How to Fix Excel Change Icon Grayed Out

Question: I created shortcuts for Microsoft Office products on my desktop but the default application icons are not visible. I tried right clicking on the icon to see the Properties but the Change Icon is not available. How do I fix the issue with Excel change icon grayed out? Also, the Find Target button is grayed out.

Excel Change Icon Grayed Out [Fixed]

Shortcut to a Microsoft Office product, such as Excel, can be created in two ways. The first method is by copying and pasting the Excel.exe icon from its original folder to Desktop. This can be done by navigating to C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15 (note: your version of office and the folder maybe different) using Windows Explorer and then copying Excel.exe from this folder and pasting it on the Desktop. If this method is chosen, the Change Icon and Find Target buttons will both be grayed out or completely unavailable through Properties.

The correct way to create a shortcut to Excel and have Change Icon and Find Target buttons be available is to do the following:

1. Right click on an empty area on the Desktop.
2. Click New > Shortcut.
3. Click the Browse button to browse to the MS Office folder. Typically C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 15\root\office15 (your Excel.exe folder location maybe different).
4. Select Excel.exe and click OK.
5. Click Next to give the shortcut a name and then click Finish.

Right clicking on this icon and clicking on Properties will activate Change Icon button for Excel. If you do not find Excel.exe in the above mentioned folder, you can find the icon location by right clicking on the icon from your Start menu and clicking on Properties and looking at the Shortcut Tab for the target. Make note of the folder structure and then navigate to the folder structure you obtained.