Google Chrome is a popular web browser. Those who have a Chrome shortcut on their Windows desktops can switch it to a secret high-quality golden version. In addition, there are also a few other Chrome shortcut icon alternatives stored with the executable file.

Right-click the Chrome shortcut on your desktop. Then select Properties to open the Google Chrome Properties window. Click on the Change Icon option to open the window below.

What you have there is six alternative icons for the Chrome browser. Among them is the secret golden Chrome icon. Select it and click OK. Then click Apply and OK to close the window.

Now the golden Google Chrome icon should be on your desktop as in the shot above. It looks pretty sweet wouldn’t you say? If you pin it to the Windows 7 taskbar (right-click the desktop icon and select Pin to Taskbar) it also has a golden icon as below. If you had the icon pinned to your taskbar from before, you will need to unpin it, follow the steps mentioned above to turn it gold, and then re-pin it.

Of course, there are other Google Chrome shortcut icons. Check out this Icon Archive page which also includes the golden Chrome icon. Alongside it are a range of Chrome icons that you can add to the desktop. Select an icon, and then click Download ICO. Reopen the Chrome Change Icon window, and click Browse to open the new icon.

The golden Chrome icon adds extra gloss to the Windows desktop. If you open other software shortcut Change Icon windows you might find that they also include alternative icons with their executable files.