All Steam Shortcut Files have become blank / have become .url files.

[󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡]

This randomly happened one day like a week or so, ago.

I think it was after I deleted all of the files in my steam folder, to pretty much reinstall steam without having to remove my games, cause my steam was running really slow for some reason.


I've tried searching up answers, and every single one I've read doesn't help. You can go into properties of the desktop shortcut and select the game icon from the game .exe file in the steam game folder.

But, for TF2, I can't even do that. Because it's literally halflife icon for some reason.


I thought by now i would've been able to find a solution that makes my computer recognize steam shortcuts and make them have their icons back.

But still nothing...


The closest "solution" ive found so far on google searches is by "selecting open with, and clicking internet browser"

But I literally don't even have an "open with" option when right-clicking the shortcuts.

When I go into folders, and actually click on "desktop" folder sub, it shows the internet globe icon as the TF2 shortcut icon.

Other steam games are just blank white pages...

[󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡]

https://imgur.com/a/n0rSVW0

[Alex ♡]

Something similar has been happening to me. The games on my desktop (only the ones downloaded from Steam every game from another launcher are fine) have their icon as a blank white file picture. It's driving me absolutely insane and i have found no way to fix it from happening. It was an overnight thing & then continued to every single game I continue to download from Steam.

[Nx Machina]

You have to associate the url with Internet Explorer (listed as Internet Browser).

1) In Windows 10, search for "Default Apps" (just type it in and then click on the link or press enter).

2) Scroll down the settings panel and click on "Choose default applications by file type"

3) Find the .URL extension listed on the left hand side and change the default app to "Internet Browser".

Note: A windows update can cause the issue.

[󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡]

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

You have to associate the url with Internet Explorer (listed as Internet Browser).

1) In Windows 10, search for "Default Apps" (just type it in and then click on the link or press enter).

2) Scroll down the settings panel and click on "Choose default applications by file type"

3) Find the .URL extension listed on the left hand side and change the default app to "Internet Browser".

Note: A windows update can cause the issue.

there is no .url extension listed there. nor when using the search feature.

[xarvn]

1. Right-click the start button and choose "Apps and Features."
   
2. On the left side of the window, click "Default apps."
   
3. Towards the bottom of the right-pane, click on "Choose default apps by file type."
   
4. ".URL" should be in the long list. Click on the box immediately to the right of that and select "Internet Browser."

[Nx Machina]

Originally posted by ุ:

there is no .url extension listed there. nor when using the search feature.

Default apps URL -

YouTube™ Video:  

Views: 0

[󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡]

Originally posted by xarvn:

1. Right-click the start button and choose "Apps and Features."
   
2. On the left side of the window, click "Default apps."
   
3. Towards the bottom of the right-pane, click on "Choose default apps by file type."
   
4. ".URL" should be in the long list. Click on the box immediately to the right of that and select "Internet Browser."

there is no .url extension there lol. idk how many times I can say it. it doesnt show there for me

[󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡]

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

Originally posted by ุ:

there is no .url extension listed there. nor when using the search feature.

Default apps URL -

YouTube™ Video:  

Views: 0

There is no .url extension. I went to that exact location.

There is:

.u3d
.udf
.udL
.udt
.user
.usr
.usr
.uu
.uue
.uvu


There is no .url extension. Apparently my computer suddenly lacks it. No idea why my steam icons suddenly changed to blank and apparently there's no url extension.

[󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡]

I did this:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8703-restore-default-file-type-associations-windows-10-a.html

Thought it actually would have worked and fixed my issue.

It did not.

[Nx Machina]

Originally posted by ุ:

There is no .url extension. I went to that exact location.

There is:

.u3d
.udf
.udL
.udt
.user
.usr
.usr
.uu
.uue
.uvu


There is no .url extension. Apparently my computer suddenly lacks it. No idea why my steam icons suddenly changed to blank and apparently there's no url extension.

That is odd. I do not have one which you have ***

.u3d ***

All others match >>

.udf >>
.udL >>
.udt >>
.user >>
.usr >>
.usr >>
.uu >>
.uue >>
.uvu >>

[󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡]

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

Originally posted by ุ:

There is no .url extension. I went to that exact location.

There is:

.u3d
.udf
.udL
.udt
.user
.usr
.usr
.uu
.uue
.uvu


There is no .url extension. Apparently my computer suddenly lacks it. No idea why my steam icons suddenly changed to blank and apparently there's no url extension.

That is odd. I do not have one which you have ***

.u3d ***

All others match >>

.udf >>
.udL >>
.udt >>
.user >>
.usr >>
.usr >>
.uu >>
.uue >>
.uvu >>

I really thought that page with the .reg file would've fixed this. No idea why it had no effect on this.

I also google searched and thats like the only result for missing .url extension.

What the hell. Why am I apparently the only one with this problem? And so randomly.

It happened randomly and its such a random weird thing to happen.

[󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡]

Originally posted by Alex ♡:

Something similar has been happening to me. The games on my desktop (only the ones downloaded from Steam every game from another launcher are fine) have their icon as a blank white file picture. It's driving me absolutely insane and i have found no way to fix it from happening. It was an overnight thing & then continued to every single game I continue to download from Steam.

fr it seems like steam somehow caused this issue.

[Nx Machina]

Originally posted by ุ:

I did this:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8703-restore-default-file-type-associations-windows-10-a.html

Thought it actually would have worked and fixed my issue.

It did not.

Originally posted by ุ:

I really thought that page with the .reg file would've fixed this. No idea why it had no effect on this.

I also google searched and thats like the only result for missing .url extension.

What the hell. Why am I apparently the only one with this problem? And so randomly.

It happened randomly and its such a random weird thing to happen.

It's Windows, so no surprise it goes wonky sometimes.

You could try running sfc /scannow from an admin command prompt and see if it finds any corrupt files with your Windows installation and fixes them.

In the meantime i will continue looking for a possible solution and hopefully find one.

[󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡󠀡]

Originally posted by Nx Machina:

Originally posted by ุ:

I did this:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/8703-restore-default-file-type-associations-windows-10-a.html

Thought it actually would have worked and fixed my issue.

It did not.

Originally posted by ุ:

I really thought that page with the .reg file would've fixed this. No idea why it had no effect on this.

I also google searched and thats like the only result for missing .url extension.

What the hell. Why am I apparently the only one with this problem? And so randomly.

It happened randomly and its such a random weird thing to happen.

It's Windows, so no surprise it goes wonky sometimes.

You could try running sfc /scannow from an admin command prompt and see if it finds any corrupt files with your Windows installation and fixes them.

In the meantime i will continue looking for a possible solution and hopefully find one.

It actually did say it found corrupt files and fixed them. Upon restart, no change. no .url extension in that same default apps location.

:p

[xarvn]

1. Open either Command Prompt or Windows Power Shell as Administrator.
   
2. Type:
   DISM /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
   
3. Then as before
   SFC /scannow
   
4. Open "Apps & Features" and then go to "Default Apps."
   
5. Scrolling down you will see "Reset to the Microsoft recommended defaults." Click "Reset."
   
6. Right-click on a game icon on your desktop and select Properties. In the "Opens with" entry it should say "Unknown application." Click the "Change" box and select "Internet Browser."
   
7. The shortcuts should no longer be blank.
   
8. If you were using a different browser than Microsoft Edge, then open the browser and set it to run as default in its settings.