Control Panel Icons - Change or Restore in Windows 8

How to Change or Restore Default Control Panel Icons in Windows 8 and 8.1

information   Information
This tutorial will show you how to restore or change the default icons of items in the Control Panel (icons view) to any icon you like for all users in Windows 8, Windows RT, Windows 8.1, Windows RT 8.1.

You must be signed in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.


EXAMPLE: Control Panel Icons (large and small) in Windows 8
w8_control_panel.jpg
W8.1_Control_Panel.jpg


Here's How:

1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and press Enter.

2. If prompted by UAC, click/tap on Yes.

3. In Registry Editor, navigate to HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID, and continue to the "CLSID location" in the table below step 11 for the Control Panel icon that you want to change. (see screenshot below)
NOTE: For example, {D8559EB9-20C0-410E-BEDA-7ED416AECC2A}\DefaultIcon for the Windows Defender icon.
REG-1.jpg

4. If you have not already, you must first take ownership of the DefaultIcon key in the left pane, under the "CLSID location" of the icon you want to change, with the Administrators group instead of SYSTEM. (see screenshot below step 3 and below)
NOTE: You would use step 3 in Option Four in the take ownership link in this step for how.
Reg_Ownership.jpg

5. If you have not already, you must now set permissions to allow the Administrators group full control of the DefaultIcon key in the left pane under the "CLSID location" of the icon you want to change. (see screenshot below step 3 and below)
NOTE: You would use step 4 in Option Two in the permissions link in this step for how.
Reg_Permissions.jpg

6. In the right pane of the DefaultIcon key in Registry Editor, double click/tap on (Default) to modify it. (see screenshot below step 3)

7. Do step 8 or 9 below for what you would like to do.

8. To Change the Default Icon in the Control Panel
A) Type in the full path of the .ico (icon) file that you want to use within quotes, click/tap OK, and go to step 10 below. (see screenshot below)​
NOTE: If you move or change the location of this .ico file, then the icon will no longer work in the Control Panel until you repeat this step to change the path to the new location.​
Reg-Change.jpg

9. To Restore the Default Icon in the Control Panel
A) Copy and paste the default icon path in the table below step 11 of the icon you want to restore, click/tap OK, and go to step 10 below. (see screenshot below)​
NOTE: For example, %ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\EppManifest.dll,-100 for "Windows Defender".
Reg_restore.jpg

10. Repeat steps 3 to 7 if you would to change or restore another icon in the Control Panel.

11. When finished, close (if open) and open the Control Panel (icons view) to see your changes.


Control Panel Icon

Registry CLSID Location

Default Icon Path

Action Center

{BB64F8A7-BEE7-4E1A-AB8D-7D8273F7FDB6}

%SystemRoot%\System32\ActionCenterCPL.dll,-1

Administrative Tools

{D20EA4E1-3957-11d2-A40B-0C5020524153}

%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-114

AutoPlay

{9C60DE1E-E5FC-40f4-A487-460851A8D915}

%SystemRoot%\System32\autoplay.dll,-1

Biometric Devices

{0142e4d0-fb7a-11dc-ba4a-000ffe7ab428}

C:\Windows\System32\biocpl.dll,-1

BitLocker Drive Encryption

{D9EF8727-CAC2-4e60-809E-86F80A666C91}

%SystemRoot%\System32\fvecpl.dll,-1

Color Management

{B2C761C6-29BC-4f19-9251-E6195265BAF1}

C:\Windows\System32\colorcpl.exe,-5

Credential Manager

{1206F5F1-0569-412C-8FEC-3204630DFB70}

%SystemRoot%\system32\Vault.dll,-1

Date and Time

{E2E7934B-DCE5-43C4-9576-7FE4F75E7480}

%SystemRoot%\System32\timedate.cpl,-50

Default Programs

{17cd9488-1228-4b2f-88ce-4298e93e0966}

%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-24

Device Manager

{74246bfc-4c96-11d0-abef-0020af6b0b7a}

%SystemRoot%\system32\devmgr.dll,-201

Devices and Printers

{A8A91A66-3A7D-4424-8D24-04E180695C7A}

%systemroot%\system32\DeviceCenter.dll,-1

Display

{C555438B-3C23-4769-A71F-B6D3D9B6053A}

%SystemRoot%\System32\Display.dll,-1

Ease of Access Center

{D555645E-D4F8-4c29-A827-D93C859C4F2A}

%SystemRoot%\System32\accessibilitycpl.dll,-1

Family Safety

{96AE8D84-A250-4520-95A5-A47A7E3C548B}

%SystemRoot%\System32\wpccpl.dll,-1

File History

{F6B6E965-E9B2-444B-9286-10C9152EDBC5}

%SystemRoot%\System32\FileHistory.exe

Folder Options

{6DFD7C5C-2451-11d3-A299-00C04F8EF6AF}

%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-166

Fonts

{BD84B380-8CA2-1069-AB1D-08000948F534}

%SystemRoot%\System32\fontext.dll

HomeGroup

{67CA7650-96E6-4FDD-BB43-A8E774F73A57}

%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-1013

Indexing Options

{87D66A43-7B11-4A28-9811-C86EE395ACF7}

%SystemRoot%\System32\srchadmin.dll,-201

Infared

{A0275511-0E86-4ECA-97C2-ECD8F1221D08}

%SystemRoot%\System32\irprops.cpl,-129

Internet Options

{A3DD4F92-658A-410F-84FD-6FBBBEF2FFFE}

C:\Windows\System32\inetcpl.cpl,-4487

iSCSI Initiator

{A304259D-52B8-4526-8B1A-A1D6CECC8243}



iSNS Server

{0D2A3442-5181-4E3A-9BD4-83BD10AF3D76}



Keyboard

{725BE8F7-668E-4C7B-8F90-46BDB0936430}

%SystemRoot%\System32\main.cpl,-200

Language

{BF782CC9-5A52-4A17-806C-2A894FFEEAC5}

%SystemRoot%\System32\UserLanguagesCpl.dll,-1

Location Settings

{E9950154-C418-419e-A90A-20C5287AE24B}

%SystemRoot%\System32\SensorsCpl.dll,-1

Mouse

{6C8EEC18-8D75-41B2-A177-8831D59D2D50}

%SystemRoot%\System32\main.cpl,-100

MPIOConfiguration

{AB3BE6AA-7561-4838-AB77-ACF8427DF426}



Network and Sharing Center

{8E908FC9-BECC-40f6-915B-F4CA0E70D03D}

%SystemRoot%\System32\netcenter.dll,-1

Notification Area Icons

{05d7b0f4-2121-4eff-bf6b-ed3f69b894d9}

%SystemRoot%\System32\taskbarcpl.dll,-1

Pen and Touch

{F82DF8F7-8B9F-442E-A48C-818EA735FF9B}

%SystemRoot%\System32\tabletpc.cpl,-10201

Performance Information and Tools

{78F3955E-3B90-4184-BD14-5397C15F1EFC}

%SystemRoot%\System32\PerfCenterCPL.dll,-1

Personalization

{ED834ED6-4B5A-4bfe-8F11-A626DCB6A921}

%SystemRoot%\System32\themecpl.dll,-1

Phone and Modem

{40419485-C444-4567-851A-2DD7BFA1684D}

%SystemRoot%\System32\telephon.cpl,-100

Power Options

{025A5937-A6BE-4686-A844-36FE4BEC8B6D}

%SystemRoot%\System32\powercpl.dll,-1

Programs and Features

{7b81be6a-ce2b-4676-a29e-eb907a5126c5}

%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-87

Recovery

{9FE63AFD-59CF-4419-9775-ABCC3849F861}

%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-1022

Region

{62D8ED13-C9D0-4CE8-A914-47DD628FB1B0}

%SystemRoot%\System32\intl.cpl,-200

RemoteApp and Desktop Connections

{241D7C96-F8BF-4F85-B01F-E2B043341A4B}

C:\Windows\System32\tsworkspace.dll

Sound

{F2DDFC82-8F12-4CDD-B7DC-D4FE1425AA4D}

%SystemRoot%\System32\mmsys.cpl,-100

Speech Recognition

{58E3C745-D971-4081-9034-86E34B30836A}

%SystemRoot%\System32\Speech\SpeechUX\speechuxcpl.dll,-1

Storage Spaces

{F942C606-0914-47AB-BE56-1321B8035096}

C:\Windows\System32\SpaceControl.dll,-1

Sync Center

{9C73F5E5-7AE7-4E32-A8E8-8D23B85255BF}

%SystemRoot%\System32\SyncCenter.dll,-1000

System

{BB06C0E4-D293-4f75-8A90-CB05B6477EEE}

%SystemRoot%\System32\imageres.dll,-149

Tablet PC Settings

{80F3F1D5-FECA-45F3-BC32-752C152E456E}

%SystemRoot%\System32\tabletpc.cpl,-10200

Taskbar and Navigation

{0DF44EAA-FF21-4412-828E-260A8728E7F1}

%SystemRoot%\system32\imageres.dll,-80

Troubleshooting

{C58C4893-3BE0-4B45-ABB5-A63E4B8C8651}

%SystemRoot%\System32\DiagCpl.dll,-1

TSAppInstall

{BAA884F4-3432-48b8-AA72-9BF20EEF31D5}



User Accounts

{60632754-c523-4b62-b45c-4172da012619}

%SystemRoot%\System32\usercpl.dll,-1

Windows 7 File Recovery (Windows 8)

{B98A2BEA-7D42-4558-8BD1-832F41BAC6FD}

%SystemRoot%\System32\sdcpl.dll,-1

Windows Defender

{D8559EB9-20C0-410E-BEDA-7ED416AECC2A}

%ProgramFiles%\Windows Defender\EppManifest.dll,-100

Windows Firewall

{4026492F-2F69-46B8-B9BF-5654FC07E423}

C:\Windows\System32\FirewallControlPanel.dll,-1

Windows Mobility Center

{5ea4f148-308c-46d7-98a9-49041b1dd468}

%SystemRoot%\system32\mblctr.exe,0

Windows To Go

{8E0C279D-0BD1-43C3-9EBD-31C3DC5B8A77}

%SystemRoot%\System32\pwcreator.exe,-2001

Windows Update

{36eef7db-88ad-4e81-ad49-0e313f0c35f8}

%SystemRoot%\system32\wucltux.dll,-1

Work Folders

{ECDB0924-4208-451E-8EE0-373C0956DE16}

%SystemRoot%\System32\WorkfoldersControl.dll, 1


That's it,
Shawn


 

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