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Blank Word and Excel desktop icons

To create shortcuts,

I dragged rather than right clicked my Word 2007 and Excel 2007 icons onto the desktop and the icons went generic. The icons still work but I'd like to the the "W" and "E" icons back.   How do get the original icons back?  I've read other blank icon forums and haven't seen an answer. 

Answer
Answer

Hello Teamfleming,

Please attempt to rebuild the Icon Cache...

1. Open Windows Explorer (any folder/drive).

2. As the IconCache is a hidden file, you need to enable “Show hidden files” option to see the same. To do this, head over toTools > Folder Options, switch to View tab, and finally enableShow Hidden files, folders, and drives option.

3. Now navigate to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local folder and then delete IconCache.db file. Here username is your user profile name.

4. Reboot your computer to rebuild the icon cache.

5. All icons should be displayed correct now.

 

In addition, access this location...%ProgramFiles%\Microsoft Office\Office12\

Copy Winword.exe and excel.exe and paste on to your desktop.  Once the correct icons has been placed on your desktop, rename them to Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.

If you would please follow up with me at your convenience, I would greatly appreciate it.  Have a great day.

Thank you,

 

Aaron
Microsoft Answers Support Engineer
Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think

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Question Info

Last updated April 21, 2025 Views 16,761 Applies to: