How to Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows


Internet Explorer saves your favorite sites into your Favorites folder by default.

By default, your personal Favorites folder is located in your account's %UserProfile% (ex: "C:\Users\Brink") folder.

This tutorial will show you how to change or restore the default Favorites folder icon for your account in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.


 CONTENTS:

  • Option One: Change Favorites Folder Icon in Properties
  • Option Two: Change Favorites Folder Icon in desktop.ini file
  • Option Three: Restore Default Favorites Folder Icon in Properties
  • Option Four: Restore Default Favorites Folder Icon in desktop.ini file


EXAMPLE: Favorites folder
Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder-1.jpg Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder-2.jpg






OPTION ONE

Change Favorites Folder Icon in Properties


1. Open your Favorites folder's current location (ex: "C:\Users\Brink") in File Explorer (Win+E). (see screenshot below)

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder_location.png

2. Right click or press and hold on the Favorites folder, and click/tap on Properties.

3. Click/tap on the Customize tab, and click/tap on the Change Icon button. (see screenshot below)

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder_change_icon-1.png

4. Follow the steps below to select an icon: (see screenshots below)

The %SystemRoot\System32\shell32.dll and %SystemRoot\System32\imageres.dll files contain most of Windows default icons.
  • Click/tap on the Browse button.
  • Navigate to and select the icon library (ex: .dll) or .ico file you want to use, and click/tap on Open.
  • Select the icon you want to use, and click/tap on OK.

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder_change_icon-2.png Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder_change_icon-3.png

5. Click/tap on OK to apply. (see screenshot below step 3)






OPTION TWO

Change Favorites Folder Icon in desktop.ini file


1. Press the Win+R keys to open Run, copy and paste %UserProfile%\Favorites\desktop.ini into Run, and click/tap on OK to open that file. (see screenshot below)

If you changed the default location of your Favorites folder, then you will need to substitute %UserProfile%\Favorites in the path above with the actual full path of your Favorites folder's current location instead.

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-run.png

2. In the IconResource= line in the desktop.ini window, change the full path to the full path of the icon you want to use. (see screenshot below)

If you do not have a IconResource=<icon path> line, then you will need to add it.

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder_desktop.ini_file-1.png

3. Click/tap on File (menu bar), click/tap on Save (Ctrl+S), and close the desktop.ini window. (see screenshot below)

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder_desktop.ini_file-2.png

4. Restart the explorer process or sign out and sign in to apply.






OPTION THREE

Restore Default Favorites Folder Icon in Properties


1. Open your Favorites folder's current location (ex: "C:\Users\Brink") in File Explorer (Win+E). (see screenshot below)

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder_location.png

2. Right click or press and hold on the Favorites folder, and click/tap on Properties.

3. Click/tap on the Customize tab, and click/tap on the Change Icon button. (see screenshot below)

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder_change_icon-1.png

4. Click/tap on the Restore Defaults button. (see screenshot below)

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-restore_defaults.png

5. Click/tap on OK to apply (see screenshot below step 3)






OPTION FOUR

Restore Default Favorites Folder Icon in desktop.ini file


1. Press the Win+R keys to open Run, copy and paste %UserProfile%\Favorites\desktop.ini into Run, and click/tap on OK to open that file. (see screenshot below)

If you changed the default location of your Favorites folder, then you will need to substitute %UserProfile%\Favorites in the path above with the actual full path of your Favorites folder's current location instead.

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-run.png

2. In the IconResource= line in the desktop.ini window, change the full path to %SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-115. (see screenshot below)

If you do not have a IconResource=<icon path> line, then you will need to add it.

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder_desktop.ini_file-1.png

3. Click/tap on File (menu bar), click/tap on Save (Ctrl+S), and close the desktop.ini window. (see screenshot below)

Change or Restore Favorites Folder Icon in Windows-favorites_folder_desktop.ini_file-2.png

4. Restart the explorer process or sign out and sign in to apply.


That's it,
Shawn