Favorites generic icon Win11 25H2

hexaae · Sunday at 4:31 PM

My Favorites icon has reverted to generic icon:

IconResource is correct as well as the other ShellClassInfo. Desktop.ini has usual filesystem flags A SH. Usual guides to reset icon cache didn't work.
Is it a minor glitch in recent Win updates?

hexaae · Sunday at 4:45 PM

Oh, I've just found a strange thing about permissions:

Those S-1-15... accounts shouldn't be there (???) as the other system icons like Contacts, Links have just SYSTEM, Administrators, user.
Is it also normal that "Integrity level: Low mandatory level" for Favorites? ...

hexaae · Sunday at 4:53 PM

Just checked from a VM and is the same, so nothing wrong about permissions....

spapakons · Sunday at 5:40 PM

First thing I would try, Edit the file in Notepad and manually change the icon to see if that works.
Second thing to try: Change the icon with Resource Hacker or Customizer God.

PS: Probably the folder cannot be modified directly. In that case you have to replace the owner of the original folder from System to Administrators group, so you can change access rights. Then make sure the Administrators group has Full access right so you can modify the folder.

Helmut · 2026-06-29T10:33:02-0400

That is because it is showing the contents, in your case probably html files or Browser related files.
Mine shows the icon with a blank page because contents are a shortcut or some file type not linked with an App.
So it is not generic.

spapakons · 2026-06-29T10:39:42-0400

You can assign a specific icon to the folder so it always shows that irrespective of the contents.

NormanF · 2026-06-29T11:08:40-0400

A specific folder icon overrides your Windows system icon theme - whatever theme your icons follow.

spapakons · 2026-06-29T11:17:11-0400

But that way he can have the icon he likes.

hexaae · 2026-06-30T10:24:11-0400

NormanF said:
A specific folder icon overrides your Windows system icon theme - whatever theme your icons follow.

Can't change/force the icon for system folders like that without altering desktop.ini: there is no GUI option to "Change default folder icon..." for these. This is normal Windows behavior to force default system icon for those special dirs.

Helmut said:
That is because it is showing the contents, in your case probably html files or Browser related files.
Mine shows the icon with a blank page because contents are a shortcut or some file type not linked with an App.
So it is not generic.

The point is that for a default folder like that (and Music, Links, Contacts....) the desktop.ini's IconResource ShellInfo should overwrite any changes, and it doesn't work as normal folders with some files inside that show up in the icon.

Thanks for confirming you see the same: no more default star icon folder but it's now depending on its contents, looks like I’m not the only one... probably something glitchy after recent Win updates, who knows... I'm sure up to 1-2 months ago that folder was using the default icon.

That's strange and unusual... I'll just let the time pass at this point and see if it reverts to correct icon, as everything is correct (desktop.ini contents, permissions, file/folder attributes).
Also paths in the reg keys are correct:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

NormanF · 2026-06-30T10:56:31-0400

hexaae said:
Can't change/force the icon for system folders like that without altering desktop.ini: there is no GUI option to "Change default folder icon..." for these. This is normal Windows behavior to force default system icon for those special dirs.

The point is that for a default folder like that (and Music, Links, Contacts....) the desktop.ini's IconResource ShellInfo should overwrite any changes, and it doesn't work as normal folders with some files inside that show up in the icon.

Thanks for confirming you see the same: no more default star icon folder but it's now depending on its contents, looks like I’m not the only one... probably something glitchy after recent Win updates, who knows... I'm sure up to 1-2 months ago that folder was using the default icon.

That's strange and unusual... I'll just let the time pass at this point and see if it reverts to correct icon, as everything is correct (desktop.ini contents, permissions, file/folder attributes).
Also paths in the reg keys are correct:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\User Shell Folders
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders

There is in properties where you can change your icon. It doesn't change the Recycle Bin, This PC or your user folder - just the icon representing them.

spapakons · 2026-06-30T11:40:04-0400

To change This PC, user folder, Network and Recycle Bin icons go to Settings, Personalization, Themes, Change Desktop icons.

hexaae · 2026-06-30T11:49:54-0400

NormanF said:
There is in properties where you can change your icon. It doesn't change the Recycle Bin, This PC or your user folder - just the icon representing them.

Not for this kind of folders: you can only select a file image to apply ON the icon but you don't have full folder icon control like you do with normal folders:
you don't have the usual options (in red) for these system icons, you can only ADD an image to the icon (in green) -which doesn't work with this folder anyway-

However I was looking for a real "fix" to revert to normal behavior, not "a way to force-change that folder icon" so manually forcing it is not the kind of solution I was looking for.

I'm curious to know if other users have the same glitch with Win11 25H2 10.0.26200.8655, maybe is a recently introduced glitch for non-English users only? Notice from the very first pic in this thread that is shown as "Favorites", while it should be localized to "Preferiti" in ITA as specified in the desktop.ini...

hexaae · 2026-06-30T12:00:26-0400

spapakons said:
First thing I would try, Edit the file in Notepad and manually change the icon to see if that works.

Forgot to reply this one: I already tried to change IconResource to -117 but nothing happened... for some strange reason that system folder icon (only) is simply ignored now.... I also tried to add some pics in it and folder icon didn't change (so it's not even actually behaving like a normal drawer icon!)... it's just "stuck" on that "generic drawer which contains Bing page link" weird. BTW, even "Links" folder inside is not localized as it should (!?) (again, Favorites\Links\desktop.ini contents are correct...)

Doing nothing and just wait can be the only solution sometime: I've seen weird Windows glitches in the past which finally resolved by themselves.

spapakons · 2026-06-30T12:23:09-0400

I have the English US version of build 8655 and didn't notice that glitch. I haven't checked my father's computer which is running the Greek version. I will check next time I visit.

hexaae · 2026-06-30T12:32:15-0400

spapakons said:
I have the English US version of build 8655 and didn't notice that glitch. I haven't checked my father's computer which is running the Greek version. I will check next time I visit.

If you edit in your Favorites\desktop.ini:
IconResource=%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-115 to -117 or something else... does it work for you and changes the icon?

spapakons · 2026-06-30T12:42:47-0400

Not sure, why put a negative value? I think putting the desired icon number, such as 115 should work too. What is the difference between the icon number and the negative value? I have seen it elsewhere.

PS: I found the difference:

https://www.google.com/search?q=why+put+a+negative+number+for+custom+icons+and+not+just+the+desired+icon+number+Windows+11&oq=why+put+a+negative+number+for+custom+icons+and+not+just+the+desired+icon+number+Windows+11+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCTM5MDc0ajBqN6gCFLACAfEFsMuXo6qKdUY&client=ms-android-xiaomi-terr2-rso2&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#lfId=ChxjMe

However from my own experience, all system icons in imageres.dll.mun are in the same order, same position since Windows 7 or even Vista. So I would rather use the positive number denoting the specific icon in the system file.

hexaae · 2026-06-30T12:46:39-0400

That's the Microsoft convention for icons inside system dlls, it's always a neg value.
If you open system32\imageres.dll with Greenfish Icon Editor Pro for example you see:

spapakons · 2026-06-30T12:57:49-0400

So, according to Google, setting the positive value of 115 you select the icon at position 115 which is currently the favorites folder icon, but it might change in the future. From my experience these icons are at the same position since Windows 7 at least, so there is no such "risk". Setting the negative value of -115 you select the icon with ID 115 (independent of position in the file) which is the favorites folder icon. You can try -115 first and if it doesn't work then change it to 115.

PS: Up to Windows 10 v1809 the appropriate system file was
C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll
In Windows 10 v1903 and newer and in Windows 11 the appropriate system file is
C:\Windows\SystemResources\imageres.dll.mun
I think that's the one you should take the icon from.

Helmut · 2026-06-30T13:56:46-0400

All this kerfuffle about next to nothing:

File Explorer > 3 dots > Options > View Tab > Files and Folders > Always show icons, never thumbnails.

Tick shows Icons.
Untick shows an idea of Contents, though they call it thumbnails.

My preference is Untick, but chose whatever you like.

It's an Option not a glitch, bug, or bad update.

hader · 2026-06-30T14:11:20-0400

If I take a look inside imageres.dll with Greenfish Icon Editor Pro I see on index 115:

This file dates from 6-6-2026, 05:17. If I look at properties and details it belongs to build 26100.7705 (Probably introduced with June 9, 2026—KB5094126 (OS Builds 26200.8655 and 26100.8655) Update.)

It looks that's the default setting for the map Favorites.

Favorites generic icon Win11 25H2

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