Icon Cache - Rebuild

How to Rebuild the Icon Cache in Vista​

   Information

If you have any icons that are not displaying correctly in Vista, then rebuilding the icon cache will reset them. This will show you how to delete the icon cache, to clear it, so Vista will rebuild it after a restart.

The icon cache is located at the hidden system folder location below:

C:\Users\User-Name\AppData\Local\IconCache.db

   Note

• This does not change the icons. It only clears the icon cache to get rid of any corruption and rebuilds the icon cache with the correct icons again.
• If this is for a internet URL icons (favicons), in IE7 Favorites for example, then you will need to delete the Temporary Internet Files to reset these icons instead. For how, see: How to Delete the Internet Explorer Browsing History in Vista

   Tip

If you only have problems with a particular file (file extension type) icon, then it may be a default association problem instead. The file extension will show the icon for the program that it is associated to. This happens when a program and file extenstion has lost their default associations with each other, or associated to a wrong program instead. To resolve this, either make sure that you have all of the default associations set for the program that the file extension is for, or make sure that you have the correct default program associated with the file extension type. For how to do this, see: How to Set Default Associations For a Program in Vista or How to Associate a Individual File Extension Type With a Program in Vista

OPTION ONE

Automatically Rebuild the Icon Cache

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1. Click on the download button below to download the file below.​

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Rebuild_Icon_Cache.bat​

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2. Save the file to your desktop, and run it.​

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3. Click/tap on Run when prompted.​

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4. Follow the instructions in the command prompt to rebuild the Icon Cache.​

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5. Restart your computer to generate a new IconCache.db file.​

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6. If the icons are still not displaying properly, then download and merge the ICO option in this tutorial to restore the default associations of .ico (icon) files.​

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OPTION TWO

To Manually Rebuild the Icon Cache using the Command Prompt

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1. Close and save anything that you are working on. This command will kill explorer and restart the computer when completed.​

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2. Open the Start Menu, and type cmd in the search box and press enter.​

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3. In the command prompt, Copy and Paste each command line below and press enter after each command.​

WARNING: The last command will restart the computer, so be sure to close and save anything that you are working on first.​

• taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F
• DEL "%localappdata%\IconCache.db" /A
• shutdown /r /f /t 00

4. The IconCache.db file has now been rebuilt.​

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5. If the icons are still not displaying properly, then download and merge the ICO option in this tutorial to restore the default associations of .ico (icon) files.​

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That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Change the Icon Cache Size in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to See and Flush the Contents of the DNS Resolver Cache in Vista
• How to Clear the Thumbnail Cache in Vista
• How to Clear Vista Temporary Files in the Temp Folder
• How to Delete the Internet Explorer Browsing History in Vista
• How to Fix a Personal User Shell Folder Displayed as a Standard Yellow Folder Icon in Vista
• How to Enable or Disable Clear Virtual Memory Paging File at Shutdown in Vista
• How to Change a File Extension Type Icon in Vista
• How to Reset the Favorites Favicon Icons in Vista

 

[Brink]

Hi Jeff,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

Deleting the IconCache.db file will only delete the icons loaded in the cache and not the actual icons for the file. It should reload the icons into the cache as you run across them in Windows Explorer. If you have a lot of AVI files in that folder, then it might take a bit to load them all since video file are usually large.

You might also check to make sure that Windows Media Player has all of it's default associations set to it, including the AVI file types. This tutorial will show you how to if needed.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/83196-default-programs-program-default-associations.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Brink]

Jeff,

In addition:

This is if you only wanted icons to show and not thumbnails for your AVI files. If you wanted thumbnails, then see the links below to turn them on and reset them.

1. http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/73720-thumbnail-cache.html

and

2. http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/73715-thumbnails-windows-explorer.html

Shawn

 

[Łukash]

Hi guys!i don't know if it's a good place for this problem(i'm from Poland and my eanglish is basic)...it's loos like this->

i try to fix this with: create a new shortcut,TuneUp Utilities,delete IconCache,fix .ico from here->File association fixes for Windows Vista
change colour for 16/32bit,and its stiil looks the same,only shortcut for .exe are brooken.It was happened after i install GoogleEarth(i unninstall GooE but icons still are broken,do not wont to refresh).Does enybody have any idea.I hope somebody understand me :-)
Greets

 

[Brink]

Hi Łukash,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

If you create a new shortcut directly from the .exe file, does it display and work properly? If so, then just create new shortcuts and delete the old ones.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Łukash]

Hi Łukash,

Welcome to Vista Forums.

If you create a new shortcut directly from the .exe file, does it display and work properly? If so, then just create new shortcuts and delete the old ones.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

Hi !Its a great forum and looks very good,btw i try to do that,i try to change icons in properties too,but nothing happens,i thing nothing can do that ,meyby some application for edit icons or...i dont know...

 

[Brink]

Since it just happened recently, you should be able to so a System Restore using a restore point dated before the problem happened. This tutorial will show you how to if needed.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/76905-system-restore-how.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Łukash]

I do big mistake and i turn off System restore,no system restore point.

 

[Brink]

Ooops. Well, you can always do a Repair (upgrade) install to hopefully fix it.

http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/88236-repair-install-vista.html

Shawn

 

[Łukash]

Ok,thanks i try that.

 

[Godly Llama]

Um. I did the thing for the link you provided about exes. I tested it, but it didn't fix the problem. Do you have any idea on how to fix it?

 

[Brink]

Hello Godly Llame, and welcome to Vista Forums.

That is only if you had a problem with the EXE files opening as something else other than what they should be or not at all.

Could you post back more details on what problem you are having?

Shawn

 

[Marko1]

I tried the second method, but it doesen't work for me And I cant do the first one because - I DONT HAVE Iconcache.db FILE!!! HOW??? Please help me out?? I've attached snapshot of desktop. And I replaced icon for MSN with some icon from Windows because it was most like the real icon. And the file named Pi was blank from forever.

 

[Brink]

Hello Marko, and welcome to Vista Forums.

You may not have done step 1 in METHOD ONE to unhide the system files to see it.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

P.S.
You should post this at our sister site Windows 7 Forums instead though since this is for Windows 7 instead of Vista for the best help with it.

 

[Marko1]

Hey, I now did the first way correctly, infact I did it 3 times lol, but it still doesent work I first (after doing correctly the method one, thanks) saw two iconcache files: iconcache(without .db) and other file named iconcache.db_17 (???). So I deleted iconcache.db_17 and reboteed and it didnt work, but then i remembered i didnt empyet the recycle bin haha, and then i emptyed it and rebooted again, but still didnt work, then i remembered i didnt deleted iconcache file, so i deleted it with Shift+del combination, and then rebooted and still didnt work, then i went again to ...\appdata\local and then i saw normal iconcache.db file and deleted it with Shift+del combination and then reboteed, but it still didnt work. And, that isn't real Windows 7, thats just theme pack i made :D isn't it good? and im just 13... lol anyway, what should i do now? Before, there was Safari icon missing also, but then I repaired it with its setup (it had option repair), so do you think it could work for other programs?

 

[Brink]

Maybe, but you might see if creating new shortcuts directly from the program's exe files may work first though.

 

[Marko1]

I've also tried that, when I go on the right click on the icon--->properties--->change icon it says:
"Windows cannot find the file
%SystemRoot%\Installer\{5...\googleearth.exe1_407B5CDAC54F44A756B57CaB4E6A8B.exe." and then it takes me to pick an icon from Shell32.dll. Is that it? I know it isn't replacing from exe file, but since in the error says "exe" I think it means it tries that immideatlley?

 

[Brink]

Na, you would most likely need to go directly to the C:\Program Files folder that has the programs's exe file and right click on the exe file and click on Send to - Desktop (create shortcut) to create a new shortcut from it instead.

 

[Marko1]

Thanks man, you're the best! Now it's ok, but the icons for documents of Microsoft Office 2007 are missing, how do I fix that?

 

[Brink]

Mark,

I'm happy to hear it's going good so far. You might see if making sure that the different Office applications are set as the default programs with all of their association may help. If not, then reinstalling Office to repair the installation may do it.

 

[Marko1]

The Microsoft Office Word 2007 doesn't show himself at the list, what do I do? Do I have to reinstall the office?