Buddy Icons are the small graphics some people have in the lower left-hand corner of their Instant Message window.

In this example, the buddy icon is a small AIM Dude waving an American flag, with the words "American Pride" beneath him. A lot of these customized buddy icons, such as this one, are made to look like another one of the buttons along the bottom of the IM window.

Some of the icons are animated, while others are static, or stationary. Buddy icons have a wide range of topics, including music, sports, television, humor, and pride.


There are two very simple ways to set your buddy icon....
One method is to access your preferences and click "Buddy Icons" This will open a screen in which you can select icons from your computer, or from the collection AOL has set up. Make sure "*My Buddy Icon*" is selected from the list where it says "Images to use for buddies."


To select an icon from your computer, click the "Browse PC" button. From the next screen, you can browse the contents of your PC for any ICO, GIF, JPG, BMP, or XBM files. You can select any of these available images, but it must be under 7168 bytes. It will tell you if the image you select is too large.

To select an icon from AOL's collection, browse through the menu at the right of your preferences window. To select a new icon, simply click on it. When you are done selecting an icon, click "OK" on your preferences window. That's all there is to it!

The other way to get a buddy icon is to visit one of the many buddy icon sites on the web. When you visit these sites, you can browse several categories of icons, and click on whichever icon you would like to make your own. You will be asked to confirm whether or not you want to make it your buddy icon. Once confirmed, the selected image will instantly become your new buddy icon.

To the left is an example of this feature. Click the "Bee Wacky" icon to make it your new buddy icon. You can always change it later.


Viewing Your Buddy's Icon...
If one of your buddies has their own buddy icon set, you will receive a dialog box asking if you want to accept it. At first, the image will be blurred, in case it is obscene and you don't want to see it. Click "Sharpen" several times until the image becomes completely clear, then click "Accept."

Changing/Setting Your Buddy's Icon...
If you don't like your buddy's icon, or they don't have one and you wish to set one yourself, go to your preferences and click "Buddy Icons." Rather than selecting "My Buddy Icon" this time, choose your buddy's name from the list and follow the same steps you did to set your own icon. Note that you can only use icons from your computer or AOL's collection to do this. You can't click a buddy icon on a web site to set it as your friend's buddy icon. Also, you can click your buddy's existing icon, and your buddy icon preferences will pop up and you can set a new one that way. You buddy won't see the buddy icon you have selected for them, and all of their buddies will still see the icon they selected. Only you will be able to see the buddy icon that you set for them. Also note that you will be unable to reset your buddy's icon to the original one unless they reset their own icon or select a new one, and a new accept dialog pops up for you.