Custom icons on synced computers


DiBen

New member
Local time
5:43 PM
Posts
2
OS
Windows 11
I just set up a new Dell with Windows 11 and synced it to my old Win10 computer, also a Dell.
My problem is with desktop icons that call a URL. I have a bunch. They all have custom .ico's
On the Win10, I put them in Downloads and added them to the icon ("change icon" in properties)
from there. Worked great.
On the win11 desktop the shortcuts initialized as blank, so I "changed icon" on each of them from
a copy/paste recreation of Downloads, which didn't sync, but where I was ultimately able to
find them. All set, everything was lovely, just the duplicate I wanted.
Surprise!! When I went back to the old Win10 computer, all those same icons were blank. I reset
some of them and on returning to the Win11, those had become blank there. Trying back and
forth and even renaming a set, no matter what, each .ico image would only show up on ONE
computer. Note that blank or with .ico, all the underlying shortcuts functioned properly.
Any ideas?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
Hi @DiBen. Welcome. I've had some success with this.
  1. I created an Environment Variable (EV) - e.g., "MyCustomIcons" - that points to an Icons folder (the EV is necessary for me, as the path to the Icons folder varies on each device. If your paths are identical this may not be necessary.).
  2. On each desktop shortcut you want to replicate, set the path to the icon using the EV (in Properties). MyCustomIcons is backed up to Dropbox.
  3. Copy the contents of the source Desktop (I've learned the hard way not to use Dropbox' native functionality to back up the Desktop. Instead, I use a combination of Powershell and Task Scheduler to replicate Desktop contents in Dropbox instead of doing this manually).
You should then be able to restore desktop shortcuts to the target Device, and keep the icons in tact. There's probably a more efficient way, but...

Hope this helps!
 
Last edited:

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 22H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS8950
    CPU
    i7-12700K
    Motherboard
    Z690 : 9D2HH Foxconn, R6PCT Foxconn 2nd
    Memory
    16GB (2 x 8)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 with shared graphics memory
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer CBL282K Smiiprx
    Screen Resolution
    4K UHD (3840 x 2160) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital PC SN810 512 GB M.2 NVMe SSD, PCIe
    PSU
    750W
    Cooling
    2G44F Asetek 125W CPU liquid cooler
    Keyboard
    Arteck Wireless
    Mouse
    Victsing-mm057 wireless
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 6
    Browser
    Vivaldi
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender (native)
  • Operating System
    Win 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5620
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P
    Memory
    2 x 8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    NVMe 512 GB
    Case
    Aluminum
    Mouse
    Touchpad
    Browser
    Vivaldi
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender (native)
Thank you, my dear.
However, you are so far over my head that I can't even see your toes.
I appreciate your response and am happy to see there might be a way.
If you ever have some open time, you might give me more detail on
the very first step.
Thanks, Ben
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
@DiBen Hi. The first step is only necessary if the path to your icons folder is different on your two devices. If they are different, the Environment Variable "normalizes" the paths, so when windows sees "MyCustomIcons", it substitutes the actual path for each device. If they're the same, I think your icons should be OK from the start.

1. Open the Start menu, type "environment var", and on the right, lower down, you'll see "Edit the system environment variables". Click on Open (EV1, below).
2. Click on the Environment Variables button (EV2, below)
3. In the User (not System) variables section at the top, click 'New.
4. Enter your variable name and the path to the icons folder (see EV3).
5. On your Desktop shortcut, right-click, select Properties, then click on the "Change Icon" button (EV4)
6. Under 'Look for icons in this file, enter the path using Environment Variable surrounded by "%" - e.g., %MyCustomIcons%\ThisIcon.ico (EV5)
7. Repeat steps 1-4 on the other device

Now when you copy the Desktop shortcut, it will point to the icons folder.

If you search for "Create Environment Variable Windows 11" you'll see many links. Here's one example (using a slightly different method to access the Environment Variables) Create new EV.

Let me know if any of this is unclear.
 

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My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 22H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS8950
    CPU
    i7-12700K
    Motherboard
    Z690 : 9D2HH Foxconn, R6PCT Foxconn 2nd
    Memory
    16GB (2 x 8)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 770 with shared graphics memory
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer CBL282K Smiiprx
    Screen Resolution
    4K UHD (3840 x 2160) @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    Western Digital PC SN810 512 GB M.2 NVMe SSD, PCIe
    PSU
    750W
    Cooling
    2G44F Asetek 125W CPU liquid cooler
    Keyboard
    Arteck Wireless
    Mouse
    Victsing-mm057 wireless
    Internet Speed
    Wi-Fi 6
    Browser
    Vivaldi
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender (native)
  • Operating System
    Win 22H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell Vostro 5620
    CPU
    12th Gen Intel Core i7-1260P
    Memory
    2 x 8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1200 @ 60 Hz
    Hard Drives
    NVMe 512 GB
    Case
    Aluminum
    Mouse
    Touchpad
    Browser
    Vivaldi
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender (native)
I bet your Windows 10 user name (and hence user folder) is different that the Windows 11 one. In that case, simply put the icons at a common folder such as C:\icons and sync again.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 23H2 64-bit (build 22631.3235)
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Extensa 5630EZ
    CPU
    Mobile DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo T7250, 2000 MHz
    Motherboard
    Acer Extensa 5630
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Mobile Intel(R) GMA 4500M (Mobile 4 series)
    Sound Card
    Realtek ALC268 @ Intel 82801IB ICH9 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    1
    Screen Resolution
    1280x800
    Hard Drives
    Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB SATA Device (250 GB, SATA-III)
    Internet Speed
    VDSL 50 Mbps
    Browser
    MICROSOFT EDGE
    Antivirus
    WINDOWS DEFENDER
    Other Info
    Legacy MBR installation, no TPM, no Secure Boot, no WDDM 2.0 graphics drivers, cannot get more unsupported ;) This is only my test laptop. I had installed Windows 11 here before upgrading my main PC. For my main PC I use everyday see my 2nd system specs.
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro v23H2 (build 22631.3235)
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom-built PC
    CPU
    Intel Core-i7 3770 3.40GHz s1155 (3rd generation)
    Motherboard
    Asus P8H61 s1155 ATX
    Memory
    2x Kingston Hyper-X Blu 8GB DDR3-1600
    Graphics card(s)
    Gainward NE5105T018G1-1070F (nVidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Realtek HD audio (ALC887)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Sony Bravia KDL-19L4000 19" LCD TV via VGA
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900 32-bit 60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Patriot Burst Elite 480GB SSD as system disk, Western Digital Caviar Purple 4TB SATA III (WD40PURZ) as second
    PSU
    Thermaltake Litepower RGB 550W Full Wired
    Case
    SUPERCASE MIDI-TOWER
    Cooling
    Stock Intel CPU Fan, 1x 8cm fan at the back
    Mouse
    Sunnyline OptiEye PS/2
    Keyboard
    Mitsumi 101-key PS/2
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Windows Defender
    Other Info
    Legacy BIOS (MBR) installation, no TPM, no Secure Boot, WDDM 3.0 graphics drivers, WEI score 7.4

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