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how do i change icons on windows 10 ?
Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2025 10:34 pm
by crank
i want to change the icons of apps on my desktop but i dont know how. i've been only able to change some desktop icons (via settings)
how can i change 'em ? 
Re: how do i change icons on windows 10 ?
Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2025 10:57 pm
by Daniele63
zodah43 wrote:i want to change the icons of apps on my desktop but i dont know how. i've been only able to change some desktop icons (via settings)
how can i change 'em ? confused0013
Assuming they are already shortcuts, you need to:
Right click > Properties > Change Icon
Make sure the file you replace it with is in .ico format.
If you want to change the icon of an executable directly, so that even window previews will have the new icon, you need to use a tool called Resource Hacker.
Once in the program you need to click on File > Open and select the .exe file, and navigate to "Icon Group", here you can select a .ico file to replace it with.
Re: how do i change icons on windows 10 ?
Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2025 11:12 pm
by crank
admin wrote:i want to change the icons of apps on my desktop but i dont know how. i've been only able to change some desktop icons (via settings)
how can i change 'em ? Assuming they are already shortcuts, you need to:
Right click > Properties > Change Icon
Make sure the file you replace it with is in .ico format.
If you want to change the icon of an executable directly, so that even window previews will have the new icon, you need to use a tool called Resource Hacker.
Once in the program you need to click on File > Open and select the .exe file, and navigate to "Icon Group", here you can select a .ico file to replace it with.
when i try to change icons with resource hacker, it says "Cannot rename the original file, Saving cancelled."
idk why it says that & how to fix it 
Re: how do i change icons on windows 10 ?
Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2025 11:35 pm
by lakes
zodah43 wrote:Assuming they are already shortcuts, you need to:
Right click > Properties > Change Icon
Make sure the file you replace it with is in .ico format.
If you want to change the icon of an executable directly, so that even window previews will have the new icon, you need to use a tool called Resource Hacker.
Once in the program you need to click on File > Open and select the .exe file, and navigate to "Icon Group", here you can select a .ico file to replace it with.
when i try to change icons with resource hacker, it says "Cannot rename the original file, Saving cancelled."
idk why it says that & how to fix it
I had that problem when I was on Windows. I had to save it to a different spot and then move it to the folder I originally wanted I think.
Re: how do i change icons on windows 10 ?
Posted: Wed Oct 08, 2025 11:40 pm
by Daniele63
zodah43 wrote:Assuming they are already shortcuts, you need to:
Right click > Properties > Change Icon
Make sure the file you replace it with is in .ico format.
If you want to change the icon of an executable directly, so that even window previews will have the new icon, you need to use a tool called Resource Hacker.
Once in the program you need to click on File > Open and select the .exe file, and navigate to "Icon Group", here you can select a .ico file to replace it with.
when i try to change icons with resource hacker, it says "Cannot rename the original file, Saving cancelled."
idk why it says that & how to fix it sad0122
You need to run the program in Admin mode, that's why.
Re: how do i change icons on windows 10 ?
Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2025 1:42 am
by crank
admin wrote:
when i try to change icons with resource hacker, it says "Cannot rename the original file, Saving cancelled."
idk why it says that & how to fix it You need to run the program in Admin mode, that's why.
now when i run the program on admin mode it doesnt show the icon file in where i put it when i try to search for it
it doesn't actually show a single file in the explorer lel
Re: how do i change icons on windows 10 ?
Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2025 12:32 pm
by Daniele63
zodah43 wrote:You need to run the program in Admin mode, that's why.now when i run the program on admin mode it doesnt show the icon file in where i put it when i try to search for it
it doesn't actually show a single file in the explorer lel
Did you reset your icon cache after changing your icon? Or can you not change icons?
Re: how do i change icons on windows 10 ?
Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2025 1:40 pm
by crank
admin wrote:now when i run the program on admin mode it doesnt show the icon file in where i put it when i try to search for it
it doesn't actually show a single file in the explorer lelDid you reset your icon cache after changing your icon? Or can you not change icons?
i dont know how to do dat, whatever you mean 
Re: how do i change icons on windows 10 ?
Posted: Thu Oct 09, 2025 1:54 pm
by Daniele63
zodah43 wrote:Did you reset your icon cache after changing your icon? Or can you not change icons?
i dont know how to do dat, whatever you mean
Basically the cache is a folder your PC will generate automatically that saves images like your icons for example, so you don't need to download them again every time you open it, same goes for websites, sometimes you need to refresh your cache in order to see new changes.
So when you change your icon with Resource Hacker, you're gonna have to reset that cache to see any changes.
Look there to see how to do it
Since I do it quite often, I use a software that puts a button to do that directly in my context menu when I right click my desktop, it's called
Easy Context Menu.
For Resource Hacker, here's what I do, if you didn't undersand:
Step 1: Open
Step 2: Select Program
Step 3: Go to Icon Group and right click, press Replace Icon
Step 4: Select your icon and press save
