Generic Icon Shown for Apps in Start Search Results in Windows 10

When you search for an application in the Start menu search, an incorrect icon may appear for an app. For example, the File Explorer entry in the search results may show up with a generic icon or glyph, as in the following screenshot:

However, the application’s shortcut may show up with the correct icon in the Desktop or when pinned to Taskbar.

The above issue happens if the icon file for the item is missing in the AppIconCache folder.

Resolution

To refresh the Start Search icons cache, follow these steps:

Step 1: Rebuild the AppIconCache files

1. Right-click Start, and click Run.
2. Copy the following path, and paste it into the Run box:

   %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Search_cw5n1h2txyewy\localstate\AppIconCache

3. Click OK. This opens the “AppIconCache” folder.
4. In the “AppIconCache” folder, rename the sub-folder “100” to “100.old“.
5. Close File Explorer.
6. Open PowerShell and run the following command:

   get-appxpackage Microsoft.Windows.Search | Foreach {Add-AppxPackage -DisableDevelopmentMode -Register "$($_.InstallLocation)\AppXManifest.xml" -Verbose}

   

7. Press Enter.

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Step 2: Rebuild the Windows Icon Cache

If the instructions in Step 1 don’t fix the issue, rebuild the Windows icon cache.

For more information, see How to Rebuild Icon Cache in Windows 10 or 11.

That’s it. One of the above methods should refresh the app icons in the Start menu search results.

(Last tested in Windows 10 22H2 19045.3086)