How to Change Vista Icons

Microsoft wanted to give Vista a very polished appearance, they allowed each Vista icon to be 256 x 256. This allows icons in Vista to have the same resolution as a small image. To make the appearance of your icons match your taste, you may be interested in changing some of them.

Changing Individual Icons

  1. After right-clicking on the desktop, choose Personalize from the shortcut menu that pops up.
  2. From this list of options that appears, choose Change Desktop Icons.
  3. Pick the specific icon that you would like to change in Vista.
  4. Select the Change Icon button to see what icons are available for you to replace the current one with. If you have downloaded any additional icons, you will also be able to browse those.
  5. Choose the icon that you want to use and Vista will automatically update the desktop icon you selected.


Changing Folder Icons

  1. Right click the current icon of the folder you would like to change.
  2. Choose Properties from the shortcut menu that pops up.
  3. Select the Customize tab on the next menu that is displayed.
  4. Choose the Change Icon button (it can be found at the bottom of the box).
  5. Pick the new icon that you would like to use.
  6. Click OK, and Vista will automatically update the folder icon you selected.
  • If you would like to use a tool that streamlines this process, you may be interested in trying Microangelo on Display. This piece of software costs $24.95 to buy, but you can download a free evaluation version at: www.microangelo.us