Try making the icons larger to accommodate the picture. For example:
How do I get Classic Folder Icons Back?
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Anonymous
How can I get back the folder icons from windows xp? I need my folder icons to be flat square folders, which I can customize with one photo from inside the folder shown on the front? These open folders sitting sideways with documents and pictures falling out, are driving me crazy. I work with thousands of photos every day and need a quick simple way to identify what is inside each folder. Now I have to spend hours opening each folder and looking through the photos...such a waste of time. Why is such a simple folder icon gone in Windows 7? I need it back!
Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
Answer accepted by question author
Answer accepted by question author
Anonymous
Periwinkleblue,
Hello, I’m afraid that changing the file displayed/icon would be the closest choices for customizing the folder in the way you would like, short of possible third party tweaks.
If this is a feature you would like reinstated, please leave your suggestion at Windows 7 Feedback.
Lisa
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer
Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.
55 additional answers
Sort by: Newest
-
@CmdrKeene 90,631 Reputation points Volunteer Moderator2014-02-17T20:39:00+00:00 You haven't lost that ability. I can easily spot my Tulips flowers folder:
-
Anonymous
2014-02-17T20:31:36+00:00 I just don't understand the workflow. I've never had a folder with hundreds of images, yet represented by "absolutely 4" that was a make-or-break issue for me. If I wanted to know what was in a folder, I'd open it up and see everything, not just the 4 random icons that were on the preview. Although honestly I never used the thumbnails to view folders, I only used them to view actual things like pictures or PDFs. Obviously I'm not the target audience. But if I could understand how it was used, maybe I could better appreciate the need for such a feature.
If this was helpful, please vote by clicking the green triangle. If it solves the issue, click Propose as Answer. Thanks!
I take lots of photos. I put each type in a different folder. So I have a folder named 'cats', and a folder named 'food', etc. Say I want a photo of that pretty yellow rose, but I can't remember the name of the rose. Or maybe I want to find the name and only remember what it looks like. I go to the 'flowers' folder, click on 'roses', and I used to be able to look at alllll the folders of roses, each rose name on the folder with a sample of the rose in the nice easy to see four flat preview. Now, with win7, it's a huge mess to look for it and I have to open every single folder until I find the one I am looking for. back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Seriously annoying.
Does that make sense?
Do you see then how a folder that had 100 photos could be represented by just one (or four) image?
-
Anonymous
2014-02-17T20:16:53+00:00 As you can see in the screen shot above, the new design allowed thee preview to be of much higher size and quality, making it much easier to identify and find images. This was the purpose of the change.
If this was helpful, please vote by clicking the green triangle. If it solves the issue, click Propose as Answer. Thanks!
But it isn't easier to identify or find anything. Infact, it's harder and takes much longer.