"Downloads" folder icon missing

Hello all,I'm Aaron and I'm new in here. Nice to meet you all! xDI was at Google searching for a solution for my problem when I found you, guys. I looked everywhere, searched all tenforums.com, but couldn't find an answer. :SMy "Downloads" folder (C:\Users\%USERNAME%\Downloads) icon has gone missing, turning "Downloads" folder into a normal folder (at least in the appearance, since the folder remains the same in all other aspects).I have attached below two screenshots:1º screenshot: how the "Downloads" folder presents itself when I browse to "C:\Users\%USERNAME%" through the desktop, by clicking on my name's icon below the recycle bin;

2ª screenshot: how the "Downloads" folder presents itself inside "This PC" (the icon, then, looks normal);

Any tip would be grateful, guys!Thanks a lot and a happy new year for we all! :)Aaron

Not sure if you tried it/would work, but access the Downloads folder, right-click anywhere and then on Properties. Go to the "Customize" tab and click on "Restore default". This will ensure that no other icon is being shown on that folder than the default one.

smirnovAl said:

Not sure if you tried it/would work, but access the Downloads folder, right-click anywhere and then on Properties. Go to the "Customize" tab and click on "Restore default". This will ensure that no other icon is being shown on that folder than the default one.

Hi, smirnovAl, and thanks for your reply! I have tried it already and tried again when I saw your reply, but no success.

Thanks a lot,
Aaron

aaronlucato said:

Hi, smirnovAl, and thanks for your reply! I have tried it already and tried again when I saw your reply, but no success.

Thanks a lot,
Aaron

Have you performed any changes before it occurred?

User folders are not your normal everyday folders. They are special folders and they have special properties.
Look inside the Downloads Folder for a file called desktop.ini. The contents of the desktop.ini file should look something like this:

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21798
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-184

This is the information that tells it which icon to display. If this file is missing or corrupt then the icon will not show properly. It also very possible that your Downloads folder has lost its special properties. You might want to Google how to Repair User Folders. I thought I had this bookmarked but I cannot find it at the moment. Hopefully this will get you pointed in the right direction to solve this issue.

tracit99 said:

User folders are not your normal everyday folders. They are special folders and they have special properties.
Look inside the Downloads Folder for a file called desktop.ini. The contents of the desktop.ini file should look something like this:

[.ShellClassInfo]
LocalizedResourceName=@%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll,-21798
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-184

This is the information that tells it which icon to display. If this file is missing or corrupt then the icon will not show properly. It also very possible that your Downloads folder has lost its special properties. You might want to Google how to Repair User Folders. I thought I had this bookmarked but I cannot find it at the moment. Hopefully this will get you pointed in the right direction to solve this issue.

Thanks a lot for the reply, tracit99! You were absolutely right about everything, though something a little strange has happened. Despite my desktop.ini seemed to be corrupt, I have fixed it by copying it and then replacing it with it's copy! O.o

I'll mark the post as solved and then post a step-by-step guide for the ones who need it. :)

Thank you

Thanks, worked like a charm!

Just wanted to point out two more things, maybe can help someone else:
1 - if you moved the download folder to another drive, when using the cmd you need to write the full path
2 - you can set the folder to read-only also right clicking on the folder and going in properties

Great instructions, worked for me too! You should add your instructions (at least from step 7 on) into the desktop.zip file as a README.txt file (not hidden).