Shortcut Arrow - Change, Remove, or Restore

How to Change, Remove, or Restore the Shortcut Arrow Overlay Icon in Windows​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to change, remove, or restore the default shortcut arrow overlay on all shortcut icons in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8.

You must be logged in as an administrator to be able to do the steps in this tutorial.

   Warning

Removing the shortcut arrow will make it harder to tell which files are shortcuts or not.

You can still tell by right clicking or press and hold on the file, and click/tap on Properties to see if you have a Shortcut tab or not.

OPTION ONE

Change Shortcut Arrow using "Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover"

1. If you have not already, click/tap on the Download button below to download the Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover (Vista Shortcut Overlay Manager) program below for the 32-bit or 64-bit Windows you have installed. Save the .msi file to your desktop, and install it.
32-bit (x86) Windows

Download



64-bit (x64) Windows

Download


2. Double click/tap on the program's shortcut to run the program.

3. To Change, Restore, or Remove the Arrow for All Shortcuts
A) Select (dot) the arrow option you want for the shortcut arrow. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: If you selected Custom Arrow to change the shortcut arrow, then click on Select and navigate to and choose a ICO (icon) file you have downloaded to use as the shortcut arrow.
4. To Remove the "Shortcut" Name from All Shortcuts
NOTE: See also: http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/804-shortcut-extension-remove-restore.html
A) Check the box to also remove the - Shortcut name extension for new shortcuts that are created.
5. Click/tap on Apply.

6. Click/tap on Yes to log off to apply the changes. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: If you like, you could also just restart explorer instead to apply your changes.

7. Log back on and your done.

   Warning

If you used the Light Arrow or No Arrow option and uninstall "Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover", then they will be undone the next time you log off/on or restart the computer/explorer.

The Arrow (default) and Custom Arrow options will not be undone if you uninstall "Vista Shortcut Overlay Remover".

OPTION TWO

To Change Shortcut Arrow Overlay Icon in Registry Editor

1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and press Enter.

2. In regedit, navigate to the location below:
NOTE: If Shell Icons it is not in the left pane under Explorer, right click on Explorer, and click on New and Key. Type Shell Icons for the new keys's name, and press Enter.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons

3. In the right pane of Shell Icons, right click on an empty area, and click/tap on New and String Value, and name it 29.

4. Double click/tap on the 29 sting value to modify it.

5. Type in the full path of your custom .ico file within quotes, OR copy and paste the path below for what overlay icon you would like to use, and click/tap on OK.

   Tip

If you like, you can download a transparent.ico file here to use instead.

(No arrow - Transparent) %windir%\System32\shell32.dll,-50

(Classic) %windir%\System32\shell32.dll,-30

(Default) %windir%\System32\shell32.dll,-16769
6. Log off and on, or restart the computer to apply.

OPTION THREE

To Change Shortcut Arrow Overlay Icon using a REG File

NOTE: This option does the same thing as OPTION TWO above, but automatically for you using a .reg file.
1. Do step 2, 3, or 4 below for what you would like to do.

2. To Restore Default Shortcut Arrow Overlay Icon
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the .reg file below, and go to step 5 below.

Default_Shortcut_Arrow.reg


Download


3. To Use Classic Shortcut Arrow Overlay Icon
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the .reg file below, and go to step 5 below.

Classic_Shortcut_Arrow.reg


Download


4. To Have No Shortcut Arrow Overlay Icon
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the .reg file below, and go to step 5 below.

No_Shortcut_Arrow.reg


Download


5. Log off and log on, or restart the computer to apply.

6. You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Remove or Restore the "Shortcut" Name Extension in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Change the Icon of a Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Hide a Folder or Shortcut Icon in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Create a Shortcut of a File, Folder, Drive, or Program in Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8
• How to Remove the Lock Icon from Files and Folders in Windows 7

 

[Nosmo]

Shortcut Arrow - Change

   Note

The shortcut icon arrows in Win 7 are actually overlaid icons. These icons live in the shell32.dll file. As it happens, the old winxp shortcut arrow also lives in this file.

   Warning

Please only attempt this if you are comfortable making changes to the registry. Usual disclaimer etc,etc.

1. Open the Start Menu, and type regedit in the search line and pres Enter.

2. In regedit, navigate to the location below:
NOTE: If Shell Icons it is not in the left pane under Explorer, then right click on Explorer and click on New and Key. Type Shell Icons for the new keys's name and press Enter.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons

3. In the right pane of Shell Icons, right click on a empty area and click on New and String Value, and name it 29.

4. Right click on 29 and click on Modify.

5. Type in C:\Windows\System32\shell32.dll,29 and click on OK.
NOTE: The 29 is the XP standard shortcut arrow number. Substitute a different ‘number’ in the data value field for other overlays or set the path to an ico file somewhere else on the hard drive.

6. Restart the computer to apply the small XP arrow, or the one you have selected, will show on all your shortcut icons.

 

[noyb]

Much Better .. Many Thanks

 

[Nosmo]

To whom it may concern.
Thank you very much for the work done on my post.
Much better.

 

[Brink]

You're most welcome Nosmo. Thank you for posting the tutorial.

 

[BleepingCrazy]

wow, much better than vista xD

thanks guys!

 

[araujo]

all that is past and too much work, so here I have discovered and made much more practical.​

save to any name.reg​

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"link"=hex:00,00,00,00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer]
"link"=hex:00,00,00,00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Icons]
"29"="%SystemRoot%\\system32\\imageres.dll,-121"

 

[nechan]

None of this is working in Windows 7 RTM. There is no folder "Shell Icons" anymore.

Is there any other (easy) way?

 

[noyb]

Read the Tutorial again ... You have to make the "Shell Icons" Folder .. If it's not there.

NOTE: If Shell Icons it is not in the left pane under Explorer, then right click on Explorer and click on New and Key. Type Shell Icons for the new keys's name and press Enter.

Don't feel bad ... I missed this on my first pass also.

 

[Passa]

Not working for me. I put it in the keys listed here as well as in the explorer section of the "Wow6432Node" key which has the same structure. Running Windows 7 Ultimate RTM 64-bit.

I'm trying to link it to an icon called "larrow.ico" in "C:\Shortcuts", so the "29" bit has the data:
"C:\Shortcuts\larrow.ico,0"

Any ideas? I just want the same arrow that you get with a TweakUI'd XP.

 

[Brink]

Hello Passa, and welcome to Seven Forums.

The program in METHOD TWO of the tutorial below will still work in Windows 7. You might see if it can help you.

Shortcut Arrow - Vista Forums

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[jackstone]

Most Successful Shortcut Arrow Overlay Killer

Passa,
I understand you fully. Registry modification did not work in my case too - in Windows 7 Ultimate x64. I went my own way and replaced the arrow icon in shell32.dll (icon no. 264) with blank one. Make a copy of shell32.dll, modify with any tool e.g. ResourceHacker or IconWorkshop, then place the file back to system32 and SysWOW64. Unfortunately you cannot do this directly - Windows prevents any change in system32 folder. I have two systems on my machine so I simply enter the other system and change this which is not used. You may use live CD e.g. any Lunux to perform replacing dll file. In the end you should kill icon cache file residing in user\AppData\Local\IconCache.db.
This method is not easy but you are free of funny overlay forever.
JS

 

[Huff09]

Here you go Shawn, seemed to work for me. View attachment 2839

Thanks Mr. Grimm, this did the trick. Don't skim the read me file to quickly though, I did three restarts before I re-read it and realized I hadn't relocated the blank.ico file

Eliminate the user error, however, and it works perfect.

Thanks again.

 

[jake66]

Any chance of getting rid of them altogether?

 

[Brink]

Hello Jake,

Yes, not a problem.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/3606-shortcut-arrow-remove-restore.html

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[jake66]

Oops, didn't see that!! Thanks.

 

[Brink]

LOL, you're welcome.

 

[crimson]

I want something mark my shortcuts, but not the default arrow. Is there any way to change my arrow into something else? Like a little heart or grenade or something.

 

[Brink]

Hello Crimson,

Other than using the tutorial on the first page, the program in METHOD TWO of the tutorial below will still work in Windows 7.

Shortcut Arrow - Vista Forums

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[crimson]

Yes they tell you how to change to a custom arrow by installing that program, but don't say anything about where to get custom arrows.