Internet Shortcut (.url file) no longer supports remote icon

Niall Coleman 1 Reputation point
2020-10-08T15:41:00.08+00:00

Hi,

I want to deploy a shortcut to a web application, using a custom icon which is hosted on a publicly accessible web server.
I've been using the '.url' format for doing this and it was working as expected until recently.

Around the start of September 2020 all my newly deployed shortcuts would only show the user's default web browser icon, instead of my hosted one.

I've found various posts online, some of which say it should work, some which say the icon must be local (or at least on a network share) in order to load.

Note that if the icon makes it into the icon cache, which it can by using it from a '.lnk' shortcut, then it works fine, but I want to continue using '.url' files if at all possible.

Sample of a shortcut file which illustrates the issue: 

[InternetShortcut]
URL=https://microsoft.com/
IconFile=https://www.microsoft.com/favicon.ico
IconIndex=0

Has this functionality been dropped in a recent Windows update (I know there were 2 on 8th / 9th Sept 2020)?

Affected operating systems:
Windows 10 Pro (build 17763 & 18363)
Windows 7 Enterprise SP1 build 7601

A colleague also tested on:
Windows 2008
Windows Server 2012 R2
Windows Server 2016

Has anyone any suggestions or insight into this change in behaviour please?

Thanks,
Niall.

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3 answers

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  1. Jenny Yan-MSFT 9,321 Reputation points
    2020-10-09T05:46:58.953+00:00

    Hi,
    1.Was Windows update the only change that you've made on the clients? Have you tested by removing that patch installed?

    2.I want to deploy a shortcut to a web application, using a custom icon which is hosted on a publicly accessible web server.
    I've been using the '.url' format for doing this and it was working as expected until recently.

    I am wondering how did you deploy the shortcut for all users to reach? Did users remote to the publicly accessible web server? Or distrubte this shortcut to all users' workstation?

    If possible, I would like to reproduce your issue on my test computer to verify if this is a common issue with detailed steps or guidance link.

    3.some which say the icon must be local (or at least on a network share) in order to load.
    Have you tested this method on one of the problematic machine?

    Looking forward to you update.

    Thanks,
    Jenny

  2. aa 1 Reputation point
    2021-05-19T09:15:55.167+00:00

    I have the same problem.
    I can not see the icon found on the website , only show the user's default web browser icon.
    but when I look at the url file with file-open from visual studio 2019 I see the correct icon (the one that is on the server)

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  3. Garric 0 Reputation points
    2023-02-08T09:01:28.71+00:00

    It's not that simple. This shortcut works for me. But when I try to open the url of the icon in the browser, nothing happens.

    The registry for this address is empty. Windows was reinstalled after creating the shortcut.

    I don't understand how it works?

    [{000214A0-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}]

    Prop3=19,11

    [InternetShortcut]

    IDList=

    URL=https://stackoverflow.com/questions/41707358/how-can-i-change-icons-for-existing-url-shortcuts-using-powershell

    HotKey=0

    IconFile=http://admin.tairis.by/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/cropped-anykey-32x32.jpg

    IconIndex=1

    ==================

    Continuation of a story.

    I've had several url-icon shortcuts that worked for me.

    To test, I converted them into shortcuts created specifically for opening in Internet Explorer.

    They look like this:

    [{000214A0-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}]

    Prop3=19,2

    Prop4=31,Cпособ создать ярлык URL для открытия веб-страницы именно в Internet Explorer | Ваш системный администратор

    [InternetShortcut]

    IDList=

    URL=http://admin.tairis.by/webpage-url-ie/

    IconFile=http://admin.tairis.by/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/cropped-anykey-32x32.jpg

    IconIndex=1

    [{A7AF692E-098D-4C08-A225-D433CA835ED0}]

    Prop5=3,0

    Prop9=19,0

    Prop2=65,2C0000000200000003000000FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFA501000011010000C5040000690300000E

    [{000214A0-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}.A]

    Prop4=31,Cпособ создать ярлык URL для открытия веб-страницы именно в Internet Explorer | Ваш системный администратор

    [{000214A0-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}.W]

    Prop4=31,C+BD8EPgRBBD4EMQ- +BEEEPgQ3BDQEMARCBEw- +BE8EQAQ7BEsEOg- URL +BDQEOwRP- +BD4EQgQ6BEAESwRCBDgETw- +BDIENQQx--+BEEEQgRABDAEPQQ4BEYESw- +BDgEPAQ1BD0EPQQ+- +BDI- Internet Explorer +AHw- +BBIEMARI- +BEEEOARBBEIENQQ8BD0ESwQ5- +BDAENAQ8BDgEPQQ4BEEEQgRABDAEQgQ+BEA-

    [{9F4C2855-9F79-4B39-A8D0-E1D42DE1D5F3}]

    Prop5=8,Microsoft.Website.64CC9D1C.94775C5B

    ==============

    It turns out that in my set there were 2 types of url-icon shortcuts that worked.

    To see if they are cached, I moved the entire folder to another drive. Quite expectedly, the shortcuts stopped working. Everyone has stopped.

    What was my surprise when, after opening the shortcuts of the Internet Explorer, they were restored. And with an unexpected rebranding of its content. (notepad++ noticed this). But these same shortcuts, with standard content, did not change their icon, as it was on previous disk.

    It was surprise for me when, having opened this folder after restarting computer, the all Internet Explorer shortcuts began to show the one same icon !!! The icon with the code of which this comment began.
    IconFile=http://admin.tairis.by/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/cropped-anykey-32x32.jpg
    with a url that doesn't open even in a browser!
    Other urls that worked for me after a kick from internet explorer:
    IconFile=http://tavalik.ru/favicon.ico
    IconFile=http://winitpro.ru/favicon.ico?v=3
    It's just mysticism with caching performed by Windows and Internet Explorer

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