Windows icons: create your own icons

As Windows icons, you can use your own files in addition to the ready-made icons. In this guide, we show you how to create your own Windows icons.

Create Windows icons - how it works

1. In principle, you can create Windows icons with any image editing program. To do this, save the corresponding graphic in the size 36x36 pixels in BMP format and then rename the file to ".ico".
2. However, some icons require different sizes. The creation of Windows icons is therefore much easier with specially designed tools. A free recommendation is IcoFX.
3. By clicking on "File" and "New" you can create a new icon with the program. Various drawing and text tools are available for this.
4. Under "Save as" your work can be exported directly as an ICO file.
5. Alternatively, you can also use IcoFX to convert an image from your hard drive into an icon file or icon library in various formats. To do this, click on the Windows symbol in the top bar in the program and select the desired formats.
6. You have a little more options with ArtIcons Pro. The tool can be tried for free for 30 days and then costs around 30 euros.
7. To use new icons, open the Control Panel and under "Appearance and Personalization" click on "Personalization". On the left side you will find the "Change desktop icons" option, which you can use to change the icons of the computer icon and the trash, among other things.
8. To change the symbol of a folder, right-click on an empty space in the corresponding folder and select "Properties". You can find the function you are looking for under "Customize" by clicking on "Other symbol".

In Windows 8 you can also create your own tiles.