Fixing Broken HTML Document Icons

Oct 7, 2007

I recently ran into a problem on my system where all the HTML document icons had been reset to the generic default icon: Default Windows Icon

Apparently, the Minefield build of Firefox had at some point corrupted this icon. I found that I was unable to change or reset the icon through the Folder Options » File Types dialog in Windows Explorer. No matter what I tried, I couldn't restore the icon, and it drove me nuts. Then I figured out what to do, thanks to this forum post at MozillaZine:

  1. Open RegEdit.
  2. Browse to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\FirefoxHTML registry branch.
  3. Delete the ShellEx\IconHandler registry key entry.
  4. Close RegEdit.
  5. In Windows Explorer, browse to the Documents and Settings\{username}\Local Settings\Application Data folder.
  6. Delete the iconcache.db file. It's hidden, so you may need to tweak your Windows Explorer settings to see it.
  7. Reboot.

Problem solved!

#firefox, #how-to
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23 Comments
maxsmith
2:25 PM on Jan 21, 2009
thanks a lot 21-01-09 works on my vista 32 bye
zhengyue
5:34 AM on Apr 7, 2009
Thanks, it works for me!
Vijay
5:19 AM on Apr 28, 2009
Thanks. It worked for me.
DivineInterv
1:37 AM on May 19, 2009
Thank you so much. Have been trying to find a fix for that problem for ages. Your solution worked for my Vista x64. Amazing, such a simple way around. Thanks a lot :D Bye TC
Miodrag
6:09 AM on Jun 26, 2009
Great advice, hit the problem last night and this did the work. Thanks again!
Aaron
11:09 PM on Jul 23, 2009
This has been driving me crazy for months! I have seriously had at least a dozen other failed attempts at fixing this problem: file associations, reinstall, deleting the icon cache -- nothing worked. Deleting that registry key was the answer. You actually don't need a reboot to see the icons. You can start task manager, click on the process tab, right click on explorer.exe and select "end process". Once the process has ended, you can then click on the file menu (still in task manager), click on "New Task (Run...)", type "explorer", and then hit "ok". The icons show up again! Thank you so much!
Fernando
12:20 PM on Jul 28, 2009
Thank you very much! It worked for me. I'm using Windows 7 RC 64 bits with Firefox 3.5.1
Hassan
10:13 PM on Sep 10, 2009
Alas I cant find ShellEx\IconHandler registry key entry, also the iconcache.db file does not exist, I am using Win XP X64 2003 SP2
Hassan
10:34 PM on Sep 10, 2009
Why not Mozilla fix this annoying error ?!
aBhay
9:15 AM on Oct 6, 2009
Kudos Dude! This bug was eating my brains past several months, Icon Manager or other blah blah shitty stuffs couldn't solve the problem, while the answer was a simple registry key :) Thanks
novey
9:55 PM on Oct 12, 2009
i don't have ShellEx\IconHandler. look on this shot: http://novey.free.fr/type/MWSnap207.jpg I can find and delete iconcache.db but problem is still here. I'm running under xp xp2
Eyson
12:57 PM on Oct 16, 2009
Hell yeah! That is the only solution that works!!! I'm using Firefox 3.5.3 on Windows 7 x64...
Free Web Icons
7:34 AM on Oct 19, 2009
Thanks,for once I found a tutorial easy to follow.
kulit
7:33 PM on Nov 8, 2009
Wow thanks a lot for this, I'm not even using mozilla, I'm using Opera and I did this to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Firefox.HTML and it worked! Thank you!
gaspard
9:30 PM on Feb 10, 2010
worked for me... I noticed this IconHandler key in there, i guess it's supposed to render a preview of the HTML file?? perhaps... odd maybe it's not x64 compatible... anyway removing that brings back the familiar firefox document icon.
Buck
10:21 PM on Feb 17, 2010
Thank you! I tried everything I could google up, but this is the only thing that worked. I also use Opera, but deleted the keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\Opera.HTML
pasqal
7:09 AM on Mar 14, 2010
Yes Buck, you're right, the same solution also helped me.
Coco
12:11 PM on Mar 15, 2010
If this does not work, try this additional step. It'll work for sure as this IS the solution: 1- After applying the above fix and before rebooting, also check this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\FirefoxHTML\DefaultIcon If the key's value says "%1", copy/paste this instead: C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe,1 >> when there is a blank icon that key is set to "%1"....with a new installation this key is set to "C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe,1" (without ""). Note: this path is for win 7 64-bits, it might bedifferent on other system. Simply enter the path to firefox.exe, followed by the ",1".
Syd
6:30 PM on Apr 5, 2010
It works! Thank you very much!
Conpin
7:59 AM on Apr 29, 2010
Great！！！It works！Thx！
Nikos
11:55 AM on May 5, 2010
Coco, It worksssssssssssssssssssssssssss Thanks Cocoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
cameron
6:03 PM on Jun 11, 2010
You're a legend, thankyou. (Mine was broken because I'm using firefox portable, and deleted previous local install of firefox.)
Silver Fang
9:05 PM on Aug 14, 2010
Thank you so much. I'm a Windows 7 user and just discovered this problem today. Your helpful tip helped me to reassociate the Firefox icon with HTML documents.
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