User Guide

FileSkin changes the icons Windows uses to show your file types (.zip, .mp4, .docx…), and restores the originals whenever you want.

How it works. Windows keeps a record in the registry of which icon belongs to each file type. FileSkin writes the icon you choose there and saves the previous setting, so it can always restore it.

• No administrator rights are needed. Changes are saved in your own part of the registry (HKEY_CURRENT_USER).
• It only affects your Windows user. Other accounts on the same PC keep seeing the icons they always had.
• It does not change which program opens each file. A .zip still opens with the same app; only its icon changes.
• It installs nothing into Explorer and leaves no processes running. When you close FileSkin, nothing stays behind.

Why icons are changed "per file type" and not per extension

Many apps use a single file type for several extensions. 7-Zip, for example, usually registers .7z, .rar, and .zip under one type with one icon. That's why, in FileSkin:

• Each row represents a file type and shows every extension that shares it.
• Changing the icon for that row changes it for all of those extensions at once.

Other apps (Access, for instance) register a separate type for each extension. There, you will see one row per extension, and you can give each one a different icon.

The window has no title bar: drag it from any free area (the background, logo or text) to move it, and drag the edges to resize it. ?, minimize, maximize and close are in the top-right corner.

Row labels

• Custom (grey with red text): you changed that icon and it is currently applied.
• Missing (pink with red text): you changed that icon, but it is no longer showing. Hover over the label to find out why — see Missing icons.

Row actions

Selecting a row reveals links underneath its description:

• From file… — choose an icon from your PC.
• From IconArchive… — look for an icon on the internet.
• Reapply — available when the icon is Missing because another app replaced it.
• Restore — available when the row is customized.

Two more shortcuts:

• Double-click a row to use From file…
• Select several rows at once with Ctrl (one by one) or Shift (a range), then use the buttons at the bottom (From file…, From IconArchive…, Restore). The same icon is applied to all of them.

From a file on your PC

1. Select the row and click From file… (or double-click the row).
2. Choose the file. These file types are accepted:

Then check the preview and confirm with Apply.

From IconArchive (internet)

1. Select the row and click From IconArchive…. A browser opens inside FileSkin at iconarchive.com, with a notice explaining these steps. If you tick Don't show again, the notice will not appear again. You can bring it back with Options → Show hidden messages.
2. Find the icon you like and open its page.
3. Click All Download Formats, then Download ICO. Only ICO downloads are accepted.
4. The browser closes automatically and the preview appears.

The browser toolbar has Back, Forward, Reload and Clear cache. Clear cache deletes the browsing data that FileSkin has stored.

Before applying any icon, FileSkin shows you how it will look:

• Sizes: 16, 24, 32, 48 and 96 px — the sizes Explorer uses for lists, details, medium icons and large icons.
• Backgrounds: light and dark, so you can check that the icon stands out in both Windows themes.
• Will be applied to: the extensions that will be changed.
• Warnings, when applicable:
  • No small sizes: the icon may look blurry in lists and bars.
  • No large sizes: the icon may look pixelated in large-icon views.
  • The image was converted into an icon: shown when you chose a PNG, JPG, JPEG or BMP.

Click Apply to confirm, or Cancel to leave everything as it was.

• One row: select it and click Restore.
• Several rows: select them with Ctrl or Shift, then use the Restore button at the bottom.
• Everything at once: Options → Restore all…

Which icon does it restore?

Always the one that was there before you first used FileSkin on that file type, even if afterwards:

• you changed the icon several times,
• another app replaced it,
• or you reapplied it.

An example:

1. .zip had the 7-Zip icon (A).
2. You change it to your icon (B).
3. You update 7-Zip, and the installer replaces it with its new icon (C).
4. You reapply B, or choose another icon (D).
5. Restore → back to A.

A row is marked as Missing in two cases:

When FileSkin starts, if it detects replaced icons, it asks whether you want to reapply them all. If you answer No, they stay marked as Missing so you can decide what to do with each row individually.

Export

1. Options → Export…
2. Choose where to save the file. The suggested name is FileSkin-YYYY-MM-DD.fileskin.

The .fileskin file contains:

• copies of your icons (.ico files and converted images);
• the file types and extensions they were applied to;
• icons taken from an .exe or .dll, but only as a path: the program itself is not included in the file.

Icons whose source file no longer exists are not exported.

Import

1. Options → Import… and choose the .fileskin file.
2. Confirm.
3. FileSkin determines, on this PC, which file type each extension uses and applies the icon to it. At the end, it shows a summary of what was imported and what was skipped.

Reasons an icon is skipped:

• No app assigned on this machine: no app on this PC opens those extensions.
• Icon file not found: the icon came from a program that is not installed on this PC, for example.

Your custom icons do not disappear when you uninstall FileSkin, because they are written into the Windows registry. If you want to leave Windows exactly as it was, do this before uninstalling:

1. (Optional) Keep a copy. Options → Export…, in case you ever want your icons back.
2. Restore everything. Options → Restore all… and confirm.
3. Check that nothing is left. Close Options and check that turning on Only customized shows an empty list. If any are left (because one failed, for instance), select it and press Restore.
4. Refresh the icons. Options → Refresh icon cache.
5. Close FileSkin and uninstall it.
6. (Optional) Delete the data folder, if the uninstaller did not: %LOCALAPPDATA%\FileSkin.

That's it: your file types are restored to exactly how they were before you used FileSkin.

The changes stay active, because Windows reads the icons from the registry, not from FileSkin. What you see afterwards depends on what the uninstaller deleted and on which kind of icon you used:

In no case does opening files break: each type still opens with the program it always did. Only the icon is affected.

How to get the originals back after uninstalling

Install FileSkin again.

If the %LOCALAPPDATA%\FileSkin folder still exists, reinstalling FileSkin restores its knowledge of the previous icons because backups.json is still there.

1. Install and open FileSkin with the same Windows user.
2. Options → Restore all…
3. Options → Refresh icon cache.
4. Uninstall following section 9.

I changed the icon, but Explorer still shows the old one.

Windows keeps icons in a cache.

1. Use Options → Refresh icon cache.
2. If that is not enough, sign out of Windows and back in, or restart the PC.

I changed one extension, and others changed too.

That is normal: those extensions share the same file type in the app that opens them — see section 1.

An extension does not appear in the list.

FileSkin shows extensions that have an app assigned. If an extension has no default program, assign one in Windows first (right-click a file → Open with → Choose another app → tick Always use this app). Then open FileSkin again.

An icon stopped showing after I updated a program.

The installer rewrote the icon. Open FileSkin: it will offer to Reapply it, or you will see the row marked as Missing.

Some files still show a different image instead of the icon.

• In medium and large icon views, Explorer shows thumbnails for images, videos or documents that have a preview. In List and Details views, you will see the file type's icon.
• Some types, such as programs and shortcuts, have an image determined by the file itself and are not affected by the file type's icon.

Does it affect other users of the PC?

No. The changes apply only to your Windows user.

What if I change the default app for an extension?

Windows uses the new app's file type, which has its own icon. Your customization remains saved for the previous type; if you switch back to the previous app, its customized icon appears again.

Can I use FileSkin on several PCs with the same icons?

Yes: Export on one PC and Import on the other — see section 8.

If you enjoy using FileSkin and would like to support its continued development, you can make a donation via PayPal by scanning the QR code below.

Thank you for helping keep FileSkin improving.