Office Icons are all missing/replaced by generic white icons

Anonymous
2010-08-03T08:01:12+00:00

For some reason all my office products (word, excel, outlook, access etc.) icons in the start menu and desktop task bar have all been replaced by the generic white icons.

I am unable to uninstall or repair this. I believe (from what I've read on the internet) that it is connected to the "C:\windows\installer" folder and the Office installer files.

Can this problem be solved without having to re-install windows ( as that is the only way I think its possible to be albe to reset the office suite).

Cheers,

Jurgens

Microsoft 365 and Office | Install, redeem, activate | For home | Windows

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.

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Anonymous
2011-09-24T16:39:18+00:00

I had the same issue as everyone here and I think I've FINALLY figured out a solution!

Go to c:/Program Files/Microsoft Office/Office 14

Right click on each program icon individually and unpin from BOTH your Taskbar and/or Start Menu. (e.g. EXCEL.EXE, MSACCESS.EXE, MSPUB.EXE, OUTLOOK.EXE, POWERPNT.EXE, WINWORD.EXE, etc.)

Then right click and select  "Pin to Start Menu" (not to Taskbar).

Do this for each program you want to eventually make it onto your Taskbar.

Now go to Start and then for each program (that should now show in start menu with the actual Microsoft Office icon), right click and select "Pin to Taskbar".

You can then Remove each one from the Start Menu if you wish by right clicking again and selecting "Remove from this List".

Your icons should now be back to their original format.

I've rebooted my system several times so far and the icons have remained.

Hopefully this will work for everyone else as well!

Good Luck!!!

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-04-17T11:28:32+00:00

    restore worked for me, restoring the pc to an earlier time

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-03-21T00:30:22+00:00

    Thanks no problem at all glad it helped you.

    To follow up I initially hid that update. Then a group of  other updates came through some of which were updates for Microsoft Office 2010. 

    After running a search and checking in restore hidden updates that particular update seems to be gone.

    Perhaps they pulled it over the last run of updates. 

    Who knows they seem to stay silent in these forums.

    Maybe they should start paying people on here for there efforts finding solutions to their software issues.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-03-20T19:05:24+00:00

    The link to the zip file no longer works.

    I resolved this issue by uninstalling the update for Microsoft office 2010.

    Once uninstalled all the word and excel files instantly returned to their proper state without a reboot.

    I don't recommend uninstalling this update as it is a security update.

    I plan to install it at a later date when Microsoft has patched this mess. 

    I have good backups and restore points.

    The update that is responsible for the issue is below.

    Security Update for Microsoft Office 2010 (KB2920748) 64-Bit Edition

    Download size: 90 KB

    You may need to restart your computer for this update to take effect.

    Update type: Important

    A security vulnerability exists in Microsoft Office 2010 64-Bit Edition that could allow arbitrary code to run when a maliciously modified file is opened. This update resolves that vulnerability.

    More information:

    http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2920748

    Help and Support:

    http://support.microsoft.com/?LN=en-us

    Congratulations, you're the only one that actually figured this out. I'm working on a 32-bit version so I'm not sure which specific update it was (KB number did not match yours), but after pulling the updates, the client's icons have been restored. Thank you for this post.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-03-09T06:49:02+00:00

    I finally gave up on trying for hours to get this and other Microsoft problems fixed.

    I began reflecting over the years with Microsoft.  Back in 2002 I spent all weekend fixing a MS problem while my beautiful wife and young daughters went to the beach in Florida without me.

    Fast forward to 2013 where I spent 9 hours on the telephone, working with a south east asian accent trying to fix a well known Windows 7 problem, and my family went on without me.

    I fixed it!  I solved the problem.

    The fix was found in a brand new Apple MacBook Pro 15.  No software needed, no installations for me to work on all weekend.  Just power it up and go to work.  One by one I am swapping out the old MS based computers for new Apples.  It just goes to show you that Bill Gates can steal the Windows OS, pay $5 M in an out of court settlement, become a billionaire, but he still can't get it right, unless he gets the MS customers to play to the dupe.

    Good luck fixing Microsoft problems for free.

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