{"id":557,"date":"2016-06-09T12:46:11","date_gmt":"2016-06-09T12:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/?p=557"},"modified":"2018-10-18T12:53:11","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T12:53:11","slug":"fix-icons-missing-problem-in-windows-10-and-previous-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/2016\/06\/09\/fix-icons-missing-problem-in-windows-10-and-previous-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"Fix Icons Missing Problem in Windows 10 and Previous Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"

Windows<\/b> is designed to retrieve icon thumbnails from a cached database instead of using the original program icons.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

This helps improve system performance and quickly load the icons. <\/span>Sometimes, the <\/span>Desktop<\/b> icons may not show up but the icon names are still there. This indicates the shell icons path is invalid or the icons cache has gone corrupt. Let us examine both the possibilities in detail.<\/span><\/p>\n

But before we get towards fixing the issue, we must perform a simple fix that can help not just address issues like missing icons but a whole host of issues as well. All you’ve got to do is use an efficient system optimizer like ST Cleaner<\/strong> for this purpose. It is extremely light on system resources and is always up to the task!<\/p>\n

\n

Optimize Your Computer Easily<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

ST Cleaner is a digitally signed, verified software<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Specify Shell Icons Path<\/b><\/h2>\n

Windows<\/b> cannot retrieve the shell icons as the <\/span>Shell Icons<\/b> path specified in the system <\/span>Registry<\/b> is invalid. You might want to set the valid path to get rid of missing icons.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Type <\/span>RegEdit<\/b> in the <\/span>Search Box<\/b> on the <\/span>Taskbar<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Open it from the <\/span>Search Results<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Registry Editor<\/b> will now open up. Locate the following subkey:<\/span>\n
      \n
    • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE | SOFTWARE | Microsoft | Windows | CurrentVersion | Explorer<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
    • Click <\/span>Edit <\/b>| <\/span>New <\/b>| <\/span>Key<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Specify <\/span>Shell Icons<\/b> as the name of the newly created key, and then expand it.<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Right-click <\/span>Shell Icons<\/b>, choose <\/span>New <\/b>| <\/span>String Value<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Name the newly created string as <\/span>29<\/b><\/li>\n
    • Double click the string named <\/span>29<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
    • Enter the following value:<\/span>\n
        \n
      • C:\\Windows\\System32\\shell32.dll,29<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
      • Click <\/span>OK<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
      • Exit out of the screen; reboot the machine for the new changes to take effect.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Note:<\/b><\/span><\/em> Overwrite existing path with the new path in Step # 9.<\/span><\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

        Purge & Rebuild Icon Cache<\/b><\/h2>\n

        The icon cache, stored in a hidden application data directory, might be corrupted. Purge and rebuild it to automatically fix the problem.<\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. Click the <\/span>File Explorer <\/b>icon on the <\/span>Taskbar<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
        2. Click <\/span>View <\/b>tab.<\/span><\/li>\n
        3. Check the <\/span>Hidden items<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
        4. Open the following location:<\/span>\n
            \n
          • C:\\Users\\Your_User_Name\\AppData\\Local\\<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
          • Right-click<\/span> IconCache.db<\/b> and choose <\/span>Rename<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
          • Specify a new name. e.g.<\/span> IconCache.db.old<\/b><\/li>\n
          • Exit the <\/span>File Explorer<\/b> and restart the system.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            Alternatively, you can rebuild the <\/span>Icon Cache<\/b> using the following command-lines.<\/span><\/p>\n

              \n
            1. Press <\/span>Windows Key<\/b> + <\/span>X<\/b>; choose<\/span> Command Prompt (Admin)<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
            2. Execute following commands in the given sequence:<\/span>\n
                \n
              • cd \/d %userprofile%\\AppData\\Local<\/b><\/li>\n
              • attrib \u2013h IconCache.db<\/b><\/li>\n
              • del IconCache.db<\/b><\/li>\n
              • start explorer<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                 <\/p>\n

                Restore System<\/b><\/h2>\n

                Once you\u2019ve restored your system at the point of time when the <\/span>System Restore Point<\/b> was created, the previous icons will be restored.<\/span><\/p>\n

                  \n
                1. Right-click <\/span>This PC <\/b>shortcut on the <\/span>Desktop<\/b>, choose <\/span>Properties<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
                2. You have a new window. Click<\/span> System protection<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
                3. On the <\/span>System Properties<\/b> dialog, click <\/span>System Restore<\/b>.<\/span><\/li>\n
                4. Click <\/span>Next <\/b>on the welcome screen.<\/span><\/li>\n
                5. Select a <\/span>Restore Point<\/b> prior to the time in which all the icons were showing up perfectly.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

                  Windows is designed to retrieve icon thumbnails from a cached database instead of using the original program icons.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[328,272,287,317,307,329,256,197],"class_list":["post-557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-solutions","tag-desktop","tag-file-explorer","tag-registry-editor","tag-restore-point","tag-system-restore","tag-this-pc","tag-windows","tag-windows-10"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=557"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1715,"href":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions\/1715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stcleaner.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}