In today’s tutorial, we will be showing you how to create an icon for a website on your desktop.
This method works in all versions of Windows including the latest version Windows 11.
Why would you want to create an icon for a website on your desktop?
If you have found a great website online or you find yourself using the same website frequently. It can become tiresome having to manually type out the address for that website every time you would like to visit that resource.
You may say “wouldn’t a bookmark be just as efficient?” Well, the answer is no and I will explain why.
Using a bookmark will require you to take extra steps in order to achieve the same outcome. You would need to first open a new browser window and then locate the correct bookmark (which could be buried in folders or subfolders).
Creating an icon for a website on your desktop would be a more efficient solution for the websites you frequently visit.
Ok so if you are ready. We will go over the steps to create an icon for a website on your desktop.
How to create an icon for a website on your desktop.
Step 1: Find a great website
So you most likely have a website in mind that you would like to use as an icon. In our example today we will be using our website https://www.addictedtotech.net. All you will need to do is replace any references to https://www.addictedtotech.net with the website you would like to create the icon for.
Step 2: Create the shortcut.
Right-click in an empty space on your desktop.
You should see the context menu appear. From here hover over the “New” menu option and you should see another context menu appear.
From here click on the “Shortcut” menu option.
You should now see a new icon appear on your desktop labelled “New shortcut“. What will also appear at the same time in the foreground is a “Create Shortcut” wizard. This wizard helps you to create shortcuts to local or network programs, files, folders, computers, or Internet addresses.
In our tutorial today we would like to achieve the latter and create a shortcut for an Internet address.
You will now need the full website address including the protocol (https etc) of your chosen website.
You can manually type this address or an even easier method is to copy and paste the address straight from your browser’s address bar into the “Type the location of the item:” text box. Using the copy-and-paste method will also make sure there are no mistakes in the address.
https://www.addictedtotech.net
Once you have the address location inserted into the text box you can click “Next” to continue.
In the next Wizard screen, you will need to give a name to your shortcut. Give your shortcut a descriptive name. This is the label that will appear underneath the shortcut icon on your desktop.
Addictedtotech.net
Once you have typed in the descriptive name for your shortcut. Click on “Finish” to end the Create Shortcut wizard.
You should now see your new shortcut on your desktop. It should be labelled with the descriptive name that you gave it in the create shortcut wizard. It should be fully functional. If you double-click on the new icon it should take you to your chosen website.
By default, It will use your browser’s icon to indicate that it is a website shortcut. I personally do not like this as it doesn’t make the shortcut very clear. It is also not very pleasing to the eye when having multiple website icons on the desktop. It may even cause some confusion, especially with your main browser’s icon.
We will solve this below by creating a unique icon for our website shortcut.
However, if you are happy with your shortcut using the default browser icon then you can end the tutorial now. Well done you have a working website icon shortcut on your desktop.
Step 3: Create a unique icon for a website on your desktop. (Optional)
Now we have the shortcut set we are going to create a unique icon for the website shortcut.
There are many ways to achieve this and it all depends on the icon image you would like to choose.
Select a suitable image to be used as an icon.
The image you chose should be simple. Preferably a logo or a website’s favicon. You will also need to make sure the image is in the correct format which is .ico.
Tip: If you need to change the image file format. There are several online free image converter websites that can do this for you. See below!
Tip 2: Most websites use favicons. These are small icons that display in the browsers tab. You can find favicons and use them for icons. Most websites have these icons stored at https://examplewebsite.com/favicon.ico. You can add /favicon.ico to the end of the website address of your chosen website and you may find a favicon that you can download directly and use as your icon image as it has the correct .ico format.
In our example, we will be using a jpg image which we are going to convert online to an icon using a free online tool.
It really sounds more complicated than it is. But don’t worry we will take you step by step.
Now you have selected a suitable image. We can convert it to the correct format.
Note: If your chosen image already has the correct format you can skip to the next step (Step 4).
Converting an image file to the correct .ico format.
Open a new browser window or tab.
Navigate to https://convertio.co/jpg-ico/
Note: These free image conversion websites come and go quite frequently from the internet. If this one doesn’t work then you can just search online for an alternative.
Once there under the image converter select “Choose Files“.
Locate and select the image you have chosen for your Icon from your computer.
Then click on “Open“.
Now make sure “ICO” is selected as the converted format in the dropbox menu.
Now click “Convert” and wait for it to complete.
Once the conversion has completed you can click “Download” to save the icon image to your computer.
You should check the image to make sure it is working. Once confirmed, you are ready to use the image as your website icon.
Step 4: Set your Unique Icon As Your Website Icon
Locate your “website icon” on your desktop and “right-click” on it.
In the context menu click on “Properties“.
In the properties box that appears click on “Change Icon“.
Now click on “Browse“.
Select your custom Icon by clicking on it and then press “Open“
Note: Confirm the file “Type” states it is an “Icon”.
You should now see your image in the “Change Icon” dialogue box. Make sure it is highlighted and click “Ok“.
To finalize the new Icon click on “Apply“.
Then click “OK” to finish.
You should now have your custom website icon available to use directly from your desktop.
Congratulations you now know how to create an icon for a website on your desktop and create a unique icon for it.
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