Xfce Forum

userzero

Member

Registered: 2012-09-30

Posts: 16

Change folder icons on desktop

Hi All,

I'm running Xfce 4.10 on Debian Jessie.  I have my desktop set up pretty much the way I want it.  One thing I cant figure out, is how to change the icon image for say a desktop directory or document from the default icon.  I'm not talking about changing an icon set to make it look better, I want to right click the icon, select an image of my liking and use that as in Mate.  I can do this with any icon in the Xfce panels, but not on the desktop. 

Thanks,

u0

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 10,990

Re: Change folder icons on desktop

That is not possible in Thunar or xfdesktop. The functionality doesn't exist. The best you can do is emblems (Properties -> Emblem's tab).

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userzero

Member

Registered: 2012-09-30

Posts: 16

Re: Change folder icons on desktop

Thanks and bummer!

less-static

Member

Registered: 2015-03-20

Posts: 3

Re: Change folder icons on desktop

That is not possible in Thunar or xfdesktop. The functionality doesn't exist. The best you can do is emblems (Properties -> Emblem's tab).

I googled this question myself, and found many questions with the same answer. I am not a professional coder; so, sorry if this is a naive question. 

Wouldn't it be fairly simple, and not break current behavior, if Thunar and the XFCE Desktop simply looked for a file in folders called .xfce-custom-folder-icon that contained the name of the icon you want displayed for that folder?

This would travel with portable devices like usb sticks or dvd-ram, etc. and would just be ignored by OS's / distros that didn't use it or know what to do with it. If the icon is missing, just use the default.

I am looking for enlightenment on this.  I am hoping it will help me understand xubuntu a little better.

Last edited by less-static (2015-11-28 14:24:45)

ToZ

Administrator

From: Canada

Registered: 2011-06-02

Posts: 10,990

Re: Change folder icons on desktop

It would appear that I was half correct in my previous statement.

xfdesktop does support custom folders as of version 4.11.0. Simply put a jpg file in the same folder with the name either folder.jpg, cover.jpg, albumart.jpg, or fanart.jpg and it will become the folder icon on the desktop (commit).

Thunar, unfortunately does not yet. This appears to be the ongoing enhancement request. Some work has been done, but more is required.

This bug is also listed on the bountysource page.

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Wladimir

Member

Registered: 2020-11-29

Posts: 1

Re: Change folder icons on desktop

"Custom folder icons can be configured via thumbler with Thunar 1.8.2 or above.

You can add a custom thumbnailer specialized for folder.

Check the section"Customized Thumbnailer for folders" in the Thunar Wiki for details.

For more details, check the related bug ."

see Alex answer here

firstairbender

Member

From: Canada

Registered: 2020-08-28

Posts: 22

Re: Change folder icons on desktop

This may be of help:
https://github.com/flozz/cover-thumbnailer