[Windows] App update leaves taskbar icon blank #5790

Affected version or release

GitHub Copilot 1.4.1 (desktop app), updated November 14, 2026.

Installation context

Per-user Windows install at %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\GitHub Copilot.

What happened?

After the update, the GitHub Copilot taskbar button showed a blank document icon. The Start Menu entry and the desktop shortcut both displayed the GitHub logo correctly. The shortcut target and the icon embedded in github.exe were valid.

The updater rewrote the Start Menu shortcut (%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\GitHub Copilot.lnk) at 08:57:35. When that .lnk was rendered through IShellItemImageFactory, Windows returned a blank document icon, even for a copy at a new path. The desktop shortcut, rewritten at 08:57:54 with the same target and AppUserModelID (com.github.githubapp), rendered correctly.

Replacing the Start Menu shortcut with the working desktop shortcut, then restarting Explorer, restored the taskbar icon. This points to the updater-created Start Menu shortcut, which the taskbar uses for the window's icon. I could not confirm the exact cause.

Steps to reproduce

1. Update the Windows app to 1.4.1.
2. Launch GitHub Copilot.
3. Observe that its taskbar button shows a blank document icon, while the Start Menu and desktop icons are correct.

Expected behavior

The taskbar button should show the GitHub Copilot icon after an app update.

Additional context

• Windows build 26200.9550.
• Observed November 14, 2026.
• These steps did not fix it: ie4uinit.exe -show, restarting Explorer, and setting the window's large icon with WM_SETICON.
• The main window (Tauri Window) has no explicit AppUserModelID and no large icon (WM_GETICON ICON_BIG returns 0).
• Workaround: replace the Start Menu shortcut with the working desktop shortcut and restart Explorer.
• The issue is currently resolved on this machine; the report documents the updater regression in case it affects other installs.