Most choices to manage and configure the Windows computer are located in the new PC Settings app. As a result, it is important that you restrict access to it to avoid any unwanted or unauthorized access. This is especially true if you're sharing your computer with other people. If you ever need to make sure no settings are changed, you are able to disable laptop computer settings app quite easily. Stick to the below steps to disable Windows 10 Settings app.

Do remember this also disables the Control Panel, which is the just like laptop computer Settings app.

Change Group Policy to Disable PC Settings App

The easiest way to disable settings app or control panel is to use the audience policy editor. Within the group policy editor, all you need to do is change a single policy and you're simply done. If you want to, you can backup group policy before changing the policy.

Note: This method only works if you are using the Pro or Enterprise form of Windows 10. If you are using the Home edition, stick to the second method.

1. Open the run dialog box (Win + R), type gpedit.msc and click on the Ok button to spread out the audience policy editor. You can also look for the same in the start menu.

2. Once the group policy editor has been opened, you can observe a bunch of folders on the left panel. Visit the User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel folder.

3. On the right panel, you will notice all the policies associated with User interface. Here find and double click the Prohibit access to manage Panel and PC Settings policy.

4. In the policy settings window, select the Enabled radio option. Click on the Apply and Ok buttons to save the changes.

5. To use the insurance policy settings, either reboot Windows or open the Command Prompt as admin and execute gpupdate /force command.

That is it. After applying the policy, laptop computer Settings app won't open no matter how many times you attempt to open it up. If you try to spread out the User interface, the machine will greet you with below message.

To enable PC Settings, simply choose the Not Configured radio option in step four and reboot the body.

Registry Edit to Disable Settings App

If you're on a Windows 10 Home edition, you can easily disable PC Settings app via the Registry editor. All we have to do is create a key and a value. So, backup registry settings and follow the below steps.

1. Just as always, open the run dialog box (Win +R), type regedit and then click the Ok button to spread out the registry editor.

2. Within the registry editor, copy the below path in the registry address bar and press Enter. This action will give you towards the folder we need.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\

3. Here we have to produce a new folder. So, right-click around the Policies folder around the left panel and choose New > Key.

4. Name the new folder as Explorer. In case you are wondering, in the registry editor, folders are known as Keys.

5. Now, select the Explorer key. Around the right panel, right-click and select New -> DWORD (32-bit) Value.

6. Name the worth as NoControlPanel and press Enter to verify the name.

7. We now have to change the value. To do that double click on the new value. In the Value Data field, type 1 and click on the Ok button to save changes.

8. Close registry editor.

9. To use the alterations, reboot Windows.

That is it. After rebooting the system, you cannot access the Settings app. Try opening laptop computer Settings app and it will close automatically. If you try to spread out the User interface, you'll be greeted using the following message.

Microsoft has released a totally free COVID-19 tracker for desktop and mobile on the Bing search engine, using the essential information on the amount of cases displayed in one clean UI.

The COVID-19 tracker produced by Microsoft is available online at bing.com/covid and shows the map around the globe as well as other information like the total confirmed cases, active cases, recovered cases, and fatal cases.

You can also see statistics per each country and zoom in to see additional information for a specific region.

Similar services already are available online, but Microsoft attempts to make this tracker a central hub to keep an eye on the coronavirus outbreak, therefore it also includes news and videos concerning the infection.

Microsoft says it's using the data from CDC, WHO, ECDC, and Wikipedia, and also displays last update information - during the time of writing, for example, the map was last updated 11 minutes ago.

The new tracker is also optimized for mobile, so you can access all the data by pointing your smartphone's browser towards the link mentioned above.

Microsoft and COVID-19

Microsoft is one of the companies hit by COVID-19, as the company decided to cancel several tech events, such as the BUILD developer conference.

Microsoft Build is Redmond's biggest tech event, because the company uses it to go into touch with developers and supply an early look at new software, including at improvements planned for Windows 10. This year, however, Microsoft will hold the event online exclusively so that they can eliminate the risk of infection.

Other tech giants have taken similar measures, including Google, Apple, and Facebook, all of which have either canceled their events completely or moved online for any live streaming that will allow the world to look at their announcements without the chance of contracting the virus.

Having multiple network connections is fairly normal on Windows 10. For example, my laptop has an ethernet port, WiFi card, and often I even connect my mobile phone to connect to the web via USB tethering or hotspot.

If you are using multiple network connections at the same time, Windows protects the network priority. The highest priority network is what you utilize. As possible guess, network priority reduces any potential network conflicts.

Thankfully, you can easily alter the network priority with just several clicks. By changing the network priority, you are able to prioritize one network within the other. Simply put, rather than letting Windows decide the network priority, you are able to set your personal so that you can use the network of your choice. Just follow the below steps out of the box and you ought to good.

Note: The below steps are applicable to Windows 7 and Windows 8 too.

Network Connection Priority

To change network priority, Windows provides all of the relevant options in the adapter settings window. All we must do is, set the priority and apply the changes.

To make things easier, we are only likely to alter the network priority of connection you need to prioritize.

For example, when I'm using the internet via USB tethering, I want that connection to be prioritized over the regular ethernet connection or router WiFi connection. This way, I'm able to use mobile data after i have connectivity problems with broadband. I haven't got to disable the ethernet adapter just to force the bond.

Windows uses numbers to set automatic priority. Typically, Windows uses numbers over 15 for all the network connections. The larger the number, the lower would be the priority. So, we will set the network priority to 10 for the connection in our choice. That way, it will likely be prioritized over all the other connections.

Steps to alter Network Connection Priority

1. Open the beginning menu, look for Network Status and then click it. You may also click on the Internet icon on the taskbar and then click the Network & Internet Settings link.

2. Within the Network Status window, click the Change Adapter Options button appearing under Change Your Network Settings section.

3. The above mentioned action will open the Network Adapter page in the Control Panel. Here, discover the adapter you need to the modification the priority of, right-click and select Properties.

4. In the properties window select Intenet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click on the Properties button.

5. Here, make sure you are within the General tab. Next, click on the Advanced button appearing at the bottom of the window.

6. Now, uncheck the automated Metric checkbox and enter 10 within the Interface Metric field. Click on the Ok button in order to save changes.

7. Click Ok and Close buttons on the other Windows.

8. Reboot Windows to make the changes apply.

That's it. From now on, the network connection will be prioritized over the other connections.

Just like using the previous Windows versions, Windows 10 too has God Mode. Having a simple trick, you are able to enable God Mode on Windows 10. Stick to the below steps to do so.

What is "God Mode"?

God Mode is a very simple hack that permits you to access all the majority of the settings in one folder. The advisable thing is, unlike the User interface, it's not necessary to go through a variety of menus to locate what you are looking for. All the settings are neatly categorized into their own little sections. This lets you easily identify a specific setting, option, or tool you are searching for.

Here are main sections that you get access to in Windows 10 God Mode. Each section further features its own settings or tools. Also, keep mind that God Mode doesn't give you access new options available via the PC Settings. For instance, you will not find any options or tools to handle Cortana.

Administrative Tools
AutoPlay
Backup and Restore (Windows 7)
BitLocker Drive Encryption
Color Management
Credential Manager
Date and Time
Device and Printers
Ease of Access Center
File Explorer Options
File History
Fonts
Indexing Options
Internet Options
Keyboard
Mouse
Network and Sharing Center
Phone and Modem
Power Options
Programs and Features
Region
Remote App and Desktop Connections
Security and Maintenance
Sound
Speech Recognition
Space for storage
Sync Center
System
Taskbar and Navigation
Troubleshooting
User Accounts
Windows Defender Firewall
Work Folders

Enable Windows 10 God Mode

It is rather easy to turn on God Mode on Windows 10. All you have to do is create a new folder and rename it.

1. Right-click around the desktop and select New -> Folder. It doesn't need to be on the desktop. You may create God Mode folder in almost any folder or drive. I'm doing the work around the desktop since it is more accessible that way. You can use any folder you would like.

2. Now, name the newly created folder using the below name.

GodMode.ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C

3. That's it. Once you rename the folder, it'll turn into the God Mode folder. You've successfully enabled God Mode on Windows 10.

4. Double-click on the folder and you will see a list of all the available tools in a single page.

You can move the God Mode folder to any place or folder. It doesn't need to be in the same place to operate. Whenever you think you no longer need the God Mode, you can disable God Mode on Windows 10. To do this, simply delete God Mode folder and you are done.

What God Mode is Not & What it really Can't Do?

Don't believe that Windows 10 God Mode provides you with some superpower over your system. All God Mode does is list all the available Windows advanced settings in one page. Apart from that, it will nothing much. Just produce a God Mode folder and put it somewhere you are able to remember. Whenever you aren't able to find a particular option in the control panel, you may make utilisation of the God Mode folder.

Windows 10 can sometimes act funny, throw random errors, etc. In those situations, you are able to clean boot. Windows 10 clean boot allows you to pinpoint the problem causing service or program and deal with it. Here's how you can clean boot on Windows 10.

The clean boot works in Windows 7 and Windows 8 too. Stick to the same steps.

What is Clean Boot

Clean Boot is exactly what it may sound like. When you start your Windows computer, it will automatically launch or start several other services and applications. Your startup programs make the perfect example. Additionally, the more applications you've in your system, the greater services Windows needs to start. It is because most applications register their very own services with Windows.

The more startup services and applications there are, the heavy would be the Windows Startup. Though starting all of the services is useful, you will see times when these startup services might be interfering with essential Windows services. This can lead to unexpected behavior like program crashes, strange error messages, and slowness.

To cope with that, you are able to perform a clean boot. When clean booting Windows 10, only essential system services are started while disabling all the non-critical services and programs. This provides you a pretty good possibility to locate which service or program is causing the problem on your system.

Steps to wash Boot Windows 10

Though Windows doesn't have Clean Boot button or option, performing a clean boot in Windows 10 is simple and straightforward. All we have to do is disable all of the services and startup programs. This really is quite easy.

1. First, we need to disable all of the services. To do that, open the Run dialog box by pressing the keyboard shortcut Win + R. In the blank field, type msconfig and click on the Ok button.

2. In System Configuration window, visit the Services tab. Here, we first need to hide all of the essential Windows services. So, select "Hide all Microsoft services" checkbox.

3. Next, click on the Disable All button. Click the Apply and Ok buttons in order to save changes.

4. You will see a restart prompt. Click on the Exit without restart button.

5. Now, we need to disable all the startup programs. Right-click around the Taskbar and select Task Manager option.

6. In the task manager, visit the Startup tab. Here, select each application and then click the Disable button appearing at the bottom of the window. This action will disable the startup item.

7. Once you are done, restart Windows 10. Since all of the services and startup programs are disabled, Windows 10 will clean boot with only essential services.

Now, you are able to enable each service and startup item manually and find out which application or services are resulting in the problem. Once you find out the problem, you can either completely disable that service or startup or remove the application out of your system to resolve the problem.

To enable all the services, simply open the System Configuration window again, go to that Services tab, click the Select All button and then click the Ok button in order to save changes. Restart your system and you should be from the clean boot.

That's all. It's that easy to perform a clean boot on Windows 10.

Nowadays, just about all printers include wireless connectivity. This allows you to print stuff in your printer within the network. If you're much like me who hates clutter and cables, this can be a pretty good feature as possible keep your printer on a dedicated desk away from your computer and still print documents as and when needed. Let me demonstrate how you can add a wireless printer to Windows 10 in simple and quick steps.

Connect to Wireless Printer on Windows 10

There are mainly two steps to connect a wireless printer to Windows. The initial step is to connect the wireless printer to some wifi network. Next, connect your computer towards the same Wi-Fi network. Let me guide me through the steps.

Step #1: Connect Printer to Wi-Fi Network

There are lots of methods to connect a printer to the Wi-Fi network. The easiest way is by using the WPS functionality in your Wi-Fi router. Most Wi-Fi routers possess a dedicated WPS button that allows you to connect wireless devices by pressing the button.

Note: Each printer and Wi-Fi network is different. So, I'm giving you general directions. If you are ever stuck, consult the printer and/or Wi-Fi router manual for particular instructions.

Option #1: To start off, find out if your printer includes a wireless button. Press the wireless button after which press the WPS button in your Wi-Fi router. If you notice a prompt in the printer screen, accept it by selecting Ok or something like that.

Option #2: In case your Wi-Fi or printer doesn't have WPS functionality, then use the printer menu to scan for the Wi-Fi network and connect to it by entering the Wi-Fi password. Most printers possess a basic settings screen which means this really should not be very difficult. If required consult the consumer manual.

After connecting the printer for your Wi-Fi network, we can combine it with the machine. Before proceeding, note down the printer IP address. Stop get it in the printer menu or by open the Wi-Fi admin page on and on to the DHCP client list. The printer IP address is helpful for troubleshooting purposes.

Step #2: Connect Wireless Printer to System

1. Connect your system to the same Wi-Fi network as the printer. To put it simply, your pc and printer ought to be on the same local network.

2. Next, open the PC Settings app and visit "Devices -> Printers & Scanners" page. Here, click the "Add a printer or scanner" button appearing on the right page.

3. This action will prompt Windows to scan and discover any new devices. When the printer is in the same network, you need to see your printer within the found devices list.

In case your printer isn't listed, you can add it manually. Click the "The printer that I want isn't listed" link. Now, select the "Add a printer utilizing a TCP/IP address or hostname", click Next and go into the printer Ip.

4. Select the listed printer and click on the "Add Device" button.

Windows will automatically download any necessary drivers and configure the printer. After installing, you can use the wirelessly connected printer while you would a normal wired printer.

That is it.

If you're facing problem then I would recommend you take the troubleshooter. To operate the printer troubleshooter, visit "Update & Security -> Troubleshoot" in the PC Settings app. On the right panel, find the Printer option and then click it. Stick to the troubleshoot wizard.

High Dynamic Range or mostly known as HDR helps make the image look colorful and vibrant with rich details and darker shadows. Within the latest versions of Windows 10, Microsoft added support for HDR content. Stick to the below steps to allow HDR on Windows 10.

In case you are wondering, compared to the normal display, the image quality in HDR supported monitors, screens, or TVs is way superior. That is a primary reason why increasingly more games and video streaming services are supporting HDR content.

Pre-requisites to make use of HDR in Windows 10

Before you enable HDR in Windows 10, there aren't many must meet requirements. If a person or more from the below requirements are not met then you cannot switch on the HDR functionality in Windows 10.

Note: For laptop users, find out if laptops manufacturer certified it as HDR ready. When the laptop manufacturer doesn't explicitly express it is HDR ready then it probably doesn't support HDR. It is the simplest way to locate if your laptop supports HDR video playback or gaming.

1. Your monitor should support HDR 10 specification also it ought to be turned on in the monitor panel settings. If you are not sure, consult the computer monitor manual and ensure it's turned on.

2. Your processor should support PlayReady DRM (Digital Rights Management) to experience encrypted HDR content, like 4K Netflix. Generally, Intel 7th gen or higher and AMD Ryzen CPUs support PlayReady DRM.

3. The PC should have a video card that supports HDR content. AMD Radeon RX 400 series or more and NVIDIA GeForce 1000 series or higher should do the special moment.

4. Windows 10 should have the HEVC and VP9 codecs installed. You are able to install these codecs in the Microsoft Store.

5. Your system must have WDDM 2.4 or more drivers installed. For those who have HDR compatible hardware, Windows 10 should automatically download these drivers.

6. Finally, ensure that you are utilizing an HDR compatible display cable like HDMI 2.0, Display Port 1.4, or USB Type-C.

Enable HDR in Windows 10

1. Open the Settings app and visit "System -> Display" page. On the right panel, toggle the switch under "Play HDR Games and Apps" to "On" position.

If you cannot begin to see the option, then your computer doesn't support HDR due to not meeting a number of above listed requirements.

2. Now, click the "Windows HD Color Settings" link under Windows HD Color section.

3. Within the next page, turn on both "Play HDR games and app" and "Stream HDR video" options.

Like a test, Windows shows an example video under the settings. Play it and find out the way the current video settings make the video appear.

After enabling HDR in Windows 10, non-HDR content can be displayed beaten up and terrible. If that's the case, visit the "Windows HD Color Settings" page and use the slider under "SDR content appearance" to locate a good balance between the two images. The close the pictures in appearance, the greater SDR content will appear.

That's all. You've successfully enabled HDR in Windows 10.

If you setup Windows 10 with default settings, the location tracking is switched on. If you don't enjoy it or not while using location-based services, you are able to disable it. Adopt these measures to disable location tracking services in Windows 10.

Windows 10 uses your location for a wide range of things. Some of those include but not limited to tracking your device via Find My Device feature, to share location data with apps for particular purposes, show relevant store information, to download location-specific updates likes system language and keyboard layout, etc.

Though location services are useful for laptop devices, for desktops, letting the place services running in the background is not that useful. In those cases, it is simple to stop Windows 10 from tracking where you are.

Important: Completely disabling location service will cause Find my Device feature to not work. Without Find my Device feature, you might not have the ability to track your device in case you lost it. If you travel together with your laptop then keeping the place Services turned on and enabling Find my Device feature is extremely helpful.

Disable Location Tracking in Windows 10

Windows 10 includes a dedicated section called Privacy which lets you configure an array of privacy settings. Location services aren't any different. Actually, it features a dedicated page within the privacy settings page where one can either select which apps may use your location data or disable location tracking system-wide.

1. Open the PC Settings app by pressing the laptop keyboard shortcut Win + I.

2. In the PC Settings app, go to "Privacy" page. Here, click the "Location" tab appearing around the left sidebar.

3. Around the right panel, click the "Change" button under "Allow access to location about this device" section. Next, toggle the switch to "Off" position under in the flyout menu.

That's it. You've disabled location tracking in Windows 10.

(Alternative) Restrict Apps from Accessing Your Location

If you want to keep the location tracking enabled try not to want apps to access your location you'll be able to just restrict the apps without completely disabling the location service. Many of the useful if you work with Find my Device feature.

1. To do that, open laptop computer Settings app by searching for it in the start menu.

2. Next, visit the "Privacy -> Location" page. On the right-panel, toggle the switch under "Allow apps to access your location" to "Off" position.

Restrict Specific Apps Only:

3. If you want to restrict only specific apps and allow some other then make sure the "Allow apps to access your location" option is switched on and then scroll down to begin to see the apps that have access to your location.

4. Toggle the switches to "Off" position for apps you need to restrict and you're simply done.

It is that easy to restrict or disable location tracking in Windows 10.

Recently I've shown you how you can schedule shutdown on Windows 10 utilizing a single command or even the task scheduler. The shutdown timer is very helpful from time to time, like when you want to ensure your kids are not using the computer excessively or to automatically shutdown Windows at night time.

Not just that, sometimes even some programs are configured to auto shutdown Windows. Once you set the shutdown timer, you are set.

When the system is going to shutdown, Windows will show an easy message like "You are going to sign out." This message lets you save the job before Windows shuts down the system. Just like it's, the message doesn't offer any way to cancel shutdown, for self-evident reasons. If you're doing something important you very well may 't be ready for that shutdown.

If you ever face this case, here's how to abort shutdown on Windows. It's much easier than you think to stop shutdown.

Cancel Shutdown on Windows

Like said, though Windows doesn't offer any visible option, it is very easy to cancel shutdown.

1. First, search for PowerShell or Command Prompt in the start menu and then click it open.

2. In the PowerShell window, execute shutdown -a command.

Quick tip: You can also execute the above command in the Run dialog box (Win + R) too.

3. As soon as you execute the command, Windows can have a notification letting you know the scheduled shutdown has been canceled.

When there is no scheduled shutdown, the command prompt window can have a message something similar to "Unable to abort the machine shutdown because no shutdown was in progress." Which simply implies that there is no scheduled shutdown.

Create Cancel Shutdown Shortcut

If you are dealing canceling shutdown from time to time then you might find it simple to click on a shortcut rather than manually entering the command each and every time. Fortunately, it is rather easy to create cancel shutdown shortcut.

1. Right-click on the desktop and select "New > Shortcut."

2. Within the "Type location from the item," enter shutdown.exe -a and click on "Next" to continue.

3. Enter the name of the shortcut and click on "Finish." With my case, I chose the name "Abort shutdown."

4. After hitting the "Finish" button, the shortcut will be made up of a normal icon.

Change Abort Shutdown Shortcut Icon (optional)

If you do not like the generic shortcut icon you are able to change it out with the one you like.

5. First, right-click around the shortcut and choose "Properties" option.

6. Click "change icon" button within the shortcut properties window.

7. Scroll sideways within the Change Icon window, select the icon of your choice and click "Ok." If you see any warning message, simply click around the "Ok" button and then go to select the icon.

Quick tip: If you don't such as the default system icons, download the icon of your choice from the internet, convert it to .ico format, and select it using the Browse button.

8. Click "Apply" and "Ok" buttons to save changes.

9. The selected icon will be applied immediately.

If you wish to, you can assign a keyboard shortcut towards the shortcut by selecting "Shortcut key" field in the Properties window and pressing the key combination.

In summary, to cancel scheduled shutdown, execute shutdown.exe -a command in the Command Prompt or perhaps in the Run dialog box. If you work with this command extensively then produce a custom shortcut.

If your Windows 10 system has multiple users and one from the user's password got leaked, you can force that user to alter the password on their next login. Many of the helpful to make their account safe.

You will find multiple methods to force a person to alter the user password when they log in next time. For example, you can set a group policy to expire the user account password after a set length of time. At which point, Windows 10 will ask the user to change the password. As possible guess, this process is not immediate.

If you are searching for immediate action, you should use the advanced user account settings tool to make the user at this time. The good thing about this method is that it is one-time use only.

Note: The below method only works best for local user accounts. If you work with a Microsoft account to log into Windows 10 machine then you have to see the user and get these to reset their MS password.

Steps to make Users to Change User Account Password at Next Login

1. First, open the beginning menu, look for "netplwiz" and click on the end result. This action will open the Advanced User Management tool.

2. In the Advanced User Management tool, go to the "Advanced" tab and click on the "Advanced" button.

3. The above mentioned action will open the neighborhood User Management tool. Here, open Users folder, find the user account for when you want to reset the password, right-click on it and select "Properties" option.

4. In the user properties window, choose the "User must change password at next logon" and click on the "Apply" and "Ok" buttons to save the changes.

That's it. You are done configuring.

Next time the target user tries to log in to the system, Windows can have a note something like this and forces them to alter the password.

Every time they click on the "Ok" button, Windows will prompt for both the new and old password. It will not ask for new security questions though.

When the password is modified, Windows will let the user be aware of same. From now on, they can log in to the system using the changed password.

Overall

As you can see, it's pretty easy to force a person to alter the password in Windows 10. Like I said earlier, this can be a manual procedure. If you would like your users to alter the user password after a set length of time then you've to use the audience Policy Editor and hang password expiration rules. These rules is going to be applicable to all users and user groups.

For every network adapter, be it physical or virtual, Windows results in a new network connection and lists in the Network Connections page. From there, it is simple to disable, enable, or change properties associated with a adapter. Follow the below steps to produce network adapters shortcut in Windows 10.

Generally, getting to the network adapter page is nothing hard. However, it's buried pretty deep. If you're frequently accessing the network adapters section, it is best to create a simple desktop shortcut. That way, the page is just a double-click away.

Personally, this straightforward shortcut solved the problem a great deal after i used to disable the Ethernet adapter due to it disturbing the USB tethering. Obviously, in those days I'm not sure you can actually change network connection priority in Windows to get rid of interference.

Anyway, if you are accessing the network connections page frequently, having a simple desktop shortcut is advantageous. Allow me to show you how to create it.

Note: Network Connections and Network Adapters are type of the same thing. So, do not get confused when I use them interchangeably.

Steps to Create Network Adapters Shortcut

Windows has a special user interface item called ncpa.cpl that's accountable for launching the network connections page in the control panel. For example, if you look for ncpa.cpl within the start menu and press Enter, the prospective page opens instantly. You may also make use of the same file name to produce the page in the Run dialog box. We are going to make use of this file to create the network adapter shortcut.

1. First, right-click around the desktop and choose "New → Shortcut" option.

2. Within the blank field, go into the following path and click on the "Next" button to continue.

C:\Windows\System32
cpa.cpl

3. Now, enter a reputation for the shortcut. With my case, I'm naming the shortcut as "Network Connections". You are able to name it anything you want. Click "Finish" to carry on.

4. That is it. You've come up with network adapters shortcut.

Double-click around the shortcut and you will be instantly taken to the network connections page where you can see all of the network adapters.

For additional accessibility, add some shortcut towards the quick launch toolbar. That way, you can access the shortcut directly from the taskbar.

(Optional) Change Shortcut Icon

By default, the shortcut utilizes a simple gear like icon. If you do not such as this, it is simple to change the shortcut icon.

To do that, right-click around the shortcut and choose "Properties". In the properties window, click on the "Change Icon" button.

The above action will open the icon selection window. Scroll sideways before you see the icon you like, select it, and then click the "Ok" button.

In the main window, click the "Apply" and "Ok" buttons to save changes.

That's it. You've changed the icon. You need to now begin to see the new icon.

If you do not such as the default Windows icons, you may also select your own custom icon by clicking on the "Browse" button within the next step. Make sure that the icon is in ICO format.