What to Do if Your Icons Are Not Displaying Correctly

This tip was written for Windows 10.

Marilyn wrote us with a very perplexing problem. Some of her folder icons were bordered in black. And we have noticed that this seems to happen to many Windows 10 users. Also, some Windows 10 users are reporting that other icons are not displaying correctly.  So, thanks to Marilyn, this tip is for everyone whose icons do not appear the way they should, either like Marilyn’s folder icons below, or when the icons for other shortcuts or programs are not displaying correctly.

Some of Marilyn’s folder icons were not displaying properly. You can see in the screenshot below, that some of her folder icons were bordered by a black box.

If your icons are not displaying correctly, here are two different solutions:

First Solution:

1.  Windows Key + R to bring up the Run box.
2,  In the Run box type CLEANMGR and press enter.
3.  In the Drive selection box that appears, select C:\ (should be pre-selected… see below):

Now click OK

Disk Cleanup will run for a  minute or two… then you’ll see a selection box. Make sure Thumbnails is selected:

Click “OK” to run clean up. You’ll get a warning “Are you sure you want to delete…” click “Yes”. After you do this, restart your PC and see if all the icons look normal… there’s a good chance they will. But if the black background behind some folders is still there… or if some icons are still not displaying correctly, try the alternate solution belo..

Alternate solution:

Download this file and save it to your PC. Unzip the file you downloaded and click on the batch (BAT) file that’s inside. This batch file (BAT) was created to completely clear and rebuild your icon cache. Once you’ve downloaded it and saved it, all you have to do is double-click to run it. If you get a prompt asking if you’re sure you want to run it, click “Yes”. This batch file will clear the icon cache and reset it.

(In Marilyn’s case, the first solution worked… it usually does.)