Taskbar Icon Locations with Enhanced Taskbar On

Where are the icons picked up from when the enhanced taskbar is on?

from Stardock Forums

Just curious where the icons are picked up from when the enhanced taskbar is on?

I have a lot of custom icons for apps stored in the following locations:

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

C:\Users\”UserName"\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs

 

When the Enhanced taskbar is turned off, these custom icons are displayed in the taskbar when the apps are open. (see below)

 

When the Enhanced taskbar is turned on, the default icons for the apps are displayed in the taskbar. (see below)

 

Whether the Enhanced taskbar is turned on or off, my custom app icons are displayed in the All apps list.

 

Windows 11 Pro - 22635.2771; Start11v2 - 2.03

start menu products
4,648 views 6 replies
Reply #1 from Stardock Forums Top

Hello,
I have forwarded your problem/question to Stardock Support Team for their assistance. Please keep an eye on this thread for any updates. We appreciate your feedback and patience.

Basj,
Stardock Community Assistant

+1 Loading…
Reply #2 from Stardock Forums Top

Are these pinned apps or just running ones?

For pinned apps :

Your start menu icons are used by the start menu not the taskbar.  The taskbar uses the icons on the pinned shortcuts on the taskbar.

If you right click on a pinned item and then on the shortcut name on the jumplist that shows and pick properties you can change the icon on the shortcut you picked.

Object Desktop - Get all of our enhancement utilities in one suite
Reply #3 from Stardock Forums Top

Updated reply 11/26/2023; 06:22 AM

I don’t have any pinned apps. These are just apps that are open.

With the Enhanced taskbar off, the taskbar appears to pick up the icon from the folders I listed above.

With the Enhanced taskbar on, the taskbar appears to pick up the icon from the app itself.

This is my custom icon for Word. (see below)

With the Enhanced taskbar on, this is what I get when I right click Word on the taskbar. (see below)

This is what I get when I then right click word in the context menu. (see below)

And this is what I get when I click properties in the context menu. (see below)

As you can see above, my custom icon appears everywhere except where Word is open on the the taskbar.

It shows correctly on the right click context menu, the Properties window, and the Word Properties window icon on the taskbar.

Reply #4 from Stardock Forums Top

Okay, I figured this out.

If the Enhanced taskbar is on, with "Always combine taskbar buttons" selected, my custom icons are displayed on the taskbar.

If the Enhanced taskbar is on, with "Never combine taskbar buttons," the apps default icons are displayed on the taskbar.

If the Enhanced taskbar is on, with "Never combine taskbar buttons," and "Always hide text on buttons regardless of group state" is checked, the apps default icons are displayed on the taskbar.

I don't know if this is intended, or if it's a creepy crawly?

Reply #5 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting pelaird, reply 4

Okay, I figured this out.

If the Enhanced taskbar is on, with "Always combine taskbar buttons" selected, my custom icons are displayed on the taskbar.

If the Enhanced taskbar is on, with "Never combine taskbar buttons," the apps default icons are displayed on the taskbar.

If the Enhanced taskbar is on, with "Never combine taskbar buttons," and "Always hide text on buttons regardless of group state" is checked, the apps default icons are displayed on the taskbar.

I don't know if this is intended, or if it's a creepy crawly?
End of pelaird's quote

Sounds correct to me.

When taskbar buttons are not combined the icon used is the icon provided by the window itself.  This will ignore your custom settings.  Only the combined taskbar buttons use the icon from the app executable / shortcut as there could be multiple windows for a single button so if you used the icon from the window it could be one of many choices.

Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top

Quoting Neil, reply 5

Sounds correct to me.

When taskbar buttons are not combined the icon used is the icon provided by the window itself.  This will ignore your custom settings.  Only the combined taskbar buttons use the icon from the app executable / shortcut as there could be multiple windows for a single button so if you used the icon from the window it could be one of many choices.
End of Neil's quote

Okay, I understand the logic. This works fine for my folders with custom icons, but then I guess I have no option to use custom icons for apps. I like the settings with the Enhanced taskbar on, with "Never combine taskbar buttons," and "Always hide text on buttons regardless of group state" checked. This shows open folders with my custom icons as separate buttons instead of the File Explorer icon, which I like, but I sacrifice my custom app icons in the taskbar. The Windows 11 setting "Never" combine works the same way as Start11, so I get it.

It would be nice if Start11 could distinguish between folders and apps, but I guess there is a reason why you can't.

Thanks for your reply.

pelaird