IconSwapperGui – Windows Shortcut & Folder Icon Changer

IconSwapperGui is a powerful Windows desktop application for changing shortcut and folder icons without navigating Windows' properties menus. It supports .lnk shortcuts, Steam .url files, and folder icons, making it ideal for customizing your Windows desktop experience.

A standout feature of IconSwapperGui is icon version management, allowing you to track, preview, and restore previously used icons for shortcuts and folders — making experimentation safe and fully reversible.

🚀 Features

🔄 Icon Swapper

• Multi-Location Support

  • Configure multiple shortcut and icon folder locations
  • Automatically loads all shortcuts and icons from configured directories
  • Drag folders or shortcut/icon files directly onto the relevant list to add locations without opening Settings

• Dual-Mode Icon Swapping

  • Shortcuts Tab: Change icons for .lnk and Steam .url shortcut files
  • Folders Tab: Change icons for Windows folders directly

• Icon Version History & Restore ⭐

  • Right-click any shortcut or folder to view current and previous icon versions
  • Preview all historical icons with timestamps
  • Instantly restore a previously used icon with one click
  • Safely experiment with icon styles without losing past versions

• Advanced Icon Search & Filtering

  • Real-time search bar to quickly find icons by name
  • Instant filtering across all loaded icon directories

• Auto-Refresh & File Watching

  • Automatically detects newly added shortcuts or icons while the app is running
  • No need to manually refresh — changes are detected in real-time

🔁 Icon Converter (PNG / JPG → ICO)

• Batch Image Conversion

  • Convert entire folders of images into Windows-compatible .ico files
  • Drag individual PNG/JPG files directly into the conversion queue

• Multi-Format Support

  • Supports .png, .jpg, and .jpeg image formats

• Crop and Fit Controls

  • Choose center crop, fit with transparent padding, or fill-and-crop before creating icons
  • Open the crop editor for a queued image to adjust zoom and horizontal/vertical focus
  • Creates multi-size ICO files for crisp Windows scaling

• Searchable Image List

  • Quickly locate specific images before conversion with built-in search
  • Remove individual images from the queue before converting

• Multiple Icon Directories

  • Configure multiple source folders for image conversion

• Flexible Output

  • Save converted ICO files beside the source images or choose a dedicated output folder

• Optional Image Cleanup

  • Automatically delete original images after successful conversion

• Quality Preservation

  • Maintains image quality during conversion process

🎨 Pixel Art Icon Editor

• Custom Canvas Size

  • Adjustable grid up to 512×512 pixels

• Background Customization

  • Choose any background color
  • Full transparency support for professional-looking icons

• Professional Drawing Tools

  • Color picker for precise brush color selection
  • Left-click to draw pixels
  • Right-click to erase pixels
  • Undo/Redo support

• Image Import

  • Import PNG, JPG, or ICO files into the canvas
  • Imported images become editable pixel layers and can be exported back to PNG + ICO
  • Large imports are scaled to an editor-friendly size so the canvas stays responsive

• Dynamic Zoom Control

  • Zoom in and out for precise pixel-level editing
  • Grid visualization for accurate pixel placement

• Export Functionality

  • Save your pixel art directly as .ico files
  • Ready to use immediately as Windows icons

🧹 Icon Normalizer

• Batch Cleanup Tool

  • Drop mixed PNG, JPG, JPEG, and ICO files into a queue
  • Normalize icon sets to consistent square sizing and output formats

• Output Controls

  • Choose 64, 128, 256, or 512 px output
  • Export PNG, ICO, or both
  • Choose fit, center crop, or fill-and-crop behavior

• Consistent Icon Libraries

  • Add transparent padding for clean alignment
  • Send normalized ICO files straight into your icon library workflow

📁 Folder Theme Designer

• Custom Folder Icons

  • Design themed folder icons with folder color, badge color, badge text, and label text
  • Live preview updates as you edit

• Reusable Exports

  • Export Windows-ready multi-size ICO files
  • Also saves the PNG source used for the icon

⚙️ Application Settings

Appearance

• Theme Selection

  • Light, Dark and Custom mode themes

• Custom Colours (custom mode enabled)

  • Accent Colour
  • Background
  • Surface
  • Primary Text
  • Secondary Text

Application

• Shortcut Locations

  • Add/remove multiple shortcut folder paths
    • The desktop path is a common one
  • Supports both .lnk and .url shortcuts

• Icon Locations

  • Configure multiple icon source directories
  • Automatically scans for .ico files

• Folder Shortcut Locations

  • Manage folders for folder icon swapping

• Converter Icons Locations

  • Configure image source folders for conversion
  • Optionally set a dedicated converter output folder

• Export Location

  • Set default save location for pixel art creations

General

• Auto-Update Settings

  • Toggle automatic update checks on startup
  • Manual update check available
  • One-click update installation

• Launch At Startup

  • Launch IconSwapperGui automatically with Windows

Notifications

• Sound Notifications
  • Toggle sound alerts for operations

Advanced

• Logging
  • Enable detailed logging for troubleshooting
  • Logs saved to application directory

🔄 Built-In Auto-Updater (Velopack)

• Seamless Automatic Updates

  • Checks for updates on startup (configurable)
  • Download and install updates without leaving the app

• GitHub Release Integration

  • Updates fetched directly from official GitHub releases
  • Secure and verified update process

• Manual Update Check

  • Check for updates anytime from Settings
  • Clear update status messages

• Delta Updates

  • Only downloads changed files for faster updates
  • Minimal bandwidth usage

🏁 Getting Started

Installation

1. Download the Installer

   • Visit the Releases page
   • Download IconSwapperGui-win-Setup.exe

2. Run the Installer

   • Double-click IconSwapperGui-win-Setup.exe
   • Follow the installation wizard
   • The app will be installed to your system

3. Launch IconSwapperGui

   • Use the Start Menu shortcut or desktop icon
   • The app will automatically check for updates on first launch

First-Time Setup

1. Configure Shortcut Locations

   • Open Settings > Application and add folders containing your shortcuts, or drag folders/files onto the Sources list
   • The desktop path is a common starting point

2. Configure Icon Locations

   • Add folders containing your custom .ico files, or drag an icon folder/file onto the Icon Library
   • IconSwapperGui will automatically scan these directories

3. Start Swapping Icons

   • Navigate to the Swapper sidebar tab
   • Select a shortcut from the left panel
   • Select an icon from the right panel
   • Click Swap

Additional Features

• Manage Icon History: Right-click any shortcut to view and restore previous icons
• Convert Images: Use the Converter tab to drag in PNG/JPG images, choose crop behavior, and create .ico files
• Create or Import Custom Icons: Use the Pixel Art Editor tab to design icons from scratch or import an existing PNG/JPG/ICO for editing
• Normalize Icon Sets: Use Icon Normalizer to clean up mixed icon folders into consistent PNG/ICO output
• Design Folder Themes: Use Folder Theme Designer to create matching folder icon variants

🔄 Updates

IconSwapperGui includes a built-in updater powered by Velopack. By default, the app checks for updates on startup. You can:

• Disable automatic checks in Settings > General
• Manually check for updates anytime in Settings > About
• Install updates with one click when available

💬 Feedback & Support

Your feedback is invaluable!
If you encounter bugs or have feature requests, please open an issue on the GitHub Issues page.

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome!
Please read the Contributing Guidelines before submitting a pull request.

📄 License

This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

🛠️ Built With

• .NET 10 - Modern cross-platform framework
• WPF - Windows Presentation Foundation for rich UI
• Velopack - Auto-update framework
• CommunityToolkit.Mvvm - MVVM architecture support

⭐ Show Your Support

If you find IconSwapperGui useful, please consider giving it a star on GitHub! It helps others discover the project and motivates continued development.