Customised folder icon keeps changing back

I like to give the My Documents folder a customised icon so that it will stand out but Microsoft clearly doesn't like you doing this, because after installing updates the icon frequently reverts to the default.

Is there a way of customising the icon and making it stick?

Using Windows 10 Pro, 64-bit, version 1909. OS build 18363.720

Yes, that's exactly what I've done.

However, what I didn't say, and may be relevant, is that I've moved My Documents from the default location, and it's now on a different logical drive E:.

After you've customized the icon, try "locking down" the change by editing the permissions of the desktop.ini ifle within the folder & denying yourself "Write" permissions:


Also, the shortcut under This PC can have a custom icon set independent of the folder it points to. For Documents, you'd want to cfeate the registry key:

Code:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{d3162b92-9365-467a-956b-92703aca08af}\DefaultIcon

and set its (Default) value to your icon source. (Look at neighboring keys for example)

Thanks for these suggestions. I've set up the permissions - now we'll wait for another update to see if they work.

Incidentally, when I moved My Documents to a different drive I also renamed it but the renaming also reverted after applying of updates. Will the desktop.ini fix retain renaming as well?

And, after applying updates, I noticed the Documents shortcut under the username in Explorer had disappeared. Do you know how to get this shortcut back?

Many thanks.

simonc8 said:

Will the desktop.ini fix retain renaming as well?
And, after applying updates, I noticed the Documents shortcut under the username in Explorer had disappeared. Do you know how to get this shortcut back?
Many thanks.

When you rename a folder like Documents that has a LocalizedResourceName specified in its desktop.ini file, you overided the resource reference with a literal string. So both icon & name will either be retained or over-written.



As for the second part of your question, not sure. You're talking about the folder that displays your full name under the Desktop, right? The one that opens if your paste shell:UsersFilesFolder in the Address bar?


That folder is a wierd hybrid whose behavior I haven't quite pinned down. If you Documets disappear from there, I would verify that both entries: Personal & {F42EE2D3-909F-4907-8871-4C22FC0BF756} under HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders point to your re-directed folder.

Keith

Thanks for the information.

Both the registry keys pointed to the correct folder. Here is a screenshot of where I think there are missing shortcuts - as far as I remember they were there until I moved My Documents to the alternate location.

Well, I'm on a laptop with a single drive so I can't replicate your situation. As that folder seems to primarily mirror C:\users\<user>, it doesn't seem that surprising. Why not navigate via This PC or Quick Access?