Fix missing icons issue (from the root)

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Adad 29 Mar, 2024 @ 10:13pm

If you've already tried numerous solution attempts but the issue persists, it's probably because the game icons are simply not where they should be.
Game icons for the shortcuts are saved, on Windows, in the following adress: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games
However, unfortunately there are games that don't have their icon (.ico file) within their files, so you have to get it. Fortunately there is https://www.steamgriddb.com/
There, search by the name of the game, then click on 'View Original Steam Assets' and download the 'Client icon' (if it's not there look for the appropriet one it in the 'Icons' section below, it should be an .ico file and have an alphanumeric name) and save it with the given name (the best isn't to modify it) in the aforementioned folder: C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games
If you haven't modified the shortcut that Steam places, the icon image should automatically appear, or after updating the desktop or after restarting the system.
If it's modified, you must either delete it and regenerate it again from Steam (Library tab > Right-click on the game > Manage > Add desktop shortcut), or modify the game's shortcut directly (Right-click on the shortcut > Edit in Notepad > on 'IconFile=' place the Adress to the icon file, for example:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games\1084d12dc7d95675c3268f8cef6a46eed00df558.ico

And that's it.

Last edited by Adad; 29 Mar, 2024 @ 10:40pm

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Showing 1-7 of 7 comments

Tigo 10 May, 2024 @ 4:45am

I've created a little PowerShell script that recovers all the missing game shortcut icons [github.com] on GitHub. This will help if the required icon files are missing from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games.

scrollo 9 Oct, 2024 @ 3:46am

Originally posted by Tigo:
I've created a little PowerShell script that recovers all the missing game shortcut icons [github.com] on GitHub. This will help if the required icon files are missing from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games.

I just made a post about losing my icons after a Windows 11 update, then found this post. Your script solved the issue perfectly, thank you!

SantiiRepair 23 Oct, 2024 @ 1:52pm

Originally posted by Tigo:
I've created a little PowerShell script that recovers all the missing game shortcut icons [github.com] on GitHub. This will help if the required icon files are missing from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games.

Didn't work

Tigo 24 Oct, 2024 @ 4:31am

Originally posted by SantiiRepair:
Originally posted by Tigo:
I've created a little PowerShell script that recovers all the missing game shortcut icons [github.com] on GitHub. This will help if the required icon files are missing from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games.
Didn't work

Could you explain the situation a bit more clearly, maybe I can help. Are your icons missing from `C:\Program\Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games`? Does the PowerShell script run? If so, what's the output / result?

If the PowerShell script doesn't work for you and you do want the official icon file, you could try manually downloading the official icon for the game in question from the "Metadata" tab of the game's http://]https://steamdb.info page (down in the "Assets" section). (i.e. https://steamdb.info/app/730/info/ for Counter-Strike 2.) You can then place the icon file in the `C:\Program\Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games` folder, as stated in the original post.

Make sure to reload the desktop (by pressing F5) or sign out of windows and back in (or restart explorer.exe), so the desktop can actually start using the new icons.

(This kind of icon is only used by shortcuts generated by steam when you press "Add desktop shortcut".)

Last edited by Tigo; 24 Oct, 2024 @ 4:37am

Cuna 8 Feb @ 3:57am

Originally posted by Tigo:
I've created a little PowerShell script that recovers all the missing game shortcut icons [github.com] on GitHub. This will help if the required icon files are missing from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games.

Dude, can you make some changes?
or explain to me how i can.
i sent u a request.

Tigo 8 Feb @ 10:24am

Originally posted by Cuna:
Originally posted by Tigo:
I've created a little PowerShell script that recovers all the missing game shortcut icons [github.com] on GitHub. This will help if the required icon files are missing from C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steam\games.

Dude, can you make some changes?
or explain to me how i can.
i sent u a request.

If you have any requests or questions, you can leave an issue on the GitHub page.
If you want to make changes yourself, you can just download and modify the script, or even fork the repo.