Icon Studio

Icon Studio is a local-first Windows desktop app that watches folders and assigns custom icons automatically.

It combines a Fluent-style Electron desktop shell, a React control panel, and a local Node.js backend that updates folder icons directly on your PC using desktop.ini and standard Windows folder attributes.

Why Icon Studio

• Watch one or more folders at the same time
• Apply a default icon to every new subfolder
• Match folder name prefixes and assign rule-based icons automatically
• Manage a reusable icon library with multi-size .ico assets
• Keep everything local on Windows, without cloud dependencies
• Avoid overwriting folder customizations that were created by other tools

What It Does

Icon Studio is built for people who keep large project folders, clients, automations, scripts, vaults, or workspaces on disk and want them to stay visually organized.

You choose a root directory, assign a default icon, optionally define keyword rules, and let Icon Studio monitor the folder in the background. When a matching folder appears, the backend updates the folder icon directly on Windows.

Screenshots

Dashboard

Folders

Icon Library

Settings

Core Features

Folder Monitoring

• Monitor multiple root folders in parallel
• Optional recursive monitoring
• Runtime service control from the app
• Soft restart support when monitoring settings change

Rule-Based Icon Assignment

• Default icon per watched folder
• Keyword prefix rules for specific folders
• Automatic icon application to new folders
• Optional startup re-scan

Icon Library

• Upload .ico files directly
• Convert supported image formats into multi-size .ico
• Reuse icons across multiple watched folders
• Visual icon picker in folder setup flows

Desktop Experience

• Windows desktop app with tray integration
• Start minimized support
• Native installer and portable packaging
• Dark Fluent-inspired shell

How It Works

Icon Studio stores your icons in a local library and points Windows folders to those assets through desktop.ini.

To stay as non-invasive as possible:

• existing unmanaged custom folder icons are not overwritten
• hidden and system items can be ignored by configuration
• icon files are centralized instead of duplicated into every folder

Tech Stack

• desktop/: Electron shell for Windows
• web/: React + TypeScript + Vite
• backend/: Node.js + Express + Chokidar

Run Locally

npm install
npm run dev

Useful scripts:

• npm run dev: Electron desktop app in development
• npm run dev:web: backend + web UI without Electron
• npm run build: production web build
• npm run dist:win: build the Windows installer
• npm run dist:win:portable: build the portable Windows executable

Build Windows Releases

Classic installer:

npm run dist:win

Portable executable:

npm run dist:win:portable

Artifacts are written to release/.

Install From GitHub Release

1. Open the Releases page.
2. Download the latest Icon-Studio-Setup-*.exe installer from the release assets.
3. Run the installer and complete the setup wizard.
4. Launch Icon Studio from the Start Menu or desktop shortcut.

If Windows SmartScreen appears, click More info and then Run anyway for unsigned builds.

Windows Notes

• Windows Explorer may take a few seconds to refresh icon cache changes
• Some protected folders can block desktop.ini updates
• Unsigned builds may trigger SmartScreen warnings on other machines

Project Status

Icon Studio is designed for Windows and focuses on local folder icon automation, background monitoring, and an integrated desktop management UI.