How to Change Folder Icon on Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista?

The folder icon has remained almost the same in every Windows, including Windows 11 since the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system’s release. Some of us are bored with the default folder icons and want to customize Windows to change the Windows operating system’s default icon.

There may be many different reasons you want to customize the folder icons on Windows 11/10. A unique folder icon help to quickly identify the folder for which we are looking because we work with tens of folders. For example, if you want to quickly identify a folder you are working on too often, you can replace the default folder icon with a custom one.

There are plenty of transformation packs out there to quickly change the folders’ color or style on the Internet, but we will recommend going through the customization of Windows 11/10. Moreover, if you want to change the folder icon color, you can use the Rainbow Folders freeware tool.

Windows 11/10 offers plenty of customization without any third-party tool. That means most customization is possible in the Windows operating system without any third-party tool. Microsoft has an inbuilt option to change the default folder icon without the help of third-party tools starting Windows XP, but a few users have this handy feature.

Customizing the default folder icon in Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista

This method applies to all recent Windows versions, including Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista.

Step 1. Now, right-click on the folder and select the Properties option, for which you want to change the default icon.

Step 2. Next, switch to the Customize tab.

Step 3. After that, click on the “Change Icon” button to select an icon for your folder under the Folder Icons section.

It will open the default icons folder; if not, then browse for the following path:-

%SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll

Further, click on the Browse button and navigate where the custom icon is located if you already have a custom icon and want to use the same. Then, select the icon and click the open button.

Step 4. Next, select any desired icon which you wish to apply. Then click on the OK,Apply, after that, again click on the OK button.

Step 5. Now, you can see the selected icon has been applied to the selected folder.

You should change the folder icon on your PC when you complete the above steps.