Not all users like the new File Explorer drive icons in Windows 10. Many users want to change the default drive icons of the File Explorer to something that they like.
Luckily, changing the File Explorer drive icons is an easy job in Windows 10. You can get it done with and without the help of third-party software.
In this guide, we will show you how to change the File Explorer drive icons in Windows 10 with and without the help of third-party icons.
Method 1 of 2
Change the drive icon manually in Windows 10
Use this manual method if you don’t like to use a third-party application for the job. This method is easy as well.
Step 1: Copy and paste the icon file that you want to set as the drive icon to the root of the drive whose drive icon you want to change. That is, for instance, if you want to change the drive icon of the “C” drive, copy and paste the icon to C:\.
Remember that the new drive icon file must be in .ico format. If not, use an online converter (there are many) to convert to the icon file to the .ico file.
Step 2: Now that the new icon file is at the root of the drive, copy and paste the following code into the Notepad, click Save as, and then save it as autorun.inf at the root of the drive whose icon you desire to change. Be sure to save it as autorun.inf file.
[autorun]
ICON=Drive.ico
In the above code, replace the Drive.ico with the actual name of the icon file that you have saved at the root of the drive.
Step 3: Reboot your computer to see the new icon.
If you want to set the new icon for all drives, repeat the above steps for all drives.
To restore the original icons, delete autorun.inf and the drive icon from the root of the drive and then restart your computer.
Method 2 of 2
Change drive icons with Drive Icon Changer
Drive Icon Changer is a little utility designed to enable Windows 10 users to change the File Explorer drive icons with ease. The utility comes with a bunch of cool, free drive icons as well.
Select the drive of which you want to change the icon and then select the icon file. Click the Save button to apply the new drive icon. You need to restart your PC once to see the new icon. If you get the old icon even after the PC restart, rebuild the icon cache.
Note that the icon file must be in .ico format. Needless to say that the tool creates an autorun.inf at the root of the selected drive, and saves the selected icon at the same location.
In addition to Drive Icon Changer, there are many similar utilities around.
Anonymous says
Thank you! This worked very well. I will use this trick for all future drives that I get!
okok says
OMG thank you! Fucking morons at Microsoft why they didn’t want to allow this simple thing?
John Clayton says
I still need to make the the task bar icons bigger as I am sight impaired and need the icons to be at least 1 cm in size. Obviously the people who decided the use of small icons did not consider the many people who are like me, I have a 17″ screen and still find it impossible to see them without a magnifier. Could this be done please?