Windows – reference for the full list of Windows 10 ‘Shell Icon’ numbers

iconswindows 10windows-registrywindows-shell

I'm looking for a reference that lists the possible entries under the registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons

Entries under this registry key override the default icon used for various purposes in the Windows UI. Looking online I've found two so far:

29 – Shortcut Arrow overlay icon
179 – "Blue arrows" icon overlay for compressed files

Presumably Microsoft would have this list somewhere, but finding a comprehensive reference for Windows 10 has eluded me so far.

Edit

I did some more experimenting by adding more number keys and pointing each to a unique icon. Here's the associations I've found so far:

3     normal folder icon
8     fixed drive folder icon
11    removable drive folder icon
15    network drive icon in the explorer address bar
29    shortcut overlay icon
34    explorer navigation pane root icon labelled 'Desktop'
51    network folder icon
77    UAC (administrator) overlay icon
107   os drive folder icon
179   compressed file/folder overlay icon

Best Answer

Copy shell32.dll and imageres.dll in the System32 folder to a folder of choice, then use 7-Zip or other archiver to unpack the dll file, once that is done dig into the .rsrc folder to find the ICON folder, in there you will find the icons and numbers.

The registry entry should you wish to create one would look something like this

"DisplayIcon"="C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll,9"

"DisplayIcon"="C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,9"

Walkthrough for adding a Custom Folder under "This PC".

What you need:

A folder you'd like to add (in this sample, I'll use "C:\Projects").
An icon for said folder if you want to use a custom icon (in this sample, I'll use "C:\Projects\projects.ico")
A GUID (in this sample, I'll use "EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685". It'll work for your first custom folder you add, but if you'd like to add more custom folders you'll need to create new GUIDs)

What you need to do:

A whole bunch of registry hacks.

These steps should guide you through all the reg-edits.

Navigate to [HKCR\CLSID]
Create a new Key with the name "{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}"
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click on "(Default)", select modify and specify the value "Projects".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > String Value". Call this new value "InfoTip" and give it the value "C:\Projects".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > DWORD (32 Bit) Value". Call this new value "System.IsPinnedToNameSpaceTree" and give it a value of "1".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "DefaultIcon".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\DefaultIcon] right click on "(Default)", select modify and specify the value "C:\Projects\projects.ico".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "InProcServer32".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\InProcServer32] right click on "(Default)", select modify and specify the value "%systemroot%\System32\shell32.dll".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\InProcServer32] right click and select "New > String Value". Call this new value "ThreadingModel" and give it the value "Both".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "Instance".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Instance] right click and select "New > String Value". Call this new value "CLSID" and give it the value "{0AFACED1-E828-11D1-9187-B532F1E9575D}". (This is the CLSID for "Folder Shortcut", if you try to add a different type of shortcut instead of a custom folder, you may need to lookup the right type of handler and find the CLSID for that).
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Instance] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "InitPropertyBag".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Instance\InitPropertyBag] right click and select "New > DWORD (32 Bit) Value". Call this new value "Attributes" and give it the value "21".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Instance\InitPropertyBag] right click and select "New > Expandable String Value". Call this new value "Target" and give it the value "C:\Projects".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "Shell".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Shell] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "Open Projects Folder"* (* You can put what you want in here, this is the menu option that appears when you right click on your custom added folder, just remember to modify step 18 as needed).
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Shell\Open Projects Folder] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "Command".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Shell\Open Projects Folder\Command] right click on "(Default)", select modify and specify the value "explorer /root,C:\Projects".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "ShellEx".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\ShellEx] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "PropertySheetHandlers".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\ShellEx\PropertySheetHandlers] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "ShellFolder".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\ShellFolder] right click and select "New > DWORD (32 Bit) Value". Call this new value "Attributes" and give it the value "f080004d".
Inside the Key [HKCR\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\ShellFolder] right click and select "New > DWORD (32 Bit) Value". Call this new value "SortOrderIndex" and give it the value "0".

A screengrab of the HKCR\CLSID registry block so you can be sure you've added the keys correctly:

$A screengrab of the HKCR\CLSID registry block so you can be sure you've added the keys correctly.$

Now navigate to [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID].
Create a new Key with the name "{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}"
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click on "(Default)", select modify and specify the value "Projects".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > String Value". Call this new value "InfoTip" and give it the value "C:\Projects".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "DefaultIcon".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\DefaultIcon] right click on "(Default)", select modify and specify the value "C:\Projects\projects.ico".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "InProcServer32".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\InProcServer32] right click on "(Default)", select modify and specify the value "%systemroot%\System32\shell32.dll".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\InProcServer32] right click and select "New > String Value". Call this new value "ThreadingModel" and give it the value "Both".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "Instance".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Instance] right click and select "New > String Value". Call this new value "CLSID" and give it the value "{0AFACED1-E828-11D1-9187-B532F1E9575D}". (This is the CLSID for "Folder Shortcut", if you try to add a different type of shortcut instead of a custom folder, you may need to lookup the right type of handler and find the CLSID for that).
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Instance] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "InitPropertyBag".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Instance\InitPropertyBag] right click and select "New > DWORD (32 Bit) Value". Call this new value "Attributes" and give it the value "21".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\Instance\InitPropertyBag] right click and select "New > Expandable String Value". Call this new value "Target" and give it the value "C:\Projects".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "ShellEx".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\ShellEx] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "PropertySheetHandlers".
Inside the Key [HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}\ShellEx\PropertySheetHandlers] right click and select "New > Key". Call this Key "{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}".

A screengrab of the HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID registry block so you can be sure you've added the keys correctly:

$A screengrab of the HKCR\Wow6432Node\CLSID registry block so you can be sure you've added the keys correctly.$

Now navigate to [HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace].
Create a new Key with the name "{EB39BB71-9B3B-4C47-BB02-F35CFAED1685}"
Open up Task Manager (Shortcut key is CTRL + SHIFT + ESC).
Click on the "Details" tab.
Find "explorer.exe".
Right click "explorer.exe" and select "End Task".
Once "explorer.exe" has ended, click "File > Run New Task".
Type in "explorer" and hit enter. Explorer should now relaunch and take the new registry keys into consideration.
If all is working, you should now have a new "Projects" folder in your left hand menu.

Screengrabs of the various steps can be found here:

https://imgur.com/a/afoqW

Windows – Shell Overlay Icons not showing in explorer

Eventually I decided to search my registry for any keys that had the same value as the icons that weren't showing up, while checking against a Windows 10 system that was working. Turns out that the values for all of the keys were showing up in

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Blocked

When I removed values from there and restarted explorer the icons showed up. I have no idea how they ended up in that registry section in the first place, but that was it. Hope this helps someone else.

Edit

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Windows – How to create a new system folder to show up in “This PC” in Windows 8.1 without additional tools

Walkthrough for adding a Custom Folder under "This PC".

What you need:

What you need to do:

Windows – Shell Overlay Icons not showing in explorer

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