User guide

DLL Icon Forge

A desktop tool for creating, editing, and reordering Windows icon DLL libraries from images and ICO files.

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What you can do

Main features

Create new DLLs

Import images, review previews, fix invalid resources, and generate a ready-to-use icon DLL.

Edit existing DLLs

Open an icon library DLL, extract readable icons, add or remove resources, and save a new version.

Check previews

View icons in grid or list mode, search by number, change pagination, and quickly inspect quality.

Crop and validate

Non-square images are highlighted. You can crop them with a locked 1:1 selection before saving.

File operations

Quick guides

Create a new DLL

  1. Open the app and choose Create.
  2. Drop images into the app or select them from disk.
  3. Review the generated previews.
  4. Crop or remove any images highlighted in red.
  5. Reorder icons if needed.
  6. Press Build DLL and choose where to save the file.

Edit an existing DLL

  1. Open the app and choose Edit.
  2. Select the source DLL.
  3. Review the icons extracted from the library.
  4. Add, delete, crop, or reorder icons.
  5. Generate a new output DLL.
  6. Keep the original DLL: the app does not overwrite it directly.

Compatibility

Supported formats

ICO PNG JPEG / JPG WebP SVG DLL

Images must be square before the DLL can be generated. If they are not, DLL Icon Forge flags them and lets you crop them.

Security and privacy

Files processed locally

DLL Icon Forge works on the user's computer. Imported files are not uploaded to external servers, and the app does not include cloud services or telemetry.

Windows SmartScreen

If Windows reports an unknown publisher, it is because the app is not signed with a commercial certificate. The source code is available on GitHub.