Change Icon Of .exe File

[Marsilius Boa]

Intraditional windows executables, the icons are included in a part of the .exe file called a "resource" and you use a "resource editor" to edit the resource. (You could also modify the actual executable to point to a different resource, but that is much more difficult).

I did some further research and think its because I have no idea how to create a .ico file correctly

And the tutorial featured in that link to learn how to do so is no longer valid, it just gives a link to this:

Hi, You can completely change the icon, yes you need the rcedit for sure, then you need to set the project settings and export settings to use your final .ico file, but how you can make a standard icon file? answer is using my script for windows :

By default, the exported project's icon will be the Godot icon. You will most likely want to change that for your project. There are two types of icons that can be changed on Windows: the file icon...

I followed it and I if I run the .exe file in the taskbar is the right icon. If I drag and drop the .exe and file on my desktop it also shows the right icon on the desktop. If I do a connection to the .exe file while it is on the desktop the connection also gets the right icon.

Is there a way getting arround this? It would be enough if the connection on the desktop has the right icon not the .exe file in the file system, but i think there is a connection between these two problems.

I just noticed that if I right click on the connection on my desktop with the wrong icon, i can press permissons and change icon and then I can choose from the godot icon and my icon, whyever, maybe it helps

Maybe the ICO file you supplied is missing some sizes and/or color depths that Windows uses for certain cases. You could do some poking around by installing something like ResourceHacker (Resource Hacker). With that installed, you can drag your executable into it and see the various icons / sizes / color depths that it contains. With that info, you should be able to tell what your icon is missing so you can supply them.

This article was written by Stan Kats and by wikiHow staff writer, Nicole Levine, MFA. Stan Kats is the COO and Chief Technologist for The STG IT Consulting Group in West Hollywood, California. Stan provides comprehensive technology & cybersecurity solutions to businesses through managed IT services, and for individuals through his consumer service business, Stan's Tech Garage. Stan has over 7 years of cybersecurity experience, holding senior positions in information security at General Motors, AIG, and Aramark over his career. Stan received a BA in International Relations from The University of Southern California.

This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources.

This article has been viewed 874,783 times.

Are you looking for a creative way to customize your Windows 10 or 11 desktop? While you won't find the option to change an EXE program's icon built into Windows, you can use free apps to modify any program's icon on your PC. If you don't want to download software or make permanent changes to the EXE itself, you can create a shortcut to the EXE and change its icon instead. This wikiHow article will show you how to change the icon of an EXE file on your Windows PC and help you find awesome free downloadable Windows icon files (ICO).

The easiest way to change the icon for an EXE file is to right-click on the icon, then select "Properties." This allows you to change the icon for any file. If you don't want to permanently change the EXE icon, create a shortcut to the EXE on your desktop, then change that icon instead.

I have a project in LabWindows 2015 SP1 using Windows 7 Pro. I created an icon file and set my project to use it by selecting Build -> Target Settings -> Application icon file with Configuration set to "All Configurations". Later I created a different icon file and changed the target settings to use the new file.

When I build my application, I'm seeing something strange. The icon that shows up in my Windows folder for the application is the old one, and if I create a shortcut to the application on my desktop, I get the old icon. But when I run the program, the icon in the upper left corner of my main panel is the new one, and so is the one that appears in the taskbar.

I did find another solution -- renaming either the executable file or the folder containing it to any other name causes the icon to change to the correct one. So this isn't a big problem, but I thought I should report it anyway since the behavior doesn't seem right.

Windows doesn't include a built-in way to change the icon for EXE files, so you'll need to download a free copy of Resource Hacker before you get started. Once you've got that installed, fire up File Explorer and find the folder that contains your EXE file. If you have a shortcut to the app and aren't sure where it's located, you can right-click the shortcut (or Shift+Right Click it if it's on the taskbar or Start menu) and choose "Open file location."

When you've found the folder containing the EXE file, make a copy of that file to serve as a backup just in case something happens. Select the file, press Ctrl+C, and then press Ctrl+V to paste a copy right in the same folder.

When you installed Resource Hacker, it added an option to the context menu you get when you right-click files. Right-click the original EXE file (not the copy you made) and choose "Open using Resource Hacker."

After you've selected the icon, it's displayed in the Replace Icon window. Next, select the icon to replace from the list on the right. If you see more than one icon listed, the top item is usually the main icon for the EXE file, but you may have to look through them to make sure. When you've selected the icon you want to replace, click the "Replace" button.

I need to runas /netonly, and this does not work for shortcuts. A trick is to follow Gary Jerep's instructions and change the Data Point icon to the Toad Workbook icon, for example, then pin the shortcut to the Taskbar. When Data Point starts, it will occupy the icon you pinned to the Taskbar, not the icon in the .exe file.

First I apologize if I have not responded before but I had problems with login page.

I forgot to mention that I tried to edit the monogame icon and change it with the default Icon. For the game icon I used Gimp(When I exported the image, i simply changed the extension) and for the edited file I used Paint.

I had a ridiculously hard time with this the last couple of days. Thanks to @Apostolique 's help I can also confirm it finally works.

You need to edit the project file and make sure you have a similar structure as this:

Starting today, I tried to open Dropbox that is pinned to the taskbar. It wouldn't open. I opened the program folder and double-clicked on the .exe file. It also would not open Dropbox. I uninstalled and reinstalled with same issue. I can open it from a desktop icon, but why will it not open from the executable file in the program folder which means I cannot pin it to the taskbar. I'm running Windows 11 Pro 23H2 with latest build.

Hi Jay, I think I fixed it. The attached photo shows the target path of the icon pinned to taskbar that will not open. Start menu icon had no properties. I then went to the desktop icon that will open the program and replaced the taskbar icon target with the path C:\Users\robch\Dropbox

which will now open the program from the taskbar. The executable icon in the program folder remains as per the attached photo. Should I change the target or just leave it as is? At least I can open and use the program now from the taskbar icon.

I am experiencing the same issue on windows 10 laptop. Everything on my laptop is up to date. I have no issue with opening the app on my Samsung tablet or my android phone. This started just the other day. I do the majority of my work on my laptop and then access it on my tablet or phone. If this isn't solved, then there is no point in using Dropbox.

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I just did an advanced reinstallation with the same result. The folder will opn using the desktop icon, but not from clicking the executable in the program folder which means I cannot open the program from the taskbar. Could a very recent update to Windows 11 have caused this? It just started within the last week and I've been using Dropbox for years.

Thanks for the info. Could you try right clicking the taskbar icon and then Properties, and likewise with the Dropbox icon in the start menu, and let me know what the executable path is showing up as? A screenshot of this would help greatly.

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