How to Rebuild the Icon Cache in Windows 10 and 11

You can rebuild the icon cache in Windows 10 and 11 when desktop, taskbar or File Explorer icons are blank or incorrect. The batch file below stops Explorer, deletes per-user icon-cache files and starts Explorer again.

Save your work and close File Explorer windows first. The desktop and taskbar disappear briefly while Explorer is stopped.

Create the icon-cache rebuild script

Create a batch file with the content below and simply run it to clear and rebuild the Windows icon cache if there are thumbnails going blank or crooked on the Desktop, Taskbar or File Explorer

 

FixIcons.bat

ie4uinit.exe -show
taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F 
timeout /t 2

del /A /F /Q "%localappdata%\IconCache.db"
del /A /F /Q "%localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer\iconcache*"
start explorer.exe

Run the batch file

1. Paste the commands into Notepad.
2. Save the file as FixIcons.bat with All files selected.
3. Run the file and wait for Explorer to restart.

If icons remain incorrect

Sign out or restart Windows so no process retains an old cache file. Persistent problems may come from a broken shortcut, missing application icon or damaged system files rather than the icon cache. For broader cleanup, see the Windows low disk space guide.

Rebuild the icon cache in Windows 10 and 11

Windows stores several icon-cache databases in the current user's profile. Stopping Explorer releases those files, the two del commands remove the main database and size-specific Explorer caches, and restarting Explorer causes Windows to generate fresh copies. The procedure affects only the signed-in user's cache; other Windows profiles maintain their own files.

Check the result after rebuilding the cache

Open the desktop, taskbar and the folder where the incorrect icon appeared. Windows may need a few moments to recreate icons after Explorer starts. If only one shortcut remains wrong, open its properties and confirm that its target and icon location still exist. Reinstalling or repairing the associated application may be more appropriate than repeatedly deleting the cache.

If the script reports that a cache file is in use, close open Explorer windows and run it again. A full sign-out or restart can release remaining handles. This repair is different from clearing thumbnail previews: thumbnails represent file contents, while the icon cache stores application and file-type icons.