Windows File Explorer – Set Custom Folder Icon for Network Folder

desktop-customizationiconswindowswindows-explorer

I access a Windows share and the 'folder icon' section (the bottom one) is missing in its settings. It shows up properly in local folders. I would like to have it with both.

A folder properties window with the icon setting highlighted

A local folder properties window

Best Answer

You'll want to use a desktop.ini file to customize the icon. Usually, that's all your actually doing when you are using that "Change Icon" button above. For full documentation see: How to customize folders with desktop.ini An example desktop.ini file follows: 

[DeleteOnCopy]
Owner=MyUser
Personalized=13
PersonalizedName=My Folder
[.ShellClassInfo]
InfoTip=@Shell32.dll,-12689
IconFile=%SystemRoot%\system32\shell32.dll
IconIndex=-237

As an aside, if you want to do this without having to manually create the desktop.ini, you can create a folder locally, apply the desired settings, and steal its desktop.ini. (If you don't see it, copy over the entire folder; it should have a correct name originally.) The youtube video Apply a Icon to a Folder on a Network Drive shows this process but uses folder moves rather than creating a new folder.

Related Question