Website desktop shortcut icons appear as blank white
My desktop shortcuts are plain white and do not show the correct icon which most websites provide. The shortcuts have been produced by dragging the (typical) Globe icon from the address bar whilst using Firefox. Icons produced the same way whilst using IE do show the icons correctly. I have tried the following: Ensure that FireFox is the default browser. Right click shortcut and try "Change Icon" but the only icons listed are generic MS ones. Delete iconcache.db FireFox / Options / Content / Advanced / Allow pages to choose their own fonts YES Reset FireFox to default, and then checked all of the above again. Changed screen resolution from default then back to default. Re-named GDIPFONTCACHEV1.DAT which was automatically replaced by iconcache.db by the system. OS is MS Windows 7 Professional. Any suggestions would be gratefully received. Inbetween each check I have closed FireFox, re-booted and re-opened FireFox.
All Replies (12)
Right click an icon and select Properties Under General, select Open With. Pick Firefox.
Thank you for your solution Fred. If I right click an icon, select Properties, General, there is no option to "Open With".
Internet shortcuts on the desktop use the default browser, so make sure that Firefox is set correctly as the default browser.
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/how-make-web-links-open-firefox-default
- https://support.mozilla.org/kb/setting-firefox-default-browser-does-not-work
You can also check the browser.shell.shortcutFavicons pref on the about:config page.
You can open the about:config page via the location/address bar. You can accept the warning and click "I'll be careful" to continue.
Okay, try this; go to the web page for the link. Then create a new link.
I have tried creating new links after each change I have made Fred, but the shortcuts still contain no proper icon. Shortcuts to programs (eg Word) appear with a correct icon. I have checked browser.shell.shortcutFavicons cor-el and this appears as default .T. I feel that this problem must be within FireFox as IE shortcuts do include the website icons.
Start your Computer in safe mode. Is the problem still there?
You can check for issues with the Windows icon cache and try to rebuild the icon cache.
- Open the Task Manager (Shift+Ctrl+ESC)
- In the Process tab, right-click on the Explorer.exe process and select End Process.
- Open the file picker via "File > New Task (Run)" and click the Browse button.
- Type or Paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local (%LocalAppData%) in the File name field (AppData is a hidden folder).
- Select the IconCache.db file and use "Delete" in the right-click context menu to delete the file.
- After the IconCache.db file has been deleted, start a new explorer.exe process via "File > New Task" to get the desktop and Taskbar back.
The IconCache.db file is a hidden file, so make sure that you can see hidden files.
FredMcD said
Start your Computer in safe mode. Is the problem still there? Starting The Computer In Safe Mode;
Free Online Encyclopedia
Thank you Fred, I have tried this but no luck I am afraid.
cor-el said
You can check for issues with the Windows icon cache and try to rebuild the icon cache.The IconCache.db file is a hidden file, so make sure that you can see hidden files.
- Open the Task Manager (Shift+Ctrl+ESC)
- In the Process tab, right-click on the Explorer.exe process and select End Process.
- Open the file picker via "File > New Task (Run)" and click the Browse button.
- Type or Paste %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local (%LocalAppData%) in the File name field (AppData is a hidden folder).
- Select the IconCache.db file and use "Delete" in the right-click context menu to delete the file.
- After the IconCache.db file has been deleted, start a new explorer.exe process via "File > New Task" to get the desktop and Taskbar back.
Thank you cor-el. I have tried what you have suggested, and also tried re-naming another file in the same directory GDFONTCACHE1.DAT which I beleive has a similar function, but none of these combinations will produce an Internet shortcut icon.
Microsoft Fix it Solution Center: troubleshooting software issues
Look for a Firefox program shortcut or the program itself. Right click and select Properties. Select Short Cut. On the bottom, Change Icon.
FredMcD said
Microsoft Fix it Solution Center: troubleshooting software issues
Look for a Firefox program shortcut or the program itself. Right click and select Properties. Select Short Cut. On the bottom, Change Icon.
Thanks Fred. I have already tried this. I can change the icon fixed to the FireFox shortcut, but that is a shortcut to a program, not a shortcut to a web page.
I have the exact same issue. I didn't delete IconCache.db, I renamed it to IconCache.db.old then rebooted. Didn't help.
If I right click on the desktop and choose New/Shortcut and insert the http link, it shows either the Firefox icon or the icon from the webpage. I pull a lot of links to the desktop and right clicking and change icon would take a couple days (approx 800 icons).
This is what a link pulled to the desktop looks like.
