Windows 11 Folder custom Icon Issue

Will try to post the write-up the next week.

Regarding the 2nd part, I assume you're referring to thumbnails ("Folder pictures" option in folder properties). If your settings are not saved, try resetting folder views and clearing the thumbnail cache using Cleanmgr.exe. Alternatively, you may drop your post image in that folder's root and name the poster image file folder.jpg or folder.gif. It will be used as the folder thumbnail. After doing the above, you need to click "Restore Default" in the folder properties.

Care to share a how-to? I'd love to fix this for my collections as well. Even if it takes a bit of work.

Another issue I am seeing, even if I choose a photo file for the folder icon image, the system displays a random icon anyway. If I have a photo and a video in the same folder, half the time a random frame from the video is shown instead of the poster file. I'd love a fix for that as well. Any ideas?

Scott,

"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."

That was a reproduction Scott, since Windows 11 won't do it and I don't have any screenshots from when Windows 10 was installed (that I can readily find.) In '10 the resulting icon were a large size, that you'd be used to, except it'd have your selected picture on it.

(Still haven't found a screen print! 2/2023) See page 3 of the thread and the post from azhotaz

Thank you, azhotaz for your clarification!

Thank you for the suggestion, by have been on Windows since Windows 3.

I don't want to have to refab my whole OS, because the programmers at Microsoft don't know what, "Select a file to show on this folder icon," means.

It was fine in '10, '7 and 'XP. Why change it except for wrecking something that works?

I also can't get a custom folder icon to apply. I'm on a Windows machine for work. It's been a while since I customized anything, but I'd assume when I click "Apply", that my change would apply. Unless we still need to restart the machine for changes to occur? That's old school.

You could try Linux. Lot's of different distributions to choose from. The OS is a bit more to manage, but there are good "out of the box" solutions available.