How To Change A Folder Icon In Windows 10/11

Do you not like the default icon used for a specific folder in Windows 10/11? Want to change the folder icon to your favorite photo or icon? This guide will show you how to change the folder icon in Windows 10/11.

Change the folder icon for a specific folder in Windows 10/11

Step 1: In the File Explorer, right-click the folder you want to customize by setting a different icon and then click the Properties option.

NOTE: You cannot change the icon of multiple folders at once. So, please select only one folder at a time.

Tip: After selecting a folder, you can open the properties dialog with Alt + Enter hotkey.

Step 2: In the Properties dialog, click on the Customize tab.

Step 3: Under the Customize tab, click on the Change icon button.

Step 4: In the File name field, type %SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll (if not available by default) and click the Open button to see system icons. You can select one of the many icons available here.

However, if you wish to use a custom icon, click the Browse button to navigate to the icon you want to use as the folder icon.

Note that you cannot set a picture file as a folder icon by default, as standard picture file types such as PNG and JPEG are not allowed. The folder icon must be in .ico format. So, if you like to set a photo as a folder icon, please use one of the many online picture to icon converts and then repeat these steps.

Step 5: Select the icon file and then click the Open button.

Step 6: Finally, click on the Apply button to set the selected icon as your folder icon.

The new folder icon should appear immediately. If not, you can restart Windows 10/11 or refresh the icon cache to see the new folder icon.

Change the folder icon & color for all folders in Windows 10/11

Although Windows 10 and 11 support changing the icon of a specific folder, they do not allow changing the folder icon of all folders at once. If you are not happy with the default folder icons, you can consider using third-party programs to change the default folder icon as well as the color.

Folder Painter and Folder Marker are two of the free software available to change the folder icon and color. Refer to our four free folder color-changing tools guide to learn more about these third-party programs.