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For a good while (if I recall correctly, ever since I manually updated my W10 build from 1909 to 20H2 using Microsoft's manual update assistant in May 2021, been updating fine since then) my Settings icon on the taskbar has been missing.

I have tried in the past to delete and rebuild my icon cache. However, this issue is exclusively on my Settings app icon. Anything that is Explorer-related or other UWP apps icons are fine.

I followed the instructions from this answer (UWP icons are missing) but I don't have Google Drive File Stream installed on my system (so that's not the issue) and I can't seem to figure out which folder relates to the Settings app.

I also followed this answer but this seems related to Windows Search and when I check %UserProfile%\AppData\Local\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy\LocalState I don't seem to have an AppIconCache folder.

Every other query I search online only seems to bring me things about the taskbar that have nothing to do with actual program icons or the start menu.

The other possible issue that might be related to this is that I run an old version of Classic Shell (4.3.1) and some icons from its start menu are also missing. This is minor to me, and my focus is fixing my Settings app icon. Should I update my Classic Shell to Open Shell?

  1. Settings App screenshot:

1. Settings App screenshot

  1. Classic Shell screenshot:

2. Classic Shell screenshot

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  • It's not clear what your screenshots are supposed to represent. In the 1st one, what is the area circled in red? Are you saying clicking on that opens the Settings app? If so, just right click on it, select Properties, click on the "Change Icons" button at bottom, then navigate to %SystemRoot%\System32\SHELL32.dll and select the settings icon from there.
    – kreemoweet
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 0:03
  • That's the Settings app square on the taskbar but without its wheels icon. And its properties are not available (at least not on right click, I can only pin it to the taskbar).
    – user12206926
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 2:17
  • In case you are wondering about the white squares, that's just me hiding my programs in my screenshot.
    – user12206926
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 2:23
  • "Should I update my Classic Shell to Open Shell?" - I would remove Classic Shell to see if it makes a difference
    – Ramhound
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 5:00

1 Answer 1

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The other possible issue that might be related to this is that I run an old version of Classic Shell (4.3.1) and some icons from its start menu are also missing. This is minor to me, and my focus is fixing my Settings app icon. Should I update my Classic Shell to Open Shell?

(A) Uninstall the above, restart then run DISM / SFC and test.

(1) Open cmd.exe with Run as Administrator.

(2) DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /StartComponentCleanup

(3) DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-Image /Restorehealth

(4) SFC /SCANNOW

(5) Restart when all the above is complete and test.

If all is working and you wish to try an up to start menu replacement, try it after the above restart.

(B) If the above does not work, run a Windows 10 Repair Install.

Go to the Windows Media Creation Link

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10

Windows 10/11 is running, so click on the Download button (not Upgrade Button) and select Run. This will launch the Repair. Proceed normally answering the prompts. The default Keep prompt is to Keep Everything.

That is a more aggressive but safe fix than DISM.

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  • I'll try that soon. In case that it doesn't fix it, are there any other solutions to do like trying again with the icon cache or any other steps that are posted about in issues similar to mine?
    – user12206926
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 2:20
  • DISM / SFC is a good starting point solution . It that does not fix the issue, then you need to do a Windows 10 Repair Install,
    – anon
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 2:29
  • In a way, there's a bit of a partial fix I have tried in the past. I can pin the Settings app to the taskbar and I have an .ico wheels icon I manually set that I can then edit by right clicking and then having it show up, as kreemoweet has said. However, I don't particularly like pinning the settings app to my taskbar a lot. So I will still try your solution soon. For the record, I run DISM and SFC frequently so I dunno about their chance of successfuly fixing this particular problem here, but I haven't tried the /StartComponentCleanup command yet, so that could be worth a shot.
    – user12206926
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 2:37
  • I added Windows 10 Repair to my answer.
    – anon
    Commented Mar 18, 2022 at 2:50

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