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how to fix my window exe icon is blank

Open lozn00 opened this issue 5 months ago • 8 comments

Image I tried countless ways to fix the registry, but deleting icon.db didn't work. I used a third-party file manager and found that the problem still persists.

How can I fix the issue where my Windows computer cannot display the exe icon properly, resulting in a blank display. As shown in the figure, it is not lnk, it is exe that cannot be displayed. On the contrary, if it is lnk, some exes can be displayed normally. I don't understand the reason for this

lozn00 avatar Aug 08 '25 13:08 lozn00

Image

lozn00 avatar Aug 08 '25 13:08 lozn00

I tried countless ways to fix the registry, but deleting icon.db didn't work. I used a third-party file manager and found that the problem still persists.

I should first point out, that this issue likely has nothing to do with ExplorerPlusPlus. What you're describing is a classic and frustrating Windows issue.

At this point it is fairly impossible to determine what you or one of your programs did, that caused this... but I will provide you with a set of instructions to get this issue sorted out. Even though it's not related to ExplorerPlusPlus.

AgentSam avatar Aug 09 '25 07:08 AgentSam

How can I fix the issue where my Windows computer cannot display the exe icon properly, resulting in a blank display. As shown in the figure, it is not lnk, it is exe that cannot be displayed. On the contrary, if it is lnk, some exes can be displayed normally. I don't understand the reason for this

INTRO

Right. The problem you're describing, where .exe files show a "blank icon" but their corresponding .lnk shortcuts sometimes show the correct one, points directly to a corrupted "file type association" for .exe files in the Windows Registry.

Essentially, Windows has forgotten what a .exe file is supposed to look like. The system doesn't know to look inside the executable file for its own icon.

NOTE: The reason why shortcuts (.lnk files) can sometimes work is that -- a shortcut can have its own icon path embedded within it, separate from the target file.

We will fix this by correcting the registry, and if that fails, we'll move on to more general system file repairs.

AgentSam avatar Aug 09 '25 07:08 AgentSam

Troubleshooting Steps

Please follow these steps in order. Method 1 is the most likely to solve your problem.

Method 1: Fix the .exe File Association in the Registry (Highest Chance of Success)

This method directly targets the most probable cause. We will use a small registry script to restore the default settings for executable files.

  1. Open Notepad: Press the Win + R keys, type notepad, and press Enter.

  2. Copy and Paste: Copy the entire block of code below and paste it into the blank Notepad file.

    Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[-HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FileExts\.exe]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe]
@="exefile"
"Content Type"="application/x-msdownload"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.exe\PersistentHandler]
@="{098f2470-bae0-11cd-b579-08002b30bfeb}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile]
@="Application"
"EditFlags"=hex:38,07,00,00
"FriendlyTypeName"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,\
  00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,\
  32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,\
  00,2c,00,2d,00,31,00,30,00,31,00,35,00,36,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\DefaultIcon]
@="%1"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open]
"EditFlags"=hex:00,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\open\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"
"IsolatedCommand"="\"%1\" %*"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runas]
"HasLUAShield"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shell\runas\command]
@="\"%1\" %*"
"IsolatedCommand"="\"%1\" %*"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]
@="Compatibility"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\Compatibility]
@="{1d27f880-e1d1-4a6e-9400-6c4c44c0aa0f}"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\shellex\DropHandler]
@="{86C86720-42A0-1069-A2E8-08002B30309D}"

  3. Save the File:

    • In Notepad, click File > Save As....
    • Change the Save as type dropdown to All Files (*.*).
    • Name the file FixExeIcons.reg and save it to your Desktop.

  4. Run the File:

    • Close Notepad.
    • Find the FixExeIcons.reg file on your Desktop and double-click it.
    • You will see security prompts from the User Account Control (UAC) and the Registry Editor. Click Yes and OK to allow the changes.

  5. Reboot Your Computer: This step is crucial. After the computer restarts, check if your .exe icons have been restored.

What this does: The most important line in this script is @="%1" under the [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\exefile\DefaultIcon] key. This tells Windows that for any file of type exefile, it should use the icon resource embedded within that specific file (%1) as its icon. Your current registry setting is likely missing or pointing to the wrong value.

AgentSam avatar Aug 09 '25 07:08 AgentSam

Method 2: Force a Rebuild of the Icon Cache

NOTE: Don't try this, if the previous method solved the problem!

You mentioned deleting icon.db, but we can try a more thorough, command-line method to ensure it's done correctly.

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator: Click the Start button, type cmd, right-click on Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.
  2. Run the following commands one by one, pressing Enter after each one:

    • First, we navigate to the hidden local app data folder where the cache is stored.

      cd %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

    • Next, we forcefully stop the Windows Explorer process. Your desktop and taskbar will disappear. This is normal.

      taskkill /f /im explorer.exe

    • Now, we delete all the icon cache database files.

      del iconcache*

    • Finally, we restart the Windows Explorer process.

      explorer.exe
  3. Your desktop and taskbar will reappear. Windows will now slowly rebuild the icon cache from scratch. It might take a few moments for all icons to reappear correctly.

AgentSam avatar Aug 09 '25 07:08 AgentSam

Method 3: Run System File Checker (SFC) and DISM

NOTE: Don't do this, if one of the the previous methods already solved the problem!

If the registry fix and icon cache rebuild don't work, it's possible some core Windows system files are corrupted. The SFC and DISM tools are designed to find and fix these issues.

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator again, as you did in Method 2.

  2. Run the SFC scan: This will scan protected system files and replace corrupted versions.

    sfc /scannow

    This process can take some time. Let it finish completely.

  3. Run the DISM tool: After the SFC scan is done, run DISM. This tool repairs the underlying system image that SFC uses for its repairs.

    DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

    This can also take a significant amount of time.

  4. Reboot Your Computer: After both scans are complete, restart your PC and check if the issue is resolved.

AgentSam avatar Aug 09 '25 07:08 AgentSam

Summary

The issue you're facing is almost certainly due to a corrupted file association in the Windows Registry. The provided .reg file in Method 1 is specifically designed to fix this and is the most direct solution. If that fails, performing a forced icon cache rebuild and running system integrity checks (SFC and DISM) are excellent next steps to resolve deeper system-level corruption.

Outro

I hope one of these solutions works for you. Good luck!

AgentSam avatar Aug 09 '25 07:08 AgentSam

thank you @AgentSam i use the article solution my problem https://www.jianshu.com/p/416ee020d8d7

lozn00 avatar Sep 15 '25 08:09 lozn00