How to Change the Default Recycle Bin Icon on Windows 10

Ever wanted to hide the Recycle Bin icon from your desktop? Your Windows desktop screen may look promising with all the cool apps you are using. But, then looking at the bottom and you see a full or empty trash can sitting there at all times.

Recycle Bin may not be as appealing as it looks but it one of the most important tools in the Windows ecosystem.

It serves as a temporary storage area for all your deleted files before they are permanently deleted and removed from the computer. That gives you a second chance to restore deleted files, especially if you have just accidentally hit delete.

Now you can change that trash can icon into something better. Windows 10 allows you to customize your Recycle Bin icon so you have an option to retain the classic trash can look or completely change it into something cooler.

Read the procedure below on how you can change the default icon of your Recycle Bin.

Change Recycle Bin Icon on your Desktop

• On your desktop, right-click anywhere to open a drop-down menu.
• Click Personalize and select Change desktop icon.
• Choose Recycle Bin (full).
• Click Change icon and click Browse.
• Next, go to Windows 8 installed drive.
• Click Windows and select System 32.
• Choose imgres.dll and click Open.
• Now, you can choose the icon and click OK.
• You can do the same process when selecting an icon for your Recycle Bin when it becomes empty. If you want to restore the default trash can icon, you can click the desktop icon, select settings, and click Restore Default.

Change Recycle Bin Icon using the Registry Editor

• Open the Run dialog box. You can also press Windows key + R.
• Type regedit and click OK.
• Go to this key: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon
• On the right side, double click REG_EXPAND_SZ. Now, type the full path of the image file you want and click OK.
• You can also do the same for the Recycle Bin icon when it is full.
• To restore to the default icons, type these file paths:
• Recycle Bin Full – C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,-54
• Recycle Bin Empty – C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,-55
• Restart your computer to save and apply the changes.

With the process above, you can change your Recycle Bin icon anytime and customize the way you want it. What image do you want for your Recycle Bin icon? We would love to know your ideas so tell us in the comments below.