How to Change Windows Folder Color Easily and Organize Them Better

We deal with so many folders every day on our PC. In a sea of folders, finding the one you’re looking for can be a little difficult. But what if you could change the Windows folder color like on Mac? You will not find an inbuilt solution to change folder color on Windows PCs, but with some workarounds, you can change folder colors on your PC too.

There isn’t a built-in feature that lets you change the Windows color folder. But with third-party apps like Folder Colorizer and FolderIco, you can get the same functionality. Let’s see how.

Change Windows Folder Color Without Third-Party Apps

The macOS and some Linux distros let you change folder colors in a few clicks. Color coding folders make them easy to spot. If you remember the color you assigned to specific folders, you don’t even need to read the name. For example, imagine you’re scrolling through 10-20 folders but the one you want to open is red while every other folder is yellow.

While Windows does not let you easily change the color of folders like macOS, it does let you change the folder icon. That means you can still change the folder color. All you need is a folder icon but in a different color. Fortunately, Windows does have a large community that makes such things and shares them for free.

For this tutorial, we’re going to use Windows 11 coloured folder icons from DeviantArt. You can use any other set of icons, or just a fancy folder icon instead of a colored icon. The only requirement is that the icon file should be in the .ico format. You can also use icon libraries which have a .icl format.

Download: Windows 11 colored folder icons

1. Download the Windows 11 coloured folder icons from the link above to your Windows PC.
2. Extract the downloaded zip and you should have a file named Windows_11_coloured_icons.icl.
3. Now, right-click on the folder that you want to change the color.
4. Select Properties.
5. Switch to the Customize tab.
6. Click on the “Change Icon…” button.
7. Click the “Browse…” button.
8. Select the extracted .icl file from the Downloads folder on the popup window.
9. Select your preferred color and click OK.
10. Click OK again on the Properties window.

You should now see your selected colored folder icon. This process can become a bit tedious if you want to change the color of a lot of folders. But, if you only want to customize a few folders, it’s much better than installing a third-party app you may never use again.

Related: How To Add Windows 11 Start Menu Folders

Change Windows Folder Icon and Color with FolderIco

FolderIco is probably the best app to change folder color on Windows, and it works with both Windows 10 and Windows 11. FolderIco can do more than just change folder colors. It even lets you change the folder icon. Windows already allows changing the folder icon, but the process is a bit tedious. FolderIco makes it as easy as a right-click and here’s how you can change Windows folder color with FolderIco;

1. Download FolderIco (Freemium) on your PC and install the app.
2. Once installed, simply right-click on any folder you want to change the color of.
3. On Windows 11, select Show more options. Users of previous versions of Windows don’t need to do this.
4. Go to Change Folder Icon.
5. Select any of the colors from the menu.

This will immediately change the folder color. But as you’ll notice, there is even the option to change the folder icon instead. If you want more colors or icons, select More Icons. There is a decent selection of colors and icons to pick from there. But you can also create your own icon if you want.

Related: You Can Make Windows 11 Start Menu Bigger with More Icons Pinned; See How

Alternate Method to Change Windows Folder Color: Folder Colorizer

Folder Colorizer is a free third-party app available for Windows. It’s not as good as FolderIco but as long as you only want to change the color of your folders it gets the job done. To change folder color on your PC with Folder Colorizer;

1. Download and install Folder Colorizer on your Windows 11 or 10 computer.
2. Once installed, right-click on a folder you want to color.
3. Go to Colorize and select a color. On Windows 11, you’ll have to first select Show more options before you see Colorize.

The folder immediately changes colors. You can even select “Colors…” to pick a custom color if you don’t like the built-in choices. Unfortunately, Folder Colorizer only allows you to change the color for one folder. After that, the app becomes unusable. It won’t even let you restore the default folder color. That’s because it wants you to buy the full version.

Related: How to View Hidden Files, Folders, and Drives in Windows 10 & 11

Windows may not be as customizable as Linux, and it may not have a few features that macOS has. But, the huge online community makes sure you don’t miss out on too much. If you really want to have something on Windows, chances are you can find something online. Hopefully, these three different ways helped you change folder color on Windows 11 and 10 PC.