How to Make a Desktop Icon

Level of difficulty: Easy

The design of a computer has been more and more editable these days. Even desktop icons can already be changed and personalized. There are a lot of desktop icons available for free all over the Internet. If nothing satisfies the palette, there is also the option to make one.

Materials Needed:
- Photo editing software that can make an ICO file
- system requirements of photo editing software
Step 1
Like any other task, there is a specific program to make a computer icon. Execute the Web browser and go to your favorite search engine. Type in the following keywords: 'desktop icon creating software' or choose something similar. Choose a software application from the generated results. If a photo editing program or software is already installed to the computer, consider checking the Internet for an existing plug-in that might allow the photo editing software to create ICO files.
Step 2
Download and install the software (or the plug-in) to the system. If the downloaded file is a plug-in for a photo editing software, make sure that the file is in the proper folder in order for the software to be able to access and use the plug-in.
Step 3
The system may have to be rebooted in order to execute the newly installed program or plug-in.
Step 4
Execute the software. Use it as instructed. Design icons through the software.
Step 5
Make sure that the background of each icon is transparent. This is important if the desire is to be able to use the icon in different background settings. An icon with an opaque background will appear as a square and it will maintain its background color. This means that it would not be able to blend with a desktop background color different from its own background.
Step 6
Save the desktop icons to a folder in the hard drive. Close the program.
Step 7
Right click on the desktop icon you desire to change. Note that not all desktop icons can be changed. The My Computer, Recycle Bin, Folders, and shortcut icons can be changed but program icons cannot be changed.
Step 8
In the menu, choose 'Properties'. Click the 'Change Icon' button. If the icon is a shortcut, go to the shortcut tab and click the 'Change Icon' button.
Step 9
Click 'browse'. Go to the folder where the newly created icon files have been saved. Choose one of the created icons that should be used by that program. The icon should be changed to the personalized one.