Setting the Application Icon
The application icon, typically displayed in the top-left corner of an application's top-level windows, is set by calling theQWidget::setWindowIcon() method on top-level widgets.
In order to change the icon of the executable application file itself, as it is presented on the desktop (i.e., prior to application execution), it is necessary to employ another, platform-dependent technique.
Setting the Application Icon on Windows
First, create an ICO format bitmap file that contains the icon image. This can be done with e.g. Microsoft Visual C++: SelectFile|New, then select the File tab in the dialog that appears, and choose Icon. (Note that you do not need to load your application into Visual C++; here we are only using the icon editor.)
Store the ICO file in your application's source code directory, for example, with the name myappico.ico. Then, create a text file called, say, myapp.rc in which you put a single line of text:
IDI_ICON1 ICON DISCARDABLE "myappico.ico"
Finally, assuming you are using qmake to generate your makefiles, add this line to your myapp.pro file:
RC_FILE = myapp.rc
Regenerate your makefile and your application. The .exe file will now be represented with your icon in Explorer.
If you do not use qmake, the necessary steps are: first, run the rc program on the .rc file, then link your application with the resulting .res file.