Windows 11 Folder custom Icon Issue

What? Yes. It's just about always been available to go through and select an "icon" as your folder. I doubt anyone actually uses this limited feature. I guess you can make them, or like me, I got Disney, Halloween, etc., ones from someplace some 20 years ago. That is ALL that is available and that is NOT the issue.

Only place I can still get what I want is my XP...yup 20 years old and it can give me in one click a good idea what's in that folder and its subfolders. XP offered different ways of viewing that no other evolution of windows does.

Do you know what the issue is that everyone is discussing? See the above sample? All I had to do with that file is to select how I want to view it!

I create a folder containing pictures, I didn't need to even select a photo and it would place one on my file folder. I shouldn't have to go through 20,000 photo files to find what I want and without a "picture" on the folder .... well, enough here have made the case already. At one time I recall I COULD actually go into the file and pick the one that would appear....

MS why? I just don't get these "changes" that eliminated what was important to so many. MS has become too arrogant. I want to see someone come up with a challenging system that actually listens to its customers and, if so, MS will lose more than 50% of its current customers.

Hi Rags,

You can change the Standard Folder icon in Windows 11 by right-clicking on the folder > Properties> Customize> Change Icon.

You can navigate to Settings > Personalization > Themes > Desktop icon settings if the folder is a Special folder.

If you just want to change the color of the folder (like the feature available on Mac), you can read this article. Here, I have explained the same in detail.

Do let me know if you face some other issues.

The picture on the folder in your example; while it does the job, is really small and hard to see compared to what we had before, and therefore another step down. I have Windows 11 on ONE computer in my house, and the major downgrades from Windows 10 have really impacted me hard. The lack of support for Folder.jpg was the deal breaker for me. The ONLY reason I keep Windows 11 on that computer, is to keep up with what is still substandard (in my opinion), and what has been fixed. I don't believe that I can comment on something without first hand knowledge, and I'm whining about the Windows 11 downgrade all the time.

On the upside, once folder.jpg has been restored, I'll finally be able to actually USE my windows 11 computer. The removal of that aspect was crippling to me.

Although some changes in Windows 11 will just take some getting used to (Icons instead of words in the menus), and others are more than a little irritating (Having to hit more to get a full menu to display), there are some changes and deletions that are significant production obstacles or even roadblocks. MS has a history of ignoring complaints that don't impact the person making the decision to implement or restore productivity issues, or taking a really LONG time to implement them. Restoring the much valued "Up Arrow" in Windows explorer is an example of that. It didn't come back until Windows 8, and when they put it back (again in my opinion) it was like putting perfume on a pig. I would tend to agree with others who say that if there is an outcry for a feature that was removed; Please, Put it back unchanged.

Now.... If they can get the menu Icons to appear in the same place every time the menu pops up; that would be another improvement. Having to search for them depending on the window orientation prevents an easy automatic response that is highly valued by users, and a major reason some of these "Changes" are so hard to swallow. The learned response has to be relearned. In the case of the Menu Icons, they move depending on where the Menu pops up on the page. This prevents any learned response pattern from forming and (Opinion again) adversely affects productivity.

 --  :) Responses and conflicting opinions welcome. --

I always name the file that i want to appear on the folder icon as "folder" and ding!... it shows on the folder icon. It was very useful to find a folder BY SIGHT not by reading (as in Mac computers) endless blank folders. Please restore this function ASAP. Thanks