Windows 10 - Show default extension icon instead of default application icon

Question

I edited my regedit registry to asign an extension a default custom icon. For example the .js extension.

In HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/.js key I added a new value called DefaultIcon pointing to the path where my icon is located. I also went to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT/JSFile/DefaultIcon and also added a (Default) value pointing to the same path.

The problem is that .js files show the default application icon used for that type of files, SublimeText3 in this case.

I would like to ignore the default app icon and always show the default icon I assigned manually to that extension. Is that possible?

NOTE: I have my computer set in Spanish language.

Answer 1

Hi Nikhar, thank you for your answer.

Reading what you suggested makes me think that this method will change the default icon assigned to SublimeText3 application. However this won't differentiate between different extensions assigned to be opened with this program. For example if I have my .js files configurated to be opened with SublimeText3 and also my .css files this change will make both extensions to have the same icon, while I want to show a different icon attending their file extensions no matter the program they use to be opened.

Is this behaviour possible to achieve?

Answer 2

Hi,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

We appreciate your effort on this. We understand that you want to assign an extension a default custom icon.

Since you are using Sublime Text, and as Sublime Text is a third party application, I would suggest you to refer the steps mentioned below and check if that helps in resolving the issue:

**Note:**Important this section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

Follow the steps to take backup of registry.

1. Press Windows key + R, to open Run dialog box.
2. Type regedit and click on OK.
3. Now, navigate to the location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts<.file extension>\Userchoice(Substitute .file extension with the file extension you want to change the icon for.
4. Make a note of the value for Progid, from the right pane.
5. Now, navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT<value of Progid>\DefaultIcon (Substitue value of Progid with the data value noted in Step 4)
6. If you do not see DefaultIcon key, you will have to create the key.
7. On the right pane, double click on Default and add the location of your custom icon.
8. Restart the computer and check.

Let us know the results.

Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community - Moderator