Almost all of the files and programs on your Windows system will have their icons. As you probably know, these icons allow you to quickly recognize applications, file types, and settings on your Windows system. Usually, Windows stores all icons to render them faster without grabbing the target program’s icon every time. While it’s useful, the icon cache can sometimes get corrupted, resulting in corrupted icons for some apps and settings. In those cases, rebuilding the icon cache can help. Here’s how to restore cache I child in Windows 7, 8, and 10.
Restore Icon Cache in Windows 7
In Windows 7, the system stores a database of all icons in a single file called “IconCache.db”. By deleting this file, Windows will automatically re-create the icon cache.
To get started, press “Win + R”, enter the path to follow while replacing “Username” with your actual username, and hit the Enter button.
C: Users Username AppData Local
The icon cache file is hidden by default; You need to unhide it before deleting it. To do that, choose the “Folder Options” option from the “Tools” menu.
Once the Folder Options window is open, navigate to the “View” tab, select the option “Show hidden files, folders and drives”, then click the “Ok” button to save the changes.
This action will display the file “IconCache.db”. Please select the file and delete it using the Delete key on your keyboard.
After deleting files, you need to restart Explorer to see the changes. To do that, open Task Manager, navigate to the tab “Processes”, right-click on “explorer.exe” and then select the option “End Process.”
Now, navigate to the Applications tab and click the “New Task” button.
Here in this window, enter “explorer.exe” and press the Enter button on your keyboard to start the new process. That’s all there is to do. You have rebuilt the corrupted icon cache in Windows 7.
Reconfigure Cache in Windows 8 and 10
Even though Windows 8 and 10 have the same “IconCache.db” file in the same location as Windows 7, deleting it won’t work. In Windows 8 and 10, there are several icon cache files located in a different area. Since there are many files to delete, we will use the Command Prompt approach to make things easier.
To get started, press “Win + X” and then choose the “Command Prompt” option from the options list. Once the Command Prompt has been opened, execute the below command to navigate to the Explorer folder. Of course, replace “username” with your actual username.
Cd C: Users Username AppData Local Microsoft Windows Explorer
Once you are here, you can use the dir command to see all the directory files.
Now, use the below command to delete all icon cache files in a single step.
Del iconcache *
The above action will delete all icon cache files. Now open Task Manager, navigate to the Processes tab, right-click on the “Windows Explorer” process, and select the option “Restart.”
This action will restart Explorer, and Windows will automatically restore the cache icon.
That’s all there is to do. Feel free to comment below, sharing your thoughts and experiences about using the above methods to rebuild the icon cache in Windows 7, 8, and 10.
