The label does not change. Why don't icons change to thumbnails?

One of the properties of an object is the appearance of its icon. Like many other properties, it can be changed. However, it is necessary to distinguish between icons and object labels. Changing a shortcut is very simple, but an icon is a little more difficult, especially if this icon is a standard one.

How to change the folder icon in a shortcut.

Right-click on the shortcut icon to get to its properties. If this is really a shortcut (and not a full-fledged object icon), then the dialog box (as of today) of its properties has tabs: General, Shortcut, Security, Details, Previous.

We are interested in the tab - Shortcut, which has a command button Change icon (Change icon). Click on it and the Change Icon dialog box will open. Here you can choose an icon that suits your taste.

Icons are supplied either in collections (libraries) or included with programs. Libraries can have dozens, if not hundreds of icons to choose from. Programmers usually include one or two, and sometimes several, icons with their programs so that the user can choose the one he likes best.

In the dialog box - Change Icon there is a field for entering the name of the file from which you want to borrow the icon. It is possible that the window - Change icon - has opened so that the address of some library has already been entered in this field, as in the figure below - then you have a wide choice.

But the window could open with the address of some program, and then the choice is small.

However, this is not important, because using the Browse button you can view the entire computer and find all the icons included in both libraries and programs.

Click the button - Browse - a dialog box will open - Change icon:

which is similar to the standard file opening window. Inspect the contents of your hard drive, paying attention to files with the extension .DLL and .EXE. After selecting any file, click the Open button. Don't be afraid, in this case the programs will not launch. Here the Open command will only show those icons that are in the program or in the library. If they are not there, a message will appear, and then the experiment can be repeated with another file. When you find what you need, select the icon you like and close the “Change Icon” window with the OK button.

To shorten your search a little, we will give the addresses of several standard icon collections:

♦ C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\shell32.dll - a collection of Windows system icons;

♦ C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\pifmgr.dll - collection of custom icons;

C:\WINDOWS\moricons.dll is a collection of special Windows icons.

In addition to these collections, you can use icons of any programs. For example, the program C:\WINDOWS\winfile.exe has not one icon, but four. Three of them are missing anyway - use them if they suit you.

(standard file icons) .

In Windows operating systems, all files of the same type are displayed with one standard icon. Here is an example of one of several types of standard icons:

A Word document with an extension (.DOC or DOCX) looks like the picture above.

For Windows XP

Changing standard icons is as easy as we did with shortcuts, because in the object properties dialog box, which opens from the context menu, there is no tab - Shortcut and, accordingly, there is no Change icon button.

However, this operation is still possible.

Let's try changing the standard Word icon to something different. This file was created as a regular folder; accordingly, all files of this type are assigned this standard icon.

To change it, we need to change the properties of the entire file type.

1. To manage the properties of file types, use the File Types tab in the Folder Options dialog box. It opens by clicking Start > Settings > Folder Options > File Types.

2. In the Registered file types list, find the Microsoft Word Document type and click the Change button - the Change file type properties dialog box will open.

3. In this dialog box, click the Change icon button - the already known Change icon window will open. Use it to find another icon and apply it. From now on, all documents created in the Microsoft Word 2000 word processor will appear with a different icon.

For Windows 7

Since there are no system tools for changing standard file types in Windows 7, except by editing the registry, I recommend using a program that can be downloaded from the website http://defaultprogramseditor.com/. There is enough information on this program on the Internet, so go for it.

To change the icon for a regular folder, type:

Right-click on such a folder, then in the dialog box - properties and get into the following window:

P.S. I would like to remind you about the folder - My Documents - how do you approach it? Consumer or professional? Link to article: .

Pictures are displayed, but only the icon of the program that is used to view images, but it is much more convenient to see thumbnails of photographs. Thumbnails are miniature images, that is, you can immediately select the photo you need from the list, without even opening the picture in a special program.

This problem may occur due to changes in the registry and incorrect folder display settings. Another reason may be that you installed a third-party program along with some application to view images, which in turn may not support the thumbnail view. This situation does not occur often, since the built-in utility has sufficient functionality, and therefore there is no point in developing a new bicycle. So what to do if pictures are not displayed in folders?

First, you should consider a simpler solution to the problem; usually it is enough if you have not used dubious applications or all kinds of cracks.

Display images in thumbnails using File Explorer

1. Go to any folder using Explorer;
2. Next, if you have Windows 7, click on the button in the top menu called “Arrange”. If you have Windows XP, you need to click “Tools” in any folder, and select “Folder Options” in the drop-down menu;
3. In the drop-down list, find the item “Folder and search options”;
4. Go to the “View” tab;
5. Uncheck “Always show icons, never thumbnails.”

Similar procedures must be performed in other versions of Windows not described in this method.

SmartScreen - what is it? Changing settings and disabling SmartScreen

If you do not have a checkmark in this item, check it, apply the changes, and then uncheck it again.

This option can also help, but if you still cannot restore the correct display of pictures, you will have to use the second method, which requires using the registry editor.

Restoring the thumbnail view of images using the registry

In general, most failures in the display system are directly related to changes in the registry. It stores almost all the variables used by Windows to personalize the system; if something is displayed for you when it shouldn’t, or vice versa, it’s the fault of the registry settings. Unfortunately, in automatic mode, thanks to programs, this problem is not solved, due to the fact that these settings are personal options that each user is free to set at will.

• Launch the registry editor, to do this, open the “Run” line by pressing Win + R and enter the keyword regedit or enter this key into the search;
• Next, go to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer branch;
• Find and remove the DisableThumbnails setting;

• Restart your computer.

Usually this is enough to restore the desired appearance of the images, but there are times when the settings are reset again.

Reasons why the settings are reset again: the first is that the system is infected with viruses, usually manifests itself as a symptom of the disease, because changing the display of thumbnails is not the purpose of viruses.

To solve this problem, use antivirus programs and manipulate the registry again. Another reason is also programs, but not malicious ones. To solve this, you should disable unnecessary applications. If the problem persists, install the program that caused it and configure it correctly.

How to disable unnecessary applications at startup?

1 way

1. Open the Run line and enter msconfig;
2. Uncheck applications that you do not want to see when you boot your computer. This action will also have a positive effect on system performance and Windows boot speed.

The Windows desktop has disappeared, what should I do?

Method 2

Another option is to use special programs, for example: to do this, go to the “Tools” tab and select “Startup”.

Restoring images in thumbnails using the “performance” tab

The problem may be caused by the fact that you have turned on the maximum performance mode, usually used by computers with weak characteristics, which also does not have the function of displaying photos in thumbnails. It, in addition to other settings that remove the beautiful view in favor of maximum speed, also removes the display of thumbnails, which can significantly reduce the loading time of a folder that contains many images.

3. You need the “System and Security” group;

4. You will need to click on the “System” link or you can right-click on “My Computer” and click on the “Properties” option;

Instructions

Since Windows Vista, page thumbnails have been combined with file icons. They work on the principle: if it is possible to make a sketch, then the sketch will be displayed, if not, an icon will be displayed. Unless the settings tell you to always show icons. Therefore, these versions of Windows do not have a Thumbnail option in the View menu.

To turn on the display of thumbnails, open Control Panel and go to the Appearance and Personalization category. Select Folder Options. In the window that opens, go to the “View” tab. Check the box next to “Always show icons, never thumbnails.” If you want the file type icon to appear on the thumbnail, check the box next to “Display file icons in thumbnails.” Click the "Apply" and "OK" buttons.

Next, go to the “Control Panels” “System and Security” category. Enter the “System” subcategory and click on the “Advanced system settings” link located in the left sidebar. In the window that opens, switch to the “Advanced” tab and click the “Options” button for the “Performance” section. Go to the “Visual Effects” tab and check the box for “Display thumbnails instead of icons”. Click the "Apply" button and close the settings windows by clicking the "OK" buttons. Windows will now try to display thumbnails when browsing folders.

To disable the display of page thumbnails to improve your computer's performance, uncheck the boxes described in the previous steps.

To configure the size and display type of thumbnails, go to the desired folder. Click on the icon with icons and lines of text located in the upper right corner of Explorer under the search bar. By repeatedly clicking on the “Change View” icon, select the most convenient display for you.

You can immediately set the desired view by clicking on the small triangle next to the icon. It will expand a list with 4 icon sizes available without displaying any additional information about the file. You can also quickly set a view in the “View” context menu item, which opens by right-clicking on an empty area of ​​the folder.

Thumbnails for most files also appear in other views. “Tile” and “Content” - additionally display information about the file size and the date it was last modified. The "Table" view produces the most results. By default, it additionally displays the file type, but by right-clicking on the column names, you can select additional columns from the list.

The other day, the laptop stopped displaying thumbnails of pictures in folders. That is, I open “My Documents” -> “Images”, and there...

However, this happens not only in one directory, but throughout the entire disk! Since the situation is not hopeless and is resolved in just less than a minute, what I thought about most was its origin. Accordingly, the first thing I did was not only return the normal appearance of the files (I will describe how I did this later), but also checked the computer for errors and viruses. I didn’t do a system rollback because I decided that if this problem was caused by accident—an ordinary human factor—then there was nothing terrible. And if viruses and serious failures are detected, then I will resort to recovery.

Fortunately, everything worked out - the antivirus did not detect any malware, and the test showed that the system was fine.

Why is the thumbnail of the image not displayed?

It's all about the settings of the folder itself. Open any one and in the upper right corner go to the “Organize” tab -> “Folder and Search Options”.

In the “View” window that opens, uncheck the “Always display icons, not thumbnails” checkbox.

And the final step is to click the “Apply” and “OK” button.

How else can you enable the display of pictures?

To do this, go to the “Start” menu, right-click on “Computer” and select “Properties”.

Then go to the “Advanced” -> “Options” tab.

One of the common problems of Windows 10 users is that thumbnails of images (photos and pictures), as well as videos in Explorer folders are not shown, or black squares are shown instead.

This instruction contains ways to fix this problem and return the display of thumbnails (thumbnails) for preview in Windows 10 Explorer instead of file icons or those same black squares.

Note: displaying thumbnails is not available if “Small icons”, display as a list or a table are enabled in the folder options (right click in an empty space inside the folder - View). Also, thumbnails may not be displayed for specific image formats that are not supported by the OS itself and for videos for which codecs are not installed in the system (this also happens if the player you installed installs its own icons on video files).

Enable showing thumbnails (thumbnails) instead of icons in settings

In most cases, in order to enable the display of pictures instead of icons in folders, you just need to change the corresponding settings in Windows 10 (they are present in two places). It's easy to do. Note: If any of the options below are not available or do not change, please refer to the last section of this guide.

First, check whether thumbnail display is enabled in File Explorer settings.

Also, settings for displaying thumbnails of pictures are present in the system performance parameters. You can get to them as follows.

Apply the settings you made and check if the problem with displaying thumbnails has been resolved.

Resetting the thumbnail cache in Windows 10

This method can help if, instead of thumbnails, the explorer begins to display black squares or something else that is not typical. Here you can try deleting the thumbnail cache first and having Windows 10 create it again.

To clear thumbnails, follow these steps:

After this, you can check whether the thumbnails are now displayed (they will be created again).

Additional ways to enable thumbnail display

And just in case, there are two more ways to enable the display of thumbnails in Explorer - using the registry editor and the local Windows 10 editor. In fact, this is one method, only its implementations are different.

To enable thumbnails in the Registry Editor, do the following:

1. Open the registry editor: Win+R and enter regedit
2. Go to the section (folders on the left) HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer
3. If on the right side you see a value with the name DisableThumbnails, double-click on it and set the value to 0 (zero) to enable icon display.
4. If there is no such value, you can create it (right click in the empty area on the right - create - DWORD32, even for x64 systems) and set its value to 0.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 for section HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\ SOFTWARE\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer

   Pictures are displayed, but only the icon of the program that is used to view images, but it is much more convenient to see thumbnails of photographs. Sketches are miniature images, then...

To quickly visually search or decorate the appearance of folders (directories), add custom icons. The recommendations will show how to change the folder icon in Windows 7, 8 to your own.

There are enough ways to change the icon of a specific directory or all of them, using Windows tools and third-party programs. or select an existing one and follow the steps below.

How to change the appearance of a folder

To change the folder icon in Windows 7, 8 you will need to follow a few simple steps. In Explorer, select a directory and right-click on it. In the menu, click “properties”.

In the properties window, go to the “settings” tab. In the third area, click the "change icon" button.

In the dialog box, select a standard icon from the list (located in the SHELL32.dll file) or click “browse”, specify the path to your image (ico) and click “open”. To practice, download the archive with icons.

It is recommended to use graphic files with a resolution of 256 by 256 pixels to display correctly in Explorer. If you decide to return the default folder view, click the “restore defaults” button. Once you've made your final selections and completed the steps, click OK.

In the properties window, look at the preview. Next, click “apply” and OK.

As a result, a configuration file desktop.ini is created in the folder, in which the parameters and path to the image are specified. To see it, you need.

You can manually create or edit the file instead of using dialog boxes. Create a text document (txt), name it desktop and name it (ini). Open it and copy these lines:

[.ShellClassInfo]
IconFile=full path to the icon (ico)
IconIndex=0

Save the changes to change the folder icon in Windows 7, 8. The lines in the existing desktop.ini may differ, you just need to enter the path to the picture.

It's not always possible change the folder icon to your picture, for example, this is not applicable for the Windows directory. You also cannot change the icon inside the library, first right-click on the folder and select “folder location” from the menu. Then follow the recommendations above.

How to change the icons of all folders

Using this method, you can change all folder icons in Windows 7 at once by setting a custom image. You will need administrative access. This will change the icons for all PC accounts. Icons also change when it supports such features.

1. In the search bar of the start menu, write regedit and click enter.

2. When the UAC window appears, click “yes”. These messages are irritating, so I suggest you read.

3. In the left pane of the registry, find the Explorer section (the picture shows the full path). Right-click Explorer, point to "New" and select "Partition". Give the Shell Icons a name and press enter. If this section exists, skip this paragraph and go to step 4.

4. Select the created, existing Shell Icons. In the right pane, right-click, hover over “new” and select “string parameter”. Write it type 3 and press enter.

5. Right-click on parameter “3”, click “edit”. In the value area, write the path to the ico file, for example, C:\iconca\papka.ico and click OK. The recommended image size (ico) is 256x256 pixels.

6. Pay attention to the bit depth of Windows 7; if you have a 32-bit system, go straight to step 7. If you have a 64-bit version of Windows 7 installed, then go to the section shown in the picture below and follow steps 3 to 5.

7. To change the folder icon on Windows 7, restart your PC.

If you want to return regular folder icons, then visit the Shell Icons subsection and remove type 3 by right-clicking on it. Select “delete” from the menu, then click “yes.” For the 64-bit edition, do these steps in two places. Restart your computer.

Programs for changing folder icons

There are paid and free utilities for changing the folder icon. Consider free products. I would like to emphasize that the programs do not bring more benefits than the use of regular funds. Such applications include IconTo (we’ll look at it in more detail), FolderIco. To change a folder icon or group of folders, do this:

1. Download IconTo and install.

2. Launch the program, click “specify folder/file” and select installation for one folder, for several or for a specific file type.

4. Select one icon from the standard ones, in the “favorites”, “software” tabs, or click “specify an icon” to select your picture. Then click “install icon” and enjoy the result.

That's all, I explained how to change folder icon in Windows 7, 8. Feel free to use the capabilities of the operating system itself. The programs do not give the desired result. If the theme went beyond icons, find out in order to improve the appearance of the OS.

Greetings, blog readers.

Many users, trying to make the appearance of their operating system unique, change everything they can. These are window colors, backgrounds, sounds, icons, and often the entire design together. I have already touched on various topics regarding this area. At the same time, I did not tell you how to change the folder icon in Windows 7. Well, in the article below I will tell you about this.

This procedure is simple and does not require any special skills from users. In general, to change the directory picture in Windows 8 or similar versions, you need to follow a few simple steps:

It is best to use files whose size does not exceed 256×256 points. To return the standard image, simply click on “ Restore to default" At the end we confirm the actions.

Before the final movements, you can preview the icon to be installed. If everything is fine, click " OK».

If you want to know in which folder the icons are stored - Shell32.dll. It would be more accurate to say that this is a library that is responsible specifically for icons.

As a result, a configuration file is created in the directory. It specifies the necessary parameters and the path to the image. By default it is hidden. To see it, you need to go to the tab “ View" and then in " Options. This is where you uncheck the box that hides these types of documents.

Manually( )

How to change the folder icon manually? Simple - you can create the above file yourself:

It is worth noting that not all catalogs can be changed to your own image. For example, this is prohibited for the Windows partition.

All folders( )

The first thing you need to do is a restore point. Only after this proceed to the procedure itself:

This way you will be able to change the images in directories in Windows 10 and other versions.