install, for example, Delta.
Click on the Delta package below - Click on Preview to preview all the icons in this pack. If you like them, close the second window and feel free to click on the Apply icons to my desktop button.
Click on Preview to preview the entire icon collection - If you want to return the old ones Windows icons in place, just apply the first theme in the list - Windows Default Icons.
- In the Colors tab you can change the color, hue, and brightness of the icons.
In the Colors tab, set color scheme available icons - Using the I want to adjust the color of my Icon Package item, you can adjust the icons to the theme of your “Desktop” and the color of the “Taskbar”. For example, they can completely change the color to red if there is a Windows theme with that tint. After all changes, click on Apply icons to my desktop.
Icons can take on color current topic Windows - In the Live Folders section you can put separate icons for folders - live icons. To do this, check the box to the left of Always use the Live Folder icons selected below. Then simply select the folder type.
In the Live Folders block, select individual icons for folders - The Customize tab allows you to create your own icon packs. To change a specific icon, click Change this Icon.
The Customize section allows you to create your own collections and change those presented in the program - In a new small window, select from the available ones or add your own icon using the Browse button.
In the Change Icon window, select an icon from those available in the menu or upload your own using the Browse key - When all changes to the package have been made, click on Save Icon Package.
Save changes to the icon pack using the Save Icon Package option - In the small window, confirm that you want to make changes to the package. After this, all settings should be saved successfully.
Click "Yes" to confirm your intention to save the changes - In the Settings section there is additional settings. In particular, you can determine which Windows icons need to be changed and which ones should not be touched. Here you can enable changing the mouse pointer Cursors.
In the Settings tab you can configure changes for certain types of icons: folders, files, main Windows icons and others
Video: how to install new icons using the IconPackager program
Se7en Theme Source Patcher: free utility and large selection of packages
The application is designed to replace all classic desktop icons, local hard drives, folders, and Control Panel icons. Initially, the program was created for the “seven”, but now it supports other versions of Windows, in particular, our “ten”.
The program uses the popular 7z compression format. The downside of the utility is that it does not initially have built-in icon packs. You need to download all collections on the same site from where you download the application, and then add them yourself to the utility database for further use.
The advantage of this program is that it is free. Before replacing icons, the utility creates a restore point and backup copy system files so that you can return all Windows icons to the classic ones:
- Let's move on to applications. Click on the “Download” button.
Click on the "Download" button to download executable file programs - Your browser will download the archive - open it, and in it, right-click on the file and in the menu click on “Extract to...”. Select a folder and unzip the archive.
Click on “Extract to specified folder” in the file’s context menu - Find the extracted file, right-click on it again and in the context menu click on the “Run as administrator” link.
In the context menu of the unpacked file, click on “Run as administrator” - Allow this application to make changes on your PC by clicking “Yes” in the system window that appears. The application does not require installation, so its window will open immediately.
Click Yes to allow the program to make changes to your device - Pre-select and download the themes you like from the same site.
Download your favorite icon pack from the developer’s website - In the application window, click Add a Custom Pack.
Click on the Add a Custom Pack button - In Windows Explorer, select the downloaded archive with the icon pack and click Open.
Find the file with the icon pack and click “Open” - The collection will appear in the menu. At the bottom of the window there will be a Start Patching button. Click on it. The utility will ask if you need to create a restore point. Be sure to create it - click “Yes”.
Give permission to create a backup before installing new icons - Wait for the procedure to complete. After this, you need to reboot the device twice for the changes to take effect.
- Icon packs from this developer contain not only icons, but also some other elements Windows interface, for example, pictures to replace the appearance of the clock, date, and even the Task Manager window. If you don’t need them, click on Extra before installing the collection. IN Option Menu uncheck the boxes unnecessary elements and click Save.
In the Option Menu, remove unnecessary items that you do not want to change and click on Save - If you want to restore classic Windows icons, click the Restore button in the lower right corner in the program window. In the new window, check the box next to the first item and click OK.
To return standard icons Windows, click Restore and then OK
Install new package icons must be used on a pure system, that is, on classic images of icons in Windows, and not on third-party icons.
Therefore, do a preliminary restoration using the Restore key if you have icons other than the standard ones.
Video: how to install icons using the Theme Source Patcher utility
IconTo: application with built-in instructions for use IconTo- free application from the developer AleXStam, which can change icons for system elements , folders, sections hard drives
or even their groups. In IconTo you can change the icons of folders, system objects and hard drive partitions
- It has the following advantages over other utilities:
- More than 300 built-in icons. There is also the option to upload your own icons.
- Instructions for installing icons: at the bottom of the window you will see hints. There is a conversion png formats
- , jpg, ico, as well as the option to extract images from files in dll, exe and some other formats.
The program interface is entirely in Russian. IconTo is suitable for everyone Windows versions , starting with Windows 98 and ending with the modern “ten”. The size of the downloaded installer does not exceed 15.1 MB, so the utility can be used on computers with small volume
memory. The application is available for download on the developer's official website.
How to change folder icon on Windows 10
- If you want to highlight a folder against the general background of icons to make it more recognizable, follow these steps:
Right-click on the folder shortcut. In the menu that appears, click on “Properties”. - In the folder context menu, select “Properties”
A window with various sections will immediately appear on the display - go to the “Settings” tab. In the last section, click on the “Change icon” button. - In the “Settings” tab, click on the “Change icon” button Select an icon from the available ones: Scroll the list of icons to the right to see all the shortcuts. If you have your own image with in the required format
ico and you want to install it, click “Browse”. - Select an icon from those offered or click on the “Browse” button if you have your own icon IN « additional window Windows Explorer
» Locate the folder where the image is stored. Left-click on it to select it, and then click on “Open”. Find desired icon - as a file with the extension ico in Windows Explorer For convenient search
You can use the line with a magnifying glass - just enter the name of the icon file or the ico extension. IN enter ico and search required file - To save changes, click OK in the window with a list of available icons. After this, the folder icon will change.
How to replace all folder icons at once
To change the appearance of all folders, you need to resort to more complex method- editing the registry in the system window. However, this method is not recommended for beginners: it is better to use special programs described in the section “Using special utilities" In this article. If you are already a confident PC user, then you can perform manipulations in the system window:
- To call system window“Registry Editor” simultaneously click Win keys and R - a small “Run” panel will open with a single line “Open”. We print in it regedit command. For the system to execute it, click on OK or press Enter.
In the Run window, type the command regedit - In the next window, click “Yes”. This will give permission to the “Registry Editor” to make changes on the computer.
Click Yes to allow System Utility to make changes to your device - First, let's make a backup copy in case the registry was edited incorrectly. On top panel Find the “File” item and left-click on it. In the menu that appears, click on “Export”.
In the “File” menu, select “Export” - In the new window that opens, select the folder in which the copy will be stored. Give the appropriate name to the file. Then click “Save”.
Name and save a copy in any folder - Now you can start editing yourself. Double-click on the third main branch - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
Open the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder by double clicking - We go one by one to the following blocks in the same left part of the window: Microsoft - Windows - CurrentVersion - Explorer - Shell Icons.
The Shell Icons folder should be located in the Explorer section - If you haven’t found the latest Shell Icons folder, create this section yourself: right-click on Explorer section, select “Create” in the context menu, and then click on the “Section” item. Let's name it accordingly.
If you don't have a Shell Icons folder, create one using the context menu of the Explorer section - Click on Shell Icons. In the right panel, right-click on an empty area to open the menu. In it, select “Create”, and then - “String parameter”. As a name for new entry register, indicate the number 3.
Click on “Create” and then “String Parameter” - Right-click on it and select “Edit”. You can also simply double-click on it with the left mouse button.
Click on “Edit” in the context menu of the newly created parameter - In a small window, in the line for the entry value, insert the path to the file, where its name and ico extension must be indicated. Click on OK.
In the “Value” line we write the path to the ico file, which should be set as an icon - If you have a 64-bit system, the path to the final Shell Icons folder in the left pane will be slightly different: Wow6432Node - Microsoft - Windows - CurrentVersion - Explorer. Next, we repeat the same steps as for the 32-bit system.
- Close all windows and reboot the device. After starting the OS, you will see that the icons of all folders have changed.
Changing the application shortcut icon
If you're tired of your programs' old shortcut icons, try replacing them. For example, let's take the shortcut for the popular Google Chrome browser:
- We look for the desired icon on the “Desktop” (in our case it is the “Google Chrome” icon). Right-click on it to open a context menu with a list of options. Select the same item as in the case of changing the folder icon - “Properties”.
Click on “Properties” in the context menu of the Google Chrome shortcut - You will immediately be taken to the desired tab- “Shortcut”. Click on the middle button “Change icon”.
In the “Shortcut” section, click on the “Change Icon” button - A window similar to the one in the instructions for changing the folder icon will appear on the display. Here, however, it will not be like that big choice icons We do not indicate as a source system library, and the executable file chrome.exe. We make a choice, for example, in favor of the original yellow icon. Click on OK.
Select an icon from the available ones or upload your own file with the ico extension - In the shortcut properties window, first click “Apply”. The system will ask permission to make changes. Click on the “Continue” button.
Click on the “Continue” button to save all changes - After that, click on OK - the window will close and the icon icon will change.
- If you want to change the shortcut icon to your own, use the Browse button to upload own file with a third-party picture.
How to create an icon yourself
If you want to set your image (drawn or downloaded from any site) with a png or jpg extension as an icon, you need to reduce its size if necessary using standard utility Windows Paint and then convert it to an ico file using special services- converters.
An easier way is to use the services of online and software generators icons that are already configured to create files with a certain format and other parameters, for example, image sizes. For example, let's take the IcoFX program, which combines an icon generator and a tool for drawing and editing pictures. It is paid, but its developer, IcoFX Software, provides 30 days free use. We'll tell you how to use it in the instructions:
On the program's home page, click on Windows Icon From Image if you want to download an image
A page will open with a set of tools for editing the image.
Click on the Magic Wand on the left vertical panel
In the right panel, select a tile with a checkerboard pattern to make the background transparent
Click Save to save the edited image
Find the folder in which you want to save the future icon and click on “Save”
Select the size and color quality of the future drawingIf you are no longer attracted by the look of old icons on the “Desktop”, change them either to other classic icons for Windows, or to your own - any small images in ico format found on the Internet or drawn yourself. To change icons you can use them as built-in icons Windows tools, and third-party applications.
