0

In Win7, one could give a desktop shortcut to a URL (website) any image one wanted, but that seems not to be the case in Win10. It forces the same image, in this instance the Firefox icon, for all URL shortcuts. Can this be changed? Thank you.

0

8 Answers 8

0

I tried this on Win10. Works. Created a Facebook shortcut, pasting in the URL. Got the standard browser icon first. Then I did a right click on the icon, checked "Properties". Looked for "Change icon". The system has icons. OR, you can go to a web site and create your own from anything. https://icoconvert.com/ This will take items and turn them into .ico formats so you can use anything you wish to make a suitable icon instead of boring stuff. Save your icons in a selected folder for handy reference. The site allows an upload of your pic, then download to your folder. Simple. I've used this many times without difficulty. Running latest version of Win10 (2004).

1
  • That works for ordinary shortcuts, but NOT for URLs. The "Properties" dialogue window does NOT have the "change icon" feature that appears normally. Note: when using Firefox Developer Edition, it works as I have described it. If I change the default browser to Win10's choice/suggestion, the properties window does offer the icon change option, as you describe it. The truly bizarre aspect of this is that BOTH browsers are the same one. There are circumstances at work here that defy understanding, and fairness demands that the question be marked as answered. But not understood... Jun 13, 2020 at 21:01
1

If you have the website pulled up, click on the three dots in the upper righthand corner of the page, click on "More Tools" and one of the choices will be "Create Shortcut." I found this to work to change my desktop icons to match the actual website and not the browser (Chrome) icon.

1

This is the Answer/Solution to the OP's specific question:

Windows sees the file as a "URL File (.URL)" and not a "Internet shortcut (.URL)" file.

You need to change the default app for the shortcut from "Firefox" to "Internet Browser"

"Settings > Apps > Default Apps > scroll down and select "Choose default apps by file types" >
Scroll down to .URL

If you want the icon to be from the site you are linking to then click on the Firefox (or whatever browser you have) to the right and select "Internet Browser" instead. Firefox will still be your default browser but windows will handle the link differently now.

And if you want to create a custom icon for the link you now have that option in the files "properties"

Windows Default app setting

0

When you save the file as HTML then the icon of the shortcut is the icon of your default browser. When you pin a page to your taskbar, I think the icon is the favicon of the website. So you can open the code of the site and change the icon there.

When you create a shortcut with New -> Shortcut from the context menu. Then you get an link-file (Internet shortcut .url). That icon you can change: Open the properties (context menu) and go to the tab Web Document and then click on the Button Change Icon ... with Browse you can use every icon / exe you want to show the icon.

1
  • That works, as it did in Win7, for ordinary shortcuts. Win10 appears to treat URL shortcuts very differently. The properties of the shortcut do NOT include the icon change option. Also, one cannot change the coding of a website on a remote server. May 27, 2020 at 10:55
0

Try this. create a link to the program "chrome" and within the properties you choose a URL. https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/64168-change-icon-shortcut-windows-10-a.html

1
  • Hi, instead of linking another article, please try to synthesize what the gist of that text in a series of concise steps. :)
    – Joseph
    Feb 15, 2021 at 15:07
0

I did the following to overcome this problem: I saved all the url files in one folder, and for each url file I made a shortcut on my desktop. And from a shortcut, the icon can be changed easily from the properties dialog. Advantage: I have all url files neatly stored in one folder, and I have the icons I want on my desktop.

0

In Windows 10 I just create a normal shortcut and use Command Line Options (CLI) the browser offer.

Example for Firefox, I create a new shortcut with this :
"%ProgramFiles%\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe" -new-tab https://google.com

Which correctly open a new-tab to google.com if Firefox is already open or open the browser.

Since the created shortcut is a standard .ink shortcut and NOT a .url it offer a 'Change icon' button.

All CLI Parameters for Firefox can be found here : https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Mozilla/Command_Line_Options?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=Command_Line_Options

0

Ok, I fiddled around for a little bit and the jpg to ico converter tool mentioned above is the best bet, if you are looking for a manual solution you can:

use an image-->open it with paint-->Save as "__".ico (BMP 24 format)-->Find it in your File explorer-->Right Click it-->Copy Full Pathway-->Right click the Icon needing changed--> Go to Properties-->Web Document Tab-->Change Icon-->Delete the link next to browse-->Paste your Link-->Browse-->Use your File.

If I stumble on ways to improve resolution, I will return for an edit.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .