DLL Icon Extractor

Extract icons from DLL files - shell32.dll, imageres.dll, the Windows 11 .mun files and any other library. Save every icon as a multi-size ICO or as PNG, with the icon ID Windows uses for shortcuts. Need a program’s icon instead? Try the EXE Icon Extractor.

Drop a DLL file here or browse Big ones welcome - imageres.dll.mun is about 25 MB and reads in seconds. .DLL.EXE.MUN.ICL.OCX.CPL.SCR.SYS

Every size, byte-exact Icon IDs No upload Try:

How to extract icons from a DLL file

Add the file. Drop a DLL, EXE, MUN, ICL, OCX, CPL or SCR file into the box, or browse for it. Large files like imageres.dll.mun are read in the background.
Find your icon. Filter by size, search by icon ID or position, and open any card to see every size it contains.
Pick a format. Choose ICO (all sizes, exactly as stored), PNG at one size, or PNG for every size.
Save. Save one icon, the ones you selected, or all of them. More than two files come as one ZIP with a README.

Want an icon from a picture instead? Use Image to ICO or the Icon Maker.

Where Windows keeps its system icons

Most Windows icons live in a handful of icon libraries.

File	What is inside
imageres.dll	The big one - folders, drives, devices, users, file types, the UAC shield
shell32.dll	Classic Explorer icons - folders, computer, network, recycle bin, run, search
ddores.dll	Devices and hardware - printers, phones, cameras, speakers, game pads
moricons.dll	Old-school program icons from the Windows 3.x and DOS days
pifmgr.dll	Retro fun icons - umbrella, beach ball, briefcase, dynamite
wmploc.dll	Media Player - music, video, playlists, CDs
netshell.dll	Network connections and adapters

On Windows 7, 8 and early Windows 10 they sit in C:\Windows\System32.

On Windows 10 version 1903 and newer, and on Windows 11, the icons moved to C:\Windows\SystemResources as .mun files - for example imageres.dll.mun. Copy the file to your Desktop first, then drop it here.

Just want to look around? The Windows System Icon Browser lists the popular ones with their numbers.

What is a .mun file?

A .mun file is the resource half of a system DLL.

Since Windows 10 version 1903, Microsoft keeps the code in System32\imageres.dll and the pictures in SystemResources\imageres.dll.mun. Windows reads the .mun file automatically, so shortcuts still say imageres.dll.

That is why the DLL in System32 now looks empty to most icon tools. This one reads .mun files directly and, if you drop the empty DLL, tells you which .mun file to use instead.

Icon ID or icon index?

Windows can point at an icon in two ways.

By ID: imageres.dll,-102 - the minus sign means resource ID 102. This keeps working when Microsoft adds new icons.
By index: imageres.dll,5 - the sixth icon in the file, counted from 0. This is what the Change Icon dialog shows.

Every card here shows both, and the copy button puts the reference on your clipboard. Paste it into a desktop.ini file (IconResource=C:\Windows\System32\imageres.dll,-102) or a registry DefaultIcon value.

Use an extracted icon for a shortcut or folder

Save the icon as ICO. Keep it somewhere permanent, like Documents\Icons - if the file moves, the shortcut loses its icon.
Shortcut: right-click it, choose Properties, then Change Icon. Press Browse and pick your ICO.
Folder: right-click it, choose Properties, open the Customize tab and press Change Icon.
Still the old icon? Windows caches icons. Sign out and back in, or wait a minute and refresh the folder.

Need a different size? The Icon Resizer adds or removes sizes, and ICO to PNG splits an icon into pictures.

What you get

Byte-exact icons. Every size and colour depth, copied exactly as stored - from 16 x 16 to 256 x 256.
Cursors and images too. Cursors save as .cur with their hotspot, bitmaps and PNG resources as their own files.
Find things fast. Filter by size or colour depth and search by ID or position.
Big files, no freeze. Large libraries are read in the background, so the page stays responsive.
Old and new files. 64-bit, 32-bit and 16-bit Windows files, .mun files and .icl icon libraries.
Private. Files are read in your browser - never uploaded, never run.

Want to see what an ICO holds? Open it in the ICO File Viewer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Drop the DLL into the box above. Every icon inside shows up as a card - open one to see all of its sizes.

Select several and save them as ICO or PNG. More than two files come as one ZIP.

Since Windows 10 version 1903, and in every Windows 11 release, system icons live in .mun files.

Copy C:\Windows\SystemResources\imageres.dll.mun (or shell32.dll.mun) to your Desktop and drop that file here.

It is how Windows points at one icon inside a DLL. A minus sign means the icon’s resource ID (here 102).

A number without a minus is the icon’s position, counted from 0. Every card shows both, and the copy button gives you the reference ready to paste.

Save the icon as ICO and keep it in a folder that will not move. Right-click the shortcut, choose Properties, then Change Icon and browse to the ICO.

For a folder use Properties - Customize - Change Icon.

Yes. Every size and colour depth is copied byte for byte, in the order the DLL stores them - nothing is resized or re-compressed.

Only the PNG export draws new pictures. To check an ICO, open it in the ICO Analyzer.

Yes. The file is only read, never run, and it never leaves your device - all the work happens in your browser.

Yes. 16-bit Windows 3.x files (NE format), .icl icon libraries and modern 32-bit and 64-bit files all work.

DOS programs and VxD drivers have no icons to extract.

Yes. Pick PNG, open the PNG size row and choose a size. If an icon does not have that size it is scaled down from the next larger one.

Press Favicon for a ready 16, 32 and 48 px favicon.ico, or build a full set with the Favicon Generator.