How to create icons for Windows 10

If you want to replace icons for certain apps or files on your system, it’s pretty easy to do. You might have trouble finding the right icon though and a simple ICO file may not do the trick. If you do not have the technical skills needed to create icons for Windows 10, you’re not necessarily out of options. If you have a PNG file, or even a JPG, you can convert it into an icon file that will work on Windows 10.

PNG vs JPG

Although you can convert either a PNG or JPG file to an ICO file with this method, there will still be one major difference between the icon file that you get. The difference stems from the difference between the PNG and JPG file formats. PNG files support transparency whereas JPG and JPEG files do not. This means that icons created from a JPEG file be ‘filled’ in.

Take the example of the Chrome icon. It isn’t a perfect square. If you have this icon in JPG format, there will be a solid white box around. When you convert it to an icon for Windows 10, the white will still be visible. If, however, you have the Chrome icon in PNG format and it is transparent, the icon too will have transparency.

Create icons

There are tons of tools for creating icons from PNG and JPG/JPEG images but we recommend using IcoConvert. It can resize images as well as apply a shape style. We strongly recommend that you use an image that is a square or it will be stretched or squished. If you’re downloading images to use, make sure that they aren’t copy right protected.

Once you have the image, visit IcoConvert and upload it. You can skip steps 2 and 3 and scroll down straight to step 4.

Make sure that the ‘ICO for Windows 7, Windows 8, Vista and XP’ option is selected. It will save you the time spent on selecting a size for the image. Click Convert ICO and the image will be converted to an icon. Click the download button and save the file to your desktop.

The icon files will work perfectly for Windows 10 even though the app doesn’t say so. The icon will work for all icon sizes that are required on Windows 10 however, the quality will depend on the original file that you uploaded. If you uploaded a file that is 8×8 in size, it isn’t going to look right if you use it for a Start menu tile.

Read Full Bio

Fatima Wahab

Fatima has been writing for AddictiveTips for six years. She began as a junior writer and has been working as the Editor in Chief since 2014. Fatima gets an adrenaline rush from figuring out how technology works, and how to manipulate it. A well-designed app, something that solves a common everyday problem and looks

Latest from Author

How To Move All Off-Screen Windows To Your Main Screen How to make sticks in Minecraft