Published by

**Brink** · 09 Aug 2007

How to Restore and Change a Desktop Icon in Vista

Information

This will show you how to restore or change the Computer, User's Files, Network, Recycle Bin, and Control Panel default Vista desktop icons.

Note

To change the desktop Control Panel icon, see: How to Change the Desktop Control Panel Icon in Vista
Sometimes refreshing the desktop will remove or show a icon that has been deleted or added to the desktop. To do so, press F5 or right click on the desktop and click Refresh.
Sometimes the desktop icon may be not aligned correctly and is offscreen and not seen. You can right on a empty space on the desktop and click on Auto Arrange to realign the desktop icons.

Here's How:

1. Right click on a empty area of the desktop and click on Personalize. (See screenshot below)

2. Click on Change desktop icons in the upper left corner. (See screenshot below)

3. To Add or Remove a Destop Icon

OPTION ONE:

A) Check the Desktop icons in the top section that you want to add to the desktop. (See left screenshot below step 5)

B) Uncheck the Desktop icons in the top section that you want to remove from the desktop.

OPTION TWO:

A) Right click on any file or folder.

B) Click on Send To and Desktop (create shortcut). (See Screenshot below)

4. To Change the Icon for a Desktop Icon
NOTE: To change the Control Panel icon, see: How to Change the Desktop Control Panel Icon in Vista

A) Click on a icon to highlight it in the middle section. (See left screenshot below step 5)

B) Click on the Change Icon button.

C) Select the icon you want for the desktop icon and click OK. (See right screenshot below step 5)
NOTE: If you have a icon of your own you want to use instead, then click the Browse button and navigate to the location you saved it to. For the icon to display properly, it needs to be a 256x256 .ico icon file.

5. To Restore the Default Icon for a Desktop Icon
NOTE: If this does not restore the default icon and you already tried manually changing the icon back in step 4, then try rebuilding the icon cache.

A) Click on a icon you want to restore in the middle section to highlight it. (See left screenshot below)

B) Click on the Restore Default button.
NOTE: For some reason, when you use Restore Default on the Recycle Bin, it will sometimes cause the Recycle Bin to not refresh automatically anymore. This will leave the Recycle Bin to always show as full or empty when it is not. If this happens to you, then see: How to Fix the Recycle Bin Icon Not Refreshing When Emptied

6. Click on OK to apply and close window.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

**rainer** · 31 Mar 2008

Hi
Just joined the vista Forum.i was clever enough to delete my recycle bin,(yes,i did)
went for help, via GOOGLE,came here and followed the straight forward instruction.
great!!will have a good sniff about,what else i can find here.
rainer

**Brink** · 31 Mar 2008

Hi Rainer, and welcome to Vista Forums.

I'm glad that you found this tutorial helpful. I hope you find the rest of the site helpful as well.

Shawn

**rainer** · 01 Apr 2008

Thanks shawn.
i am sure the site will be great.
Rainer

**TKsan** · 10 May 2008

Hi,
Its my first time in this forum. Im searching for my recycle bin problem(will not change to recyclebin(empty) icon when i empty the bin) solution and i end up with this forum. The solution solve my problem. Thanks. But Im still have 1 more problem. See the red circle. There is a blank icon when i want to delete an item. i already do the rebuild icon cache but still the same. Im sorry if I posting in the wrong thread.

**Brink** · 10 May 2008

Hi TKsan,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

See if rebuilding the icon cache will help. This tutorial will show you how to if needed.

Icon Cache - Rebuild

Hope this helps,
Shawn

**TKsan** · 11 May 2008

Hi Brink,

Yeah. I already use the icon cache - Rebuild methods. The first method can't solved it. The second method, when i changed from 32bit to 16bit, the icon come back to the original. But when i changed back to 32bit, the icon become blank again..

**TKsan** · 11 May 2008

Problem solved. When i changed to 16bit, i restart the pc. After that i changed back to 32bit. Thanks

**Brink** · 11 May 2008

Your welcome TKsan. Thank you for your feedback. I added your experience to the tutorial to help others.

Shawn

**sixx526** · 31 Jul 2008

Hi there, everyone. I have an icon on my desktop that will simply not go away regardless of what I do. I have dragged it to the recycle bin, right click and deleted, tried to change or hide the icon, remove the text, cut and past to a different location, send to a different location, etc. I just keep getting the same message: "Could not find this item. This is no longer located in C:\Users\..... Verify the item's location and try again". I deleted the file previously, but this blank page icon just sits there. A bit like a cut in the roof of your mouth; not a disaster, but very annoying

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank in advance.

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