> Change folder icons and colors in Windows 11 and 10: 11 preset colors or any color, 28 symbols, 40 emoji or your own picture, applied to many folders at once. # Change Folder Icons in Windows 11 Color a folder, put a symbol or a picture on it, and spot it in File Explorer without reading a single name. One payment. No subscription. 14-day money-back guarantee. 11 colors · 28 symbols · 40 emoji ### Plenty to tell folders apart Or skip the presets: any color from the Windows picker, or a photo on the front of the folder. One folder or fifty ### Change a whole batch at once Drag in as many folders as you like and they all get the same icon in one go. Restore ### Undo it whenever you want Every folder you change is listed, and Restore puts it back exactly as it was before. ## See it in action ![The symbol and emoji grid in Custom Folder Icon Changer](https://evlarsoft.com/apps/custom-folder-icon/s2.jpg) Symbols in the Windows icon style, and emoji when none of them fits. ![The live folder preview with the same icon at 48, 32 and 16 pixels beside it](https://evlarsoft.com/apps/custom-folder-icon/s3.jpg) The preview shows the small sizes too, so there are no surprises in Explorer. ![A list of dropped folders waiting to take the same icon](https://evlarsoft.com/apps/custom-folder-icon/s4.jpg) Drop a stack of folders in and apply once. ![A folder icon made from a photo, on the folder and as the whole icon](https://evlarsoft.com/apps/custom-folder-icon/s5.jpg) A photo on the front of the folder, or as the icon itself. ![The settings page: ask before a batch, hide the icon file, darker symbols, and theme](https://evlarsoft.com/apps/custom-folder-icon/s6.jpg) A few settings, including whether to ask before changing a batch. ## How does Windows give a folder its own icon? Windows lets any folder carry its own icon. It looks for a small hidden settings file inside the folder, called desktop.ini, that points to an icon file. That is how the Pictures and Music folders get their own look. Custom Folder Icon Changer draws the icon you designed, saves it inside the folder with the settings file, and tells Explorer to refresh. Because both files live in the folder, the icon follows it when you move it, rename it or sync it to another PC. Windows sometimes drops custom icons by itself, for example after a sync or when its icon cache is rebuilt. The app keeps a list of what you changed, shows which ones have gone back to plain yellow, and puts them all back with one button. ### How to change a folder icon in Windows 11 Custom Folder Icon Changer builds the icon from a color and a symbol, or from a picture, and applies it to as many folders as you drop in. - Drag one folder, or any number of them, onto the window. - Pick one of eleven colors, or open the Windows color picker for any color. - Add one of twenty-eight symbols or forty emoji, or use a picture instead. - Check the preview and the 48, 32 and 16 pixel sizes beside it. - Apply. The folders change in the Explorer window you already have open, with no restart or sign-out. ### Using a photo as a custom folder icon A picture can go on the front of the folder, or it can be the whole icon with no folder shape behind it. The first works well when you still want to see at a glance that it is a folder. For a folder that already holds photos, one button takes the first picture inside it. You do not have to go and find a photo for the album folder, it uses one of its own. ### Custom folder icons that stay sharp at small sizes Explorer shows folders at several sizes depending on the view, and an icon that looks good large can turn to mush at 16 pixels. Each icon carries six sizes, and each is drawn at its own size rather than shrunk from the big one. The preview shows the small sizes Explorer actually draws, so you can see before applying whether a symbol still reads in a details list. Settings include darker symbols if you want more contrast. ### Putting a folder back the way it was Every folder you change is kept in a list. Restore returns a folder exactly as it was found: an icon it had before comes back, and a desktop.ini that was not there before is deleted rather than left behind. The same list marks folders whose custom icon Windows has dropped, for example after a resync. One button puts them all back, so a batch of colored folders does not quietly turn yellow again. ![](https://cdn.evlarsoft.com/related/v1/icons/custom-folder-icon.png)**Custom Folder Icon Changer**Personalization One payment. No subscription. 14-day money-back guarantee. - **2.5 MB**Download size - **2.0.5**Updated Oct 2026 - **2023**First released - **Win 10 & 11**Works on - **English**Language - **No account, no ads, nothing leaves your PC**Privacy ## Get every app with BundlApps Custom Folder Icon Changer and 304 more EvlarSoft apps in one subscription. [Join the waitlist](https://bundlapps.com/?ref=evlarsoft-app) ## Custom Folder Icon Changer features - **Eleven preset colors**Or any color from the Windows color picker. - **Twenty-eight symbols**Drawn from Windows' own icon set. - **Forty emoji**For when none of the symbols fits. - **Your own picture**On the front of the folder, or as the whole icon. - **First picture in one click**Use a photo already inside the folder. - **A live preview**Shown at the 48, 32 and 16 pixel sizes Explorer draws. - **Many folders at once**Drop in any number and apply the same icon in one pass. - **Icons that travel**The icon file is stored inside the folder, hidden by default. - **Restore and repair**Put folders back as they were, or reapply dropped icons with one button. - **Applies straight away**No sign-out, no Explorer restart and no cache rebuild. ## What people use it for ### Projects and clients A color per client or a symbol per project, so the right folder stands out in a long list. ### Photo collections Put one of the photos inside on the folder's front, picked automatically from what is already there. ### A desktop you can scan Work, bills, school and games in different colors, readable before the names are. ## What people say > ★★★★★ > > “It is better now and has more option and it user interface better.” > > Badr, BR ## What's new in 2.0 - Any color from the Windows color picker, as well as eleven presets - Forty emoji alongside the twenty-eight symbols - A live preview at the small sizes Explorer draws - Any number of folders changed in one pass - Pictures on the folder, or as the whole icon - A list of changed folders, with Restore and a one-button fix for dropped icons ## Questions Anything else? [Ask us](https://evlarsoft.com/contact?topic=support&app=Custom%20Folder%20Icon%20Changer) ### Do I have to restart Explorer or sign out? No. The folder changes in the window you already have open. ### Does the icon stay if I move the folder? Yes. The icon is stored inside the folder, so it moves and syncs with it. The file is hidden by default. ### Can I go back to the normal yellow folder? Yes. Restore puts each folder back exactly as it was, including any icon it had before. ### Can I use my own picture? Yes. Put it on the front of the folder or use it as the whole icon. One button takes the first picture already in the folder. ### Does it need the internet or an account? No. Nothing leaves your PC. ### Which versions of Windows does it run on? Windows 10 (version 1809 or later) and Windows 11. ### Is it a subscription? No. Custom Folder Icon Changer is a one-time purchase of $2.99, and updates are included. ### How do I get it? Buy it on this page and your license key arrives by email. If the button says Notify me, Custom Folder Icon Changer is not on sale here yet; leave your email and we will tell you when it is. ## More ways to tidy Windows from EvlarSoft [ ![](https://evlarsoft.com/apps/desktop-icon-hider/s1-640.jpg) ![](https://cdn.evlarsoft.com/related/v1/icons/desktop-icon-hider.png) ### Desktop Icon Hider Photos and images A clean desktop in one press. Desktop Icon Hider hides every icon on your desktop and brings them all back exactly where they were, from a keyboard shortcut you choose, a click on its tray icon, or a double-click on the desktop itself. It works on Windows 11, including the 24H2 update, and on Windows 10. It can clear the desktop on its own when you step away, and hide the taskbar along with it. $2.49 · lifetime ](https://evlarsoft.com/apps/desktop-icon-hider)[ ![](https://evlarsoft.com/apps/quick-brightness-adjuster/s2-640.jpg) ![](https://cdn.evlarsoft.com/related/v1/icons/quick-brightness-adjuster.png) ### Quick Brightness Adjuster Display and screen Set your screen brightness from the notification area, in one click. Quick Brightness Adjuster puts ten brightness steps behind the icon in your tray, and it reaches external monitors over DDC/CI as well as the panel built into a laptop — so it works on a desktop, which the previous version never did. Point it at one display or all of them. For screens that refuse to dim at all, a shade goes over them instead, on the display you chose, and it covers the taskbar with everything else. $1.99 · lifetime · 3.9 ](https://evlarsoft.com/apps/quick-brightness-adjuster)[ ![](https://evlarsoft.com/apps/night-vision/s3-640.jpg) ![](https://cdn.evlarsoft.com/related/v1/icons/night-vision.png) ### Night Vision Color Filter Display and screen Your eyes take twenty minutes to adapt to the dark and one bright screen to lose it. Night Vision Color Filter puts a deep red over every display so they never do. Four levels in the notification area, five reds from near-black maroon to a warm orange, and a darkening slider on top — because red alone does not make a bright screen dim. 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