How to Customize the Desktop Icons in Windows 10?

Most Windows users like to customize their desktop. In this sense, organizing and customizing desktop icons is something we can do from some system settings. Below, we will show you three cases to customize the desktop icons in Windows 10.

Case 1: Customize system programs desktop icon

If we are tired of seeing the default icons such as this pc, recycle bin, and network on the desktop, we can change the icons by following these steps.

Step 1: Click the "Start icon"→select "Settings"→ choose "Personalization"→and click "Themes".

Step 2: Slide to the bottom and select "Desktop Icon Settings".

Step 3: Select the system programs we want to change the icon for, for example, This PC, and then click the "Change icon" button.

Step 4: In the "Change Icon" window, we can select any icon we want from the built-in Windows icons, or click "Browse" to find our icon file. Select the icon we like and click "ok" to finish the changes.

Note: If we browse our icons, the file format should be .exe, .dll, .ico, and .icl.

Step 5: If we want to undo the changes, we can go back to the Desktop Icon Settings window, select the icon we want to change back, and click "Restore Default".

Case 2: Customize file folder desktop icon

Customizing the icon of a folder is not only a great way to spruce up the file icon, but also to draw attention to important items.

Step 1: Open the folder "properties" window, switch to the "Customize" tab and click the "Change Icon" button.

Step 2: In the "Change Icon" window, we can select our favorite icon from the Windows icons that come with the system, or click "Browse" to find our icon.

Step 3: Click "OK" to finish changing the folder icon.

Case 3: Customize shortcut desktop icon

Changing the icon of a shortcut in Windows 10 is also very easy and is the same for shortcuts to applications, folders and even Command Prompt.

Step 1: Right-click on the shortcut and select "Properties".

Step 2: On the "Shortcuts" tab, click the "Change Icon" button.

Step 3: Select an icon from the list, or browse for any .exe, .dll, .icl or .ico file that contains the icon. After making our choice and applying it, we will see the new icon on our desktop or taskbar.

Tip: The .bmp image format can be directly modified with the .ico suffix as an icon file. And most design software can be saved as .bmp format, the system tool "Paint" can also be, so we do not have to go to the trouble of looking for software to convert to .ico format.

Summary

With the above cases, we can quickly customize the desktop icons. Custom desktop icons can meet our personalization needs. In addition, we can customize the desktop icons to make things look just the way we want them to.