Icons are an important part of any application or system in Windows 11 and 10. They are used to represent an application, folder, document, or any other type of file. The icons are stored in the application EXE and system DLL files, which makes it easy to access and modify them.

In this article, we will discuss how to extract icons from application EXE and system DLL files in Windows 11 and 10.

Why Extract Icons?

There can be various reasons for extracting icons from an application EXE or system DLL file. Some of these reasons include:

• To modify an application or system icon
• To use the icon in another application or document
• To analyze the icon for security purposes
• To create a custom icon library

Different Methods of Extracting Icons

There are different methods of extracting icons from an application EXE or system DLL file. Here are some of the methods:

1. Using an Icon Extraction Tool

There are various icon extraction tools available online that can extract icons from an application EXE or system DLL file. These tools can quickly scan the file and extract all the available icons. Some of the popular icon extraction tools include Resource Hacker, IconViewer, and IcoFX.

2. Using Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer also allows you to extract icons from an application EXE or system DLL file. Here’s how to do it:

• Open Windows Explorer and navigate to the location of the application EXE or system DLL file.
• Right-click on the file and select “Properties.”
• Go to the “Icons” tab and select the icon you want to extract.
• Click on the “Save” button and save the icon in a folder of your choice.

3. Using PowerShell Script

PowerShell Script can also be used to extract icons from an application EXE or system DLL file. Here’s how to do it:

• Open PowerShell with administrator privileges.
• Navigate to the location of the application EXE or system DLL file using the “cd” command.
• Type the following command: [Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName(“System.Drawing”);$filePath = “C:\Path\To\File.exe”;$iconExtractor = New-Object System.Drawing.IconExtractor($filePath);$iconExtractor.Icons |%{ $_.ToBitmap().Save(“C:\Path\To\OutputFolder\$($_.ToBitmap().Width)x$($_.ToBitmap().Height).bmp”) }
• Replace “C:\Path\To\File.exe” with the location of the application EXE or system DLL file and “C:\Path\To\OutputFolder” with the location where you want to save the extracted icons.