asha_37 AS

turning a png into an ico file on windows 11

Want a custom icon for a folder shortcut. I have the image as a png but Windows only accepts ico files. Is there a built-in way to convert, or do I need something?
convert png ico
2

Leave A Reply

Log in to post an answer.

2 Answers

A
alexs Nov 12, 2026
asha_37
if it's for a folder or shortcut icon, include several sizes in the .ico, 256, 48, 32 and 16. with just one size windows scales it and the small view looks fuzzy. also windows caches icons hard. if you swap the icon and it still shows the old one, it's usually just the cache, a restart sorts it.
Reply
V
vikram_55 Oct 16, 2026
asha_37
renaming it to .ico doesn't count, windows sees through that. GIMP does it properly - open the png, File > Export As, type the name ending in .ico and it'll ask which sizes to include. make the png square first or it comes out squashed.
Reply