IconSwapperGui is a powerful Windows desktop application for changing shortcut and folder icons without navigating Windows' properties menus. It supports .lnk shortcuts, Steam .url files, and folder icons, making it ideal for customizing your Windows desktop experience.
A standout feature of IconSwapperGui is icon version management, allowing you to track, preview, and restore previously used icons for any shortcut — making experimentation safe and fully reversible.
-
Multi-Location Support
- Configure multiple shortcut and icon folder locations
- Automatically loads all shortcuts and icons from configured directories
-
Dual-Mode Icon Swapping
- Shortcuts Tab: Change icons for .lnk and Steam .url shortcut files
- Folders Tab: Change icons for Windows folders directly
-
Icon Version History & Restore ⭐
- Right-click any shortcut to view current and previous icon versions
- Preview all historical icons with timestamps
- Instantly restore a previously used icon with one click
- Safely experiment with icon styles without losing past versions
-
Advanced Icon Search & Filtering
- Real-time search bar to quickly find icons by name
- Instant filtering across all loaded icon directories
-
Auto-Refresh & File Watching
- Automatically detects newly added shortcuts or icons while the app is running
- No need to manually refresh — changes are detected in real-time
-
Batch Image Conversion
- Convert entire folders of images into Windows-compatible .ico files
-
Multi-Format Support
- Supports .png, .jpg, and .jpeg image formats
-
Searchable Image List
- Quickly locate specific images before conversion with built-in search
-
Multiple Icon Directories
- Configure multiple source folders for image conversion
-
Optional Image Cleanup
- Automatically delete original images after successful conversion
-
Quality Preservation
- Maintains image quality during conversion process
-
Custom Canvas Size
- Adjustable grid up to 512×512 pixels
-
Background Customization
- Choose any background color
- Full transparency support for professional-looking icons
-
Professional Drawing Tools
- Color picker for precise brush color selection
- Left-click to draw pixels
- Right-click to erase pixels
- Undo/Redo support
-
Dynamic Zoom Control
- Zoom in and out for precise pixel-level editing
- Grid visualization for accurate pixel placement
-
Export Functionality
- Save your pixel art directly as .ico files
- Ready to use immediately as Windows icons
-
Theme Selection
- Light, Dark and Custom mode themes
-
Custom Colours (custom mode enabled)
- Accent Colour
- Background
- Surface
- Primary Text
- Secondary Text
-
Shortcut Locations
- Add/remove multiple shortcut folder paths
- The desktop path is a common one
- Supports both .lnk and .url shortcuts
- Add/remove multiple shortcut folder paths
-
Icon Locations
- Configure multiple icon source directories
- Automatically scans for .ico files
-
Folder Shortcut Locations
- Manage folders for folder icon swapping
-
Converter Icons Locations
- Configure image source folders for conversion
-
Export Location
- Set default save location for pixel art creations
-
Auto-Update Settings
- Toggle automatic update checks on startup
- Manual update check available
- One-click update installation
-
Launch At Startup
- Launch IconSwapperGui automatically with Windows
- Sound Notifications
- Toggle sound alerts for operations
- Logging
- Enable detailed logging for troubleshooting
- Logs saved to application directory
-
Seamless Automatic Updates
- Checks for updates on startup (configurable)
- Download and install updates without leaving the app
-
GitHub Release Integration
- Updates fetched directly from official GitHub releases
- Secure and verified update process
-
Manual Update Check
- Check for updates anytime from Settings
- Clear update status messages
-
Delta Updates
- Only downloads changed files for faster updates
- Minimal bandwidth usage
-
Download the Installer
- Visit the Releases page
- Download
IconSwapperGui-win-Setup.exe
-
Run the Installer
- Double-click
IconSwapperGui-win-Setup.exe - Follow the installation wizard
- The app will be installed to your system
- Double-click
-
Launch IconSwapperGui
- Use the Start Menu shortcut or desktop icon
- The app will automatically check for updates on first launch
-
Configure Shortcut Locations
- Open Settings > Application
- Add folders containing your shortcuts (e.g., Desktop, Start Menu)
-
Configure Icon Locations
- Add folders containing your custom .ico files
- IconSwapperGui will automatically scan these directories
-
Start Swapping Icons
- Navigate to the Swapper sidebar tab
- Select a shortcut from the left panel
- Select an icon from the right panel
- Click Swap
- Manage Icon History: Right-click any shortcut to view and restore previous icons
- Convert Images: Use the Converter tab to turn PNG/JPG images into .ico files
- Create Custom Icons: Use the Pixel Art Editor tab to design icons from scratch
IconSwapperGui includes a built-in updater powered by Velopack. By default, the app checks for updates on startup. You can:
- Disable automatic checks in Settings > General
- Manually check for updates anytime in Settings > About
- Install updates with one click when available
Your feedback is invaluable!
If you encounter bugs or have feature requests, please open an issue on the GitHub Issues page.
Contributions are welcome!
Please read the Contributing Guidelines before submitting a pull request.
This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.
- .NET 10 - Modern cross-platform framework
- WPF - Windows Presentation Foundation for rich UI
- Velopack - Auto-update framework
- CommunityToolkit.Mvvm - MVVM architecture support
If you find IconSwapperGui useful, please consider giving it a star on GitHub! It helps others discover the project and motivates continued development.