Generic icons

Question

On my favorite bar , all the icons are all generic. It wasn't like that from the start but it just happened recently. I have heard that sometimes they get corrupted and that's why they show as generic. Anyone knows how to fix this problem? This is on Windows 11 desktop. Thanks.

Answer 1

Hi Alex,

It happened with me as well with Edge version 149. I am afraid you will have to open the links once again, and the icons will render again.

I’m eager to hear back and work together to find a solution.

Answer 2

Generic or incorrect icons in Edge favorites are typically caused by a corrupted icon (favicon) cache.

In this situation, the behavior is similar to other icon cache issues in Windows and Edge. To address it, clear and rebuild the icon cache and ensure the shell components that handle icons are correctly registered.

Follow these steps on Windows 11:

1. Clear the Windows icon cache
   1. Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager.
   2. On the Processes tab, find Windows Explorer.
   3. Right-click Windows Explorer and select End task.
   4. In Task Manager, select File > Run new task.
   5. Type cmd.exe, check Create this task with administrative privileges, and select OK.
   6. In the Command Prompt window, run:

            CD /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local
            DEL IconCache.db /a
      

   7. Back in Task Manager, select File > Run new task, type explorer.exe, and select OK to restart Windows Explorer.
   This rebuilds the icon cache that Windows and Edge rely on for displaying icons.
2. Re-register Shell Experience Host (if icons are still generic)
   1. Open Windows PowerShell as administrator.
   2. Run:

            Get-AppXPackage -AllUsers | Where-Object {$_.InstallLocation -like "*ShellExperienceHost*"} | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml"}
      

   3. Restart the PC.
   This re-registers the shell component that participates in icon display.

If the issue persists only for specific Edge favorites, remove one affected favorite and add it again so Edge can fetch a fresh favicon. Saved site icons on the Edge new tab page can also change unexpectedly because of how Edge looks up and caches favicons; refreshing the favorite (removing and re-adding) forces a new lookup.

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References:

• Application shortcuts on the desktop, Start menu, and taskbar show blank icons
• Saved site icons change unexpectedly on the new tab page