WinForms Form icon changes to EXE icon when positioned beside taskbar overflow (Windows 11)

Question

WinForms Form icon changes to EXE icon when positioned beside taskbar overflow (Windows 11)

test code 21

In a VB.NET WinForms application (.NET Framework 4.0) running on Windows 11, a specific icon switching behavior occurs when the taskbar becomes crowded.

Here is my code snippet:

Public Class Form1
   Private Sub Form1_Load(sender As Object, e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
   Try
    Me.Icon = New Icon("C:\Users\User1\source\repos\ForumSampleIcon\ForumSampleIcon\bin\Debug\Icons\resumelist.ico")
   Catch ex As Exception
    MsgBox(ex.Message)
   End Try
  End Sub
 End Class

I am using Me.Icon inside my form's load event to set my application icon which appears in the taskbar.

I notice the behavior when my application icon is positioned next to the "three dots": the displayed taskbar icon switches from the specific Form icon to the executable (.exe) icon. Once the number of taskbar icons is reduced and the overflow tray disappears, the icon automatically reverts to the original Form icon.

Reproduction steps**:**

Create a Winforms application where the form icon is set in Form load event using Me.Icon as shown in the above code:
In taskbar settings, change the "taskbar alignment" to Left and change "Combine taskbar buttons and hide labels" to Never
Open many applications until the Windows 11 taskbar overflows
Launch the WinForms application

Actual result**:**

If my application is moved inside the overflow area then the form icon remains visible. But if my application gets positioned next to overflow area i.e near three dots then the application icon gets changed to exe icon.

Expected result:
If my application icon gets positioned next to the overflow area (i.e. near to three dots) in the taskbar, then the application icon is expected to remain the same (i.e the form icon)

What I already checked:
I have tried using combination of setting Me.Icon & using SendMessage to set the icon inside Form's OnActivated event, toggling DPIAwareness to true/false and changing the icon to MS File Explorer (to verify if issue is with my icon's format) in the following order:

|Form OnActivated event |DPI Awareness|MS File Explorer Icon|Result| | -------- | -------- | -------- | -------- | |Using Me.icon to set icon|False|No|Form icon is displayed in taskbar but it changes to exe icon when it is near three dots (...) during overflow.| |Using Me.icon to set icon|False|Yes|Form icon is displayed in taskbar but it changes to exe icon when it is near three dots (...) during overflow.| |Using Me.icon to set icon|True|No|Form icon is displayed in taskbar but it changes to exe icon when it is near three dots (...) during overflow.| |Using SendMessage to set icon|False|Yes|Form icon is displayed in taskbar but it changes to exe icon when it is near three dots (...) during overflow.| |Using SendMessage to set icon|True|No|Form icon is displayed in taskbar but it changes to exe icon when it is near three dots (...) during overflow.|***Question:
***I would like to understand whether this is expected Windows behavior or related to WinForms icon handling.

***Screenshot:
*** FormIconissue

Viorel 126.8K Reputation points

2026-02-27T08:25:12.8233333+00:00
Was the usual, non-programmable method tried as well?

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/how-to-specify-an-application-icon-visual-basic-csharp

1 answer

Your answer

Viorel 126.8K Reputation points

2026-02-27T08:25:12.8233333+00:00

Was the usual, non-programmable method tried as well?

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/how-to-specify-an-application-icon-visual-basic-csharp

Answer 1

Varsha Dundigalla(INFOSYS LIMITED) 4,785 Microsoft External Staff

Thank you for reaching out.

This behavior is not caused by WinForms code or by using Me.Icon. What you are seeing is due to how Windows 11 handles taskbar icons when the taskbar overflows.

In a WinForms application, there are two different icons involved:

The form icon, which you set using Form.Icon or Me.Icon
The application (EXE) icon, which is embedded into the executable using Visual Studio project settings

When the taskbar has enough space, Windows usually shows the form icon. However, when the taskbar becomes crowded and the overflow appears, Windows may rearrange taskbar buttons and internally fall back to using the application (EXE) icon instead. This decision is made by the Windows shell and happens dynamically, without restarting the application or changing any code.

This is why the icon:

Changes only when the app is positioned near the overflow button
Automatically returns to the form icon when the overflow disappears
Cannot be forced or overridden using WinForms APIs or SendMessage

Because taskbar overflow behavior is controlled by Windows and not documented in detail, there is no supported way to guarantee that the runtime form icon will always be used in every taskbar layout. The recommended and supported approach is to make sure the application icon (EXE icon) is set correctly, so that even if Windows falls back to it, the icon remains consistent.

You can set the application icon using the standard Visual Studio project settings as described here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualstudio/ide/how-to-specify-an-application-icon-visual-basic-csharp

Please let us know if you require any further assistance, we’re happy to help. If you found this information useful, kindly mark this as "Accept Answer". So that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.

test code 21 Reputation points

2026-02-28T12:56:33.15+00:00

@Varsha Dundigalla(INFOSYS LIMITED)

My VB application contains multiple Windows Forms, and each form has its own icon that should be displayed when switching between forms. Therefore, I would like the taskbar to show the form-specific icon instead of the default application executable icon.

Since there is no supported way to guarantee that the runtime form icon will always be used across all taskbar layouts, is there any method to change the application-level icon at runtime, so that the application icon updates automatically based on the currently active form?
Varsha Dundigalla(INFOSYS LIMITED) 4,785 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-03-02T09:44:06.96+00:00

Thank you for reaching out.

We understand what you’re trying to do, but this isn’t something that can be controlled reliably on Windows 11.

Even though you can change the active form’s icon at runtime, Windows 11 does not always update the taskbar icon to match it. In some situations, especially when the taskbar layout changes or space becomes limited, Windows may choose to show the application (EXE) icon instead. This behavior is handled by Windows itself, not by WinForms.

There is also no supported way to change the application‑level (EXE) icon while the app is running. Runtime methods like Form.Icon or WM_SETICON can update the window icon, but Windows 11 does not guarantee that the taskbar icon will follow those changes in all cases.

Because of this, the taskbar icon cannot be guaranteed to always reflect the currently active form. The practical approach is to ensure the application icon is set correctly so that when Windows uses it, the icon still appears consistent.

Please let us know if you require any further assistance, we’re happy to help. If you found this information useful, kindly mark this as "Accept Answer". So that others in the community facing similar issues can easily find the solution. Your contribution is highly appreciated.
Varsha Dundigalla(INFOSYS LIMITED) 4,785 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-03-05T12:21:21.3+00:00

Hope you're doing well. Could you please let us know if the issue still persists or if it has been resolved? If everything is working fine now, we’d appreciate it if you could mark the response as answered. We will proceed with the thread closure by 9th March, so we are hoping for your reply before that.
Varsha Dundigalla(INFOSYS LIMITED) 4,785 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff

2026-03-09T11:37:22.9166667+00:00

We are closing this thread at this moment since we are unable to investigate this issue further without the requested information. If the issue still occurs, please collect the requested information and share it with us. Upon receipt of the additional information, we will reopen this thread and continue to investigate this issue. Thank you.

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WinForms Form icon changes to EXE icon when positioned beside taskbar overflow (Windows 11)

1 answer

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