Windows icons gone awry - how can I reset them?


  1. Posts : 47
    Windows 10
       #1

    Windows icons gone awry - how can I reset them?


    Hello,

    I have been using my laptop (Lenovo Ideapad 330s 15IKB) for over a year when I started seeing some of the Windows 10 icons getting messed up. It started with the network icons when Microsoft changed them something seemed to go wrong with one of the updates (can't remember which one), and my machine started showing them like this:
    Windows icons gone awry - how can I reset them?-network-icon.png
    This only happened on my main user. The second user I have on the laptop displays the icons correctly.
    After a while I found that the account user icon too has gone awry. Here is a shot of the users from the Start menu:
    Windows icons gone awry - how can I reset them?-user-account.png
    Note: The second one down has an unclear and different icon. (mind the dark mode)
    I got the same thing when opening the Settings app, the icon is shown as unclear (as if it's the wrong resolution) and doesn't look like the others do.

    Soon after searching in the Settings app stopped working. I'm not sure if this is a separate issue, but with all of this together I decided to create a new user with Admin privileges, and everything worked fine. All the icons displayed correctly, and the searches worked fine, so I went to the task of moving all my data across to the new user, and started using that.

    Now though the issue seems to have come back. The network icons have become as shown above. The user icon hasn't changed.
    I have created a new user and they display correctly there, but I'm not willing to go through the whole transfer process. It took too long and too much effort the first time.
    Is there any way to reset these icons? I ran a system scan with sfc /scannow which returned no problems found.

    Specs:
    Edition: Windows 10 Home
    Version: 21H1
    Installed on: ‎03/‎08/‎2021
    OS build:
    19043.1165
    Experience: Windows Feature Experience Pack 120.2212.3530.0

    Any help or suggestions is much appreciated,
    Kind regards.
      My Computers


  2. Posts : 42,992
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #2

    Hi, the Wifi icon issue has been previously related to a font issue. See e.g.
    Icon Bug on WiFi selection (Rectangle appearing in front of Signal)

    And last post here:
    Square icon overlay on wifi icon (After upgrading to Windows 10 2004)

    (How did I find these? - With this search:
    rectangle over Wifi icon site:tenforums.com

    and with the advantage of knowing these were available).
      My Computers


  3. Posts : 47
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thanks @dalchina,

    I copied over the fonts from a new user where they displayed correctly and the issue has resolved.

    Do you have any suggestions for the user account icon?
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 42,992
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #4
      My Computers


  5. Posts : 47
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #5

    I followed that tutorial and changed the account picture. After restarting the machine though, the broken account is still broken, my new account still has the new style icon and the other two (one a local the second an admin) have the changed icons.

    It seems that it has not worked for the broken account user.
    Windows icons gone awry - how can I reset them?-image.png
    The current account also doesn't seem to have changed, but that makes sense that it would be cached somewhere. Why is the old broken account not getting changed though?
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 42,992
    Win 10 Pro (22H2) (2nd PC is 22H2)
       #6

    Sorry, can't help further on this. I've no information on what happened that might have caused it.

    Remember to use disk imaging regularly and routinely as is endlesssly recommended here to give you a second change. E.g. Macrium reflect (free) + large enough external storage for image files- complemented by System Restore.

    Fixing individual things specifically may or may not be possible and can be very time consuming.

    If your old 'broken' account is not needed, you can delete it..

    Good luck.
      My Computers


  7. Posts : 47
    Windows 10
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Ok thank you.

    I manually solved this issue, by using the Settings app to choose the default icon and now it displays the correct default icon.
      My Computers


 

  Related Discussions
Our Sites
Site Links
About Us
Windows 10 Forums is an independent web site and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Microsoft Corporation. "Windows 10" and related materials are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.

© Designer Media Ltd
All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:41.
Find Us




Windows 10 Forums