Do you want to use the new icons for Windows 10 now? + Tips and Tricks

Microsoft last week released a new set of icons for Windows 10. They are part of the big visual refresh the company is rolling out for the fall update, Windows 10 21H2. Do you want to use them now?

Microsoft continues to expand the use of the language Fluent Desing to a greater number of components and parts of the Windows 10 interface. The objective is to overcome the inconsistencies that from its very conception have weighed down its general design and user experience. The company has been implementing Fluent Desing since 2017. although it has already advanced that it would take “years” to cover the entire operating system.

Known in its development as Project NEON, the language is based on five basic pillars: lightness, depth, movement, material and scale, and was created to improve and unify the appearance of the operating system, the applications dedicated to the system, the universal UWP, and in general all the visual sections. The language applies new colors, materials and finishes and we have seen it in different areas of the system, in the interface, the taskbar, the start menu or applications such as the new Edge browser.

We have also seen it in the icons. Microsoft already published a first major renovation a year ago with designs that said goodbye to flat designs and muted colors and bet on a design that showed the possibilities of language in depth, gradations, vibrant colors and movement. We saw it mainly in the universal apps Mail and Calendar, Calculator, Groove Music, Movies and TV or Alarms and Clock.

New icons for Windows

Along the same lines, Microsoft has created another set where the greatest interest resides in those shown in the file explorer, control panel and desktop items. It includes system folders, disks, and some custom buttons like the new icon for the recycle bin. Offered in various styles, they match the dark theme best and are undoubtedly more attractive than the current ones, in graphics and in the new Segoe font.

Microsoft has released them in the latest version for Insiders, Build 21343, and they are expected to be generally available in the stable update 21H2 next fall. But what if a user wants to try them now without having to use the beta version or be an Insiders?

Multiple users have downloaded the new icon set and posted it for community use. They are not automatically integrated as in the Insiders version, but they can be installed manually to view them in current versions of Windows 10 and actually in any version of Windows.

How to use them

If you are interested, the procedure is as follows:

• Download this compressed ZIP file.
• Unzip the downloaded file “new_icons_21343.zip” on your storage drive.
• You will see two folders, “imageres” and “shell”. They have an .ico extension and each one corresponds to an icon. You can put them all together in a single folder if it is more comfortable for you.
• To install them, right-click on any user folder whose icon you want to change. For example, the one corresponding to “Downloads” usually located in the path “C: users your name.

• Click Customize> Change Icon.

• Click on browse and assign the icon that interests you, in this case “imageres-176.ico” is the new Microsoft icon for this folder.

There are a lot of them. For example, those corresponding to the predefined folders of the explorer correspond to the following files:

• Desk: imageres-175.ico
• Documents: shell32-127.ico
• Song: shell32-129.ico
• Images: shell32-128.ico
• Video: shell32-130.ico

Obviously, the ideal would be to use the Insiders Build 21343 trial version to see them integrated, but this manual method allows them to be used with any version of Windows.

As a curious (and negative) note is that the new icons already do not offer a preview of the content of a folder when using a flat structure. A loss of functionality that some users will like less. In return, they are much more attractive.