In the Windows XP days, changing the icon for a specific file type—such equally TXT or PNG—was easy. But since Windows 7, you've actually had to do some Registry hacking to make it happen. Here's a bang-up little freeware utility that makes it much faster and easier.

For whatever reason, contempo versions of Windows have developed a habit of not letting the states hands customize icons for anything but folders and shortcuts. We've shown yous how to modify the icon for an EXE file and how to remove the arrows from shortcut icons. Now, information technology's time to turn our attention to icons for file types.

File Types Manager is a keen footling utility from NirSoft that lists all of the file types and extensions in use on your PC and lets you edit many properties of each file blazon—including the associated icon. Information technology works great in Windows vii, viii, and 10, and its interface makes changing icons for file types easy enough that you can run through a bunch at one time if you lot need to.

RELATED: How to Change the Icon of an EXE File

RELATED: How Do I Know if I'chiliad Running 32-fleck or 64-bit Windows?

The first matter you'll demand to exercise is download a re-create of File Types Manager. It works in pretty much any version of Windows, but practice pay attention to whether you need the 32- or 64-flake version. If you're non sure, hither'due south how to figure out whether you're running a 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows.

When the download finishes, unzip the folder. It'due south a portable app, and then you lot won't need to install it—merely double-click "FileTypesMan.exe" to get started.

Click the "Default Icon" cavalcade header to sort the list by the Default Icon. Note that for our screenshot, we hid several columns to make things easier to see. You may find the "Default Icon" column farther to the right. This groups together all file extensions that already accept the same icon. This is convenient if you desire to change several related file types that use the aforementioned icon. If you only intend to change one file blazon, feel gratuitous to sort by the extension or blazon proper noun instead.

To save some scrolling, nosotros'll employ the notice function to become to the file blazon we're afterwards. Click the "Discover" push button on the toolbar (or press Ctrl+F). In the "Find" window, type in the extension for the file type you lot desire to change and then click the "Find Next" push button repeatedly until the you make it at the extension you're afterward. You can and so click "Abolish" to close the "Find" window.

Right click extension whose icon you want to alter and then select "Edit Selected File Type."

In the "Edit File Blazon" window, click the "…" button to the right of the Default Icon text field.

The "Change Icon" window shows some bones icons, but click the "Browse" button to find your own icon files. File Types Manager allows you to select EXE, DLL, or ICO files.

After you've browsed for and selected the icon file you want, the bachelor icons volition testify upward in the list. Select the icon y'all desire from the listing and and then click "OK." In this example, we're using icon files that nosotros downloaded from IconArchive, so there'south simply 1 icon shown. If you're using a EXE or DLL file, you might see many more icons than with an ICO file.

If you need to alter the icon for more than than ane file type, you just need to echo those steps. And when you lot're washed, you can shut File Type Manager and open up a File Explorer window to cheque out your changes. In our example, we've changed the icons for GIF and PNG file types—two types of motion-picture show files we apply a lot—to make them a bit easier to distinguish. Before, all pic files were using the aforementioned icon—the default icon of our image viewer app.

Now information technology'south much easier to see at a glance which files types are which! Of course, this process will work for any file type, and so customize your files' icons equally you see fit.

The above article may contain chapter links, which help support How-To Geek.