Changing explorer sidebar icon

sorry black tet

also how would I make all the text in the sidebar slightly lighter? it's nord for win 11

If CG is throwing an error that pnidui.dll no longer exists, you need to reinstate it by removing the .backup extension.

The file C:\System32\pnidui.dll is not present in versions 24H2 and 25H2. It was used in Windows 7 and later up to Windows 11 23H2 and contained the network icons, not the pin icon. To replace the network icons you need a copy of pnidui.dll which is provided by third-party tools. One of them is Explorer Patcher and you can find it in C:\Program Files\ExplorerPatcher\pnidui.dll

I haven't checked, but the pin icon should be in file C:\Windows\SystemResources\imageres.dll.mun which CANNOT be modified directly, or you get an error and screws all your system icons! You must copy the file to another folder, modify it and then take ownership of both the specific file and the containing folder and grant full access to Administrators group for both the specific file and the containing folder. Even then, you cannot just copy-paste and replace it because it is used by File Explorer. So you must use a third party file manager or do it from Command Prompt while you have terminated File Explorer (End Task). Yes, it is a little complicated, but it works and it's worth it to replace all those flat Windows 11 default system icons with custom. See my older posts in Personalization section for details.

What programs should I be i using that are mentioned here?

To extract the icons from a system file (for example from the Windows 7 version) I use Customizer God. To import the custom icons in the respective Windows 11 file and replace the default, I use Customizer God again. For a couple of system files that cannot be modified by Customizer God I use Resource Hacker. Since Windows 10 v1903 many files from C:\Windows\System32 were replaced with files with the same name and extension .dll.mun in the folder C:\Windows\SystemResources. All these files in that folder cannot be replaced directly, you must copy them to another folder, modify and then get access rights to replace them.

Where to find the icons:

Power icons: C:\Windows\SystemResources\batmeter.dll.mun
Most system icons: C:\Windows\SystemResources\imageres.dll.mun
Network icons: C:\Program Files\ExplorerPatcher\pnidui.dll (assuming you have Explorer Patcher installed)
Sound icons: C:\Windows\SystemResources\SndVolSSO.dll.mun
USB safe removal icon: C:\Windows\SystemResources\stobject.dll.mun

All these system files from Windows 7 to Windows 10 v1809 were in C:\Windows\System32 folder with the same names and extension .dll
In order to see the customized power/network/sound icons on the taskbar you must first ungroup them (I use Explorer Patcher for that). If you install Explorer Patcher you must also set the taskbar to Windows 10 (Explorer Patcher) style.

paradoxum said:

What programs should I be i using that are mentioned here?

Click to expand...

If you have used CG in the past, the pnidui.dll.backup should still reside in System32.

Edwin said:

If you have used CG in the past, the pnidui.dll.backup should still reside in System32.

Click to expand...

But not used in 24H2 and 25H2. Explorer Patcher simply ignores the Windows 11 default setting and uses a copy of the file saved in its application folder.

Browse to
"C:\Windows\System32\" and COPY imageres.dll to Desktop

Rename the imageres.dll to pnidui.dll and MOVE pnidui.dll back to "C:\Windows\System32\"

Then you can use customized god