Windows 10: Changing the default icon for an internet shortcut is not universal

I have used the usual route to changing a default icon in "Properties" for internet shortcut(s). However, changing one file icon strangely does not change all the rest. Is this a bug? Is there a workround?

:)

 

Internet Shortcuts On Start Menu Stopped Working

Windows 10 Pro x64 Version 1709 (OS Build 16299.192)

Default browser: IE 11

I have both Internet Shortcuts and Pinned Internet Shortcuts on my Start Menu. Suddenly, today, the Internet Shortcuts stopped working.

Right clicked on one and selected open file location which took me to:

C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

If I double click on a Pinned Internet Shortcut in that folder it launches IE and opens the web page.

If I double click on an Internet Shortcut in that folder the mouse icon turns into the busy one but nothing happens.

I looked at Choose default apps by file type in Settings. The default app for a Pinned Site Shortcut (.website) is Internet Explorer. The default app for an Internet Shortcut (.URL) is Internet Browser. If I click on that to try and change it the only
option is Internet Browser or an app from the store.

What happened and how do I fix it?

**Moved from: Windows / Windows 10 / Network & internet**

 

N97 Internet Shortcut problem

Hi there



I had the same problem when i upgraded mine and found it most annoying - however i did manage to fix it and its relatively simple. Hold down your finger on the widget and then select settings (assuming you have it on the 4 icon favourite shortcut widget
if that makes sense) - click on the shortcut you want to change (i think it will say internet but can't remember) basically change that shortcut to the application thats called 'web' thats it - The icon will change to the globe again and it will then go to
your default homepage.



hope that helps

 

The way it works is the same as it was in Win 7 and 8, and it makes good sense to me.

If you make a new url, and you don't specify an icon for it, it will use the default icon for all urls. That is the Firefox icon here, because that is my default browser.

But if you do specify an icon in the properties of one particular url, the purpose is to make that url look unique, and therefore easy to find. It is usually the "favicon" for the website it links to.

It works the same for shortcuts to files, such as programs. There is a default icon for links to exe files, but you can specify an individual icon for just one shortcut. Doing that should not change any other shortcut's icon, nor the default icon for the exe file type.

 

Thanks - but with Edge as default browser the icon is an uninspiring boring white rectangle. I don't suppose there is any way of tweaking Edge's appointed icon is there? I do wish we could get beyond this "less is more" nonsense - two skins for Edge - Light and Dark???? Come on Microsoft, you can do better than that.

 

I only know how to do it in Regedit.
My settings may be different from yours, because Edge is not my default browser, but the method is the same:

In HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT find the entry for .url in the left panel.
See it's Default value in the right panel.
Mine points to "InternetShortcut".
So I go down the list to find InternetShortcut and expand that folder in the left panel to find "DefaultIcon".
Here, it's Default value is %SystemRoot%\system32\url.dll,5

You can change that to any icon you wish, for example
"C:\MyData\MyIcons\MyURLicon.ico",0

Note the path must be in quotes if it contains any spaces. The index number is not inside the quotes. An .ico file has only one icon, so the index is 0. DLL and EXE files can contain many icons. The numbering starts from zero.

At least that is how it always worked in Windows 98.
In recent Windows versions it is sometimes as simple as that, but they might add complications. For example if the file association for one user is different it can be changed by the Classes list in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
There is no harm experimenting with a DefaultIcon setting, provided you make a note of the original value, so you can go back if you don't like the result.