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How to add Windows App icon?
- How to add Windows App icon?
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How to add Windows App icon?
Delain > 2022-01-31 12:49
How can I add the icon for a Windows app using the app's icon?
I have MS To-Do and MS Recipe Keeper Pro in my QAP menu, but when adding them in, I did not see anyway to bring in the native icon.
For any other program, I could go to the Program location and have QAP extract it from the executable. That apparently isn't available for the "app" type programs.
Thanks in advance,
Delain -
RE: How to add Windows App icon?
dr Winchell > 2022-01-31 13:06
(2022-01-31 12:49)Delain Wrote: How can I add the icon for a Windows app using the app's icon?
I have MS To-Do and MS Recipe Keeper Pro in my QAP menu, but when adding them in, I did not see anyway to bring in the native icon.
For any other program, I could go to the Program location and have QAP extract it from the executable. That apparently isn't available for the "app" type programs.
Thanks in advance,
Delain
I tried to replicate your issue but when I try to install Ms To-Do from the Microsoft Store, I get an error message of "The thing you're looking for
isn't here". Go figure.
I can set the icon on the Message Options tab when adding a Windows Favorite of Ms Paint.
Best Regards, Dale -
RE: How to add Windows App icon?
Jean Lalonde > 2022-01-31 13:54
> For any other program, I could go to the Program location and have QAP extract it from the executable. That apparently isn't available for the "app" type programs.
This is true. Windows Apps are very different than "regular" applications and QAP support them as much as possible given these differences. These apps have no .exe or .dll file where we could retrieve an icon as we can do normally. If anyone find it, please let me know.
In the mean time, Delain, you could manually screen capture an image from the app and reduce it to 64x64 px and use it as icon under "Menu Options" tab. -
RE: How to add Windows App icon?
joeNOR > 2022-01-31 13:57
In Windows icons are stored in several places, inside DLL's, in a programs EXE's, in separate ICO's etc.
The icon for Ms To Do is not stored in the EXE (Todo.exe).
It is probably easier to use a custom icon than hunt down where those icons are stored.
(Unless someone knows the exact location).
Regards,
joeNOR -
RE: How to add Windows App icon?
Jean Lalonde > 2022-01-31 14:23
I see Windows Apps .exe files as a launcher for an Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps. And those I've check contained no icon. -
RE: How to add Windows App icon?
QAPLover > 2022-01-31 14:28
(2022-01-31 13:57)joeNOR Wrote: In Windows icons are stored in several places, inside DLL's, in a programs EXE's, in separate ICO's etc.
The icon for Ms To Do is not stored in the EXE (Todo.exe).
It is probably easier to use a custom icon than hunt down where those icons are stored.
(Unless someone knows the exact location).
Regards,
joeNOR
I use a program called Batch Icon Extractor which can extract icons from many types of files. You can find the program here:
http://www.rw-designer.com/batch-icon-extractor
Another really useful program that can create icons from a variety of file types is Quick Any2Ico. You can get it here:
https://www.carifred.com/quick_any2ico
NOTE: Quick Any2Ico has has some extra features that can be unlocked if you pay an activation fee. However, its free features can be used without activating it. -
RE: How to add Windows App icon?
Delain > 2022-01-31 14:37
Thank you for the attention to this and your suggestions.
I had a good hunch there was not a direct means of extracting the icon.
Delain -
RE: How to add Windows App icon?
joeNOR > 2022-01-31 14:40
.....and I use Mitec Icon Explorer to extract icons.
https://www.mitec.cz/iconex.html
@Delain:
So, there you have some tools if you want to go icon hunting!
-jN -
RE: How to add Windows App icon?
dr Winchell > 2022-01-31 14:59
I found this pretty good article which shows where Windows Apps are stored and how to access them:
Where Are Windows Store Apps Installed on Windows 11/10? https://www.minitool.com/news/where-are-...11-10.html
I didn't see the any icons though.
-dr -
RE: How to add Windows App icon?
Jean Lalonde > 2022-01-31 22:42
(2022-01-31 14:59)dr Winchell Wrote: I found this pretty good article which shows where Windows Apps are stored and how to access them:
Where Are Windows Store Apps Installed on Windows 11/10? https://www.minitool.com/news/where-are-...11-10.html
I didn't see the any icons though.
-dr
Interesting. This folder is very protected!
I also did not find icons in the .exe or .dll files I checked under this folder. However, I found nice PNG images of 64x64 pixels that can be used as icon file in QAP (no need to convert them). For example:
C:\Program Files\WindowsApps\Microsoft.WindowsCamera_2021.105.10.0_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe\Assets\CameraAppList.targetsize-64.png.
For safe use, I would recommend copying these files out of the protected folder, for example to the "icons" subfolder under QAP Settings folder. -
RE: How to add Windows App icon?
studeimus > 2023-12-05 19:24
Amazingly an explorer window with adnin privs (run as administrator) can't even get into c:\programfiles\windowsapps folder directly... and I'm buggered if I want to mess with its access restrictions.
Has anything new come of this situation in the last few years? Maybe MS has some new API in VS or something? I really don't want to have to mess with this, or create my own icons etc.
As an example, one of my QAP folders is for chat tools, with 9 entries, 5 of which ended up with generic icons, making it somewhat cumbersome to navigate. Some of those weren't even WindowsApps (from MS store). I think QAP could use some attention in this area.
Stu.