Custom ICO folder icons DON'T WORK (Windows 11) - SOLVED!

Question

I'm trying to set custom icons to folders on my PC. This is how I've been doing it:

(random folder) > properties > customize > change icon > browse

and then I select one of the ICO images I saved on a very specific folder (that I created) contained within the "pictures" windows default folder. This specific folder I created is meant to hold the ICO images of the entire PC and nothing else goes in there, except for the ICO files. The folder that holds the ICO files is never to be moved around, no matter what.

THE PROBLEM STARTS HERE.

If the ICO file is some generic file that I got off of a random website that does the ICO custom image-hosting thing (already downloaded in the ICO format), everything works, the moment I select it, Windows sets it as the custom folder icon and it stays that way forever.

BUT...

If the ICO file is one of my own making, usually a JPEG picture that I converted into ICO, IT DOES NOT WORK. Nothing happens when I select it as a custom file icon. NOTHING.

Now, these same icons (that I made myself) work fine for shortcuts, but I need them on the folders. They don't work on the regular folders.

I already checked out all possible "problems" with the ICO files I'm making. Yes, their format is indeed "ICO". All of the ICOs I made so far have a standard size of 256 x 256 pixels, as was recommend around.

Now, I think this might have something to do with how ICO files work. Maybe the ICO files that the ICO file-hosting websites offer are created in a very specific way that allows Windows to work with it properly, instead of just being a normal image converted into ICO. However, there seems to be no way to find that out, since the amount of information on this topic available on the internet out there is close to NOTHING. I've been working on this for weeks. I found nothing that could solve the problem, and so it got to the point that I had to resort to posting a question on Windows forums. Does anyone know what is going on?

Answer 1

Great news ralph, I got it done. You provided me with some vital information and insight about the ICO files themselves I couldn't find anywhere else. Here's the solution to the problem:

As a matter of fact, ANY picture will do for custom folder icon, as long as it is properly converted into the ICO file (with the right properties attributed to it). This can be done with an ICO file converter that actually works. I used the "ICO converter", which was kindly provided by some random reddit user almost 10 years ago in a tech related thread. Converting the pictures to 256 x 256 pixels with 32 bits works perfectly fine.

Now, the catch is, that Windows will take issue with the place you save your ICO files and how you name them. After a lot of testing, this is what I've found:

※　If you've named your ICO file with the exact same name as the file that it will correspond to, it won't work.

※　After changing your Windows folder with a custom icon, you'll want to never touch the ICO file again. If you move the ICO file around or rename it, the folder that it was associated with will revert back to its original state.

※　The place that you save your ICO file to will determine whether or not it will actually work. After messing around a lot I've realized that saving it in the Downloads folder and the C: drive will actually work, but doing it in the Documents, Music, Videos or whatever, won't.

※　Choosing to put your ICO files into a folder (you'll probably want to do that to keep them organized) may cause them to stop working depending on where you chose to save the folder that contains them

※　Naming your ICO files with a non-roman scrip will cause them to not work at all (my PC is in Japanese). Make sure to name your ICO files with Roman (English) letters. So don't you go naming stuff "書類" or "画像", it won't work.

The optimal solution to the problem is to create a new folder, dump all of your ICO files inside it, move that folder to the 1st layer of the C: drive and never touch them again. also create a shortcut to the folder that contains the ICO files for easy of access later. That worked out perfectly for me.

Answer 2

Hello and thanks for reaching out for support. My name is Larribeau, a regular user like you. I'll be happy to help you out today.

It sounds like the issue might be related to the format of the ICO files you created. While ICO files can technically contain images in various formats, including JPEG, some programs may not recognize them if they are not in the correct format.

One thing you could try is using a different program to create your ICO files. There are many free programs available online that can convert images into ICO format, such as ICO Convert or ConvertICO. These programs may have different settings and options that could result in ICO files that work better with Windows.

Another thing to check is the color depth of the ICO files. Windows typically supports ICO files with a color depth of 32 bits, which includes an 8-bit alpha channel. If your ICO files have a different color depth, it may cause issues with how they are displayed.

Lastly, it's possible that the issue is related to the location of the ICO files. Since you mentioned that they are saved in a specific folder, it's possible that the folder is not being recognized by Windows as a valid location for custom icons. You could try moving the ICO files to a different location, such as the desktop or a different folder, and see if that makes a difference.

I hope this helps

Answer 3

Use the free program ImageToIcon to convert your images to ICOs. It's super simple and works without any fuss.

You can download it from its GitHub release page here: https://github.com/Si13n7/ImageToIcon/releases/

You can also download it from the developer's web page here: https://dl.si13n7.de/Misc%20Tools/ImageToIcon/

If you want to see the source code, that's available here: https://github.com/Si13n7/ImageToIcon

Answer 4

I just changed a few desktop icons. I found the icons I want at https://icons8.com/icons, saved as PNG and used https://www.icoconverter.com/ to convert to ISO. Then renamed and saved to a file on my computer. I choose the ISO icon from that folder when I select Change Icon. Quick and easy!

Answer 5

If you're going to be creating a lot of icon files, I recommend the tool I linked over using the web based tool. It will be much quicker.