How to Change the Icon of Removable Drives: 11 Steps

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Does your USB flash drive have a boring, generic icon that you would like to change? Do you want the new icon to show on whatever computer you use, so registry editing is not an option? Using an Autorun file is your solution.

Steps

1. 1Create your icon, or find one online. A good size is 34 pixels square.
2. 2Open Notepad to create your Autorun file.Advertisement
3. 3Type [AutoRun] in the first line.
4. 4Name your drive in the second line: label=Name
5. 5Specify your icon in the third line: ICON=your-icon-file.ico. If you wanted to call your drive “My USB Drive” with an icon named “myusbdrive.ico”
6. 6Click File, then Save As. Change the file type to “All” and name it AUTORUN.inf
7. 7Your autorun.inf file would look like this:
   • [AutoRun]
     label=My USB Drive
     ICON=myusbdrive.ico
8. [AutoRun]
9. 8Keep in mind that the ICON name should match the name of the icon you wish to use.
10. 9Note:
    • Depending on the label you choose, and the location of your icon file, you may need to wrap the label and folder names in quotes (“) to handle long filenames.
    • It has been reported that on some systems your “.INF” file extension may need to be capitalized in order to work.
11. 10Ensure that both your autorun.inf and any .ico files are in the ROOT of your removable drive, instead of a folder, unless you have specified the correct folder for the icon in your .inf file.
12. 11Highlight both files. Right click and select properties, set files to “hidden” to hide files from view.

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Community Q&A

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• QuestionDoes my image have to be a .inf file?Community AnswerYour image cannot be a .inf file. Your image is saved as .ico.
• QuestionIs there any way to keep this icon even after the USB is formatted?ChemGeniusCommunity AnswerYes. You would have to temporarily move the autorun file and icon to another drive or computer before formatting.
• QuestionDoes this really work?Community AnswerYes, it does. Make sure the icon file you want to use is in the .ico file format and in the autorun.inf file; also, make sure you put “ICON” in all caps. Lastly, make sure everything is spelled correctly and there are no typos.

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Video

Tips

• You will need to remove the drive, then plug it back in to see the changes.⧼thumbs_response⧽
• This is a great way to get past the “11 Character Drive Name” restriction.⧼thumbs_response⧽
• If the AUTORUN.inf and icon files are an eyesore, you can hide them (right click, click Properties, check the “Hidden” box).⧼thumbs_response⧽

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Warnings

• This Autorun.inf file will not work on a drive where Autorun mode is turned off or where an antivirus program can rename or remove it (ex: Autorun.inf.ren).⧼thumbs_response⧽
• Ensure that the icon is saved in the root of the drive, with the autorun file.⧼thumbs_response⧽
• Make sure you save the autorun file as .inf instead of the default .txt.⧼thumbs_response⧽
• This does not work on floppy drives, because they have no Autorun feature.⧼thumbs_response⧽

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Things You’ll Need

• A removable drive
• An icon for your drive
• A text editor, such as Notepad/Notepad++

About This Article

In other languages

Italiano:Cambiare l’Icona di una Pendrive

Русский:изменить иконку съемного диска

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 358,485 times.

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