diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 80ae01f..5d29338 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -847,6 +847,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "lazy_static",
  "libcosmic",
  "log",
+ "mime_guess",
  "rfd",
  "rust-embed",
  "serde",
@@ -2716,6 +2717,22 @@ dependencies = [
  "objc",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "mime"
+version = "0.3.17"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "6877bb514081ee2a7ff5ef9de3281f14a4dd4bceac4c09388074a6b5df8a139a"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "mime_guess"
+version = "2.0.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "4192263c238a5f0d0c6bfd21f336a313a4ce1c450542449ca191bb657b4642ef"
+dependencies = [
+ "mime",
+ "unicase",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "minimal-lexical"
 version = "0.2.1"
@@ -4636,6 +4653,15 @@ dependencies = [
  "tinystr",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "unicase"
+version = "2.7.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "f7d2d4dafb69621809a81864c9c1b864479e1235c0dd4e199924b9742439ed89"
+dependencies = [
+ "version_check",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "unicode-bidi"
 version = "0.3.13"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 2bffaf9..fe28f0f 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ env_logger = "0.10.0"
 fontdb = "0.15.0"
 lazy_static = "1.4.0"
 log = "0.4.20"
+mime_guess = "2"
 rfd = "0.12.0"
 serde = { version = "1", features = ["serde_derive"] }
 syntect = "5.1.0"
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 609d70a..59d0a15 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -26,6 +26,9 @@ mod config;
 
 mod localize;
 
+pub use self::mime_icon::{mime_icon, FALLBACK_MIME_ICON};
+mod mime_icon;
+
 use self::menu::menu_bar;
 mod menu;
 
@@ -212,7 +215,7 @@ impl App {
                 .insert()
                 .position(position)
                 .indent(indent)
-                .icon(icon::from_name(node.icon_name()).size(16).icon())
+                .icon(node.icon(16))
                 .text(node.name().to_string())
                 .data(node);
 
@@ -247,7 +250,7 @@ impl App {
         let id = self
             .nav_model
             .insert()
-            .icon(icon::from_name(node.icon_name()).size(16).icon())
+            .icon(node.icon(16))
             .text(node.name().to_string())
             .data(node)
             .id();
@@ -265,7 +268,7 @@ impl App {
         self.tab_model
             .insert()
             .text(tab.title())
-            .icon(icon::from_name("text-x-generic").size(16).icon())
+            .icon(tab.icon(16))
             .data::<Tab>(tab)
             .closable()
             .activate();
@@ -494,8 +497,7 @@ impl Application for App {
         match node_opt {
             Some(node) => {
                 // Update icon
-                self.nav_model
-                    .icon_set(id, icon::from_name(node.icon_name()).size(16).icon());
+                self.nav_model.icon_set(id, node.icon(16));
 
                 match node {
                     ProjectNode::Folder { path, open, .. } => {
diff --git a/src/mime_icon.rs b/src/mime_icon.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..34cec50
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/mime_icon.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+use cosmic::widget::icon;
+use std::path::Path;
+
+pub const FALLBACK_MIME_ICON: &str = "text-x-generic";
+
+pub fn mime_icon<P: AsRef<Path>>(path: P, size: u16) -> icon::Icon {
+    let path = path.as_ref();
+    for mime in mime_guess::from_path(path).iter() {
+        //TODO: correct some common issues (like application/x-sh not being found)
+        let icon_name = mime.essence_str().replace("/", "-");
+        let named = icon::from_name(icon_name).size(size);
+        if named.clone().path().is_some() {
+            return named.icon();
+        }
+    }
+    icon::from_name(FALLBACK_MIME_ICON).size(size).icon()
+}
diff --git a/src/project.rs b/src/project.rs
index c8d70c6..6d24c69 100644
--- a/src/project.rs
+++ b/src/project.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,14 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-only
 
+use cosmic::widget::{icon, Icon};
 use std::{
     cmp::Ordering,
     fs, io,
     path::{Path, PathBuf},
 };
 
+use crate::mime_icon;
+
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, Eq, PartialEq)]
 pub enum ProjectNode {
     Folder {
@@ -47,17 +50,17 @@ impl ProjectNode {
         })
     }
 
-    pub fn icon_name(&self) -> &str {
+    pub fn icon(&self, size: u16) -> Icon {
         match self {
             //TODO: different icon for project root?
-            Self::Folder { open, .. } => {
-                if *open {
-                    "go-down-symbolic"
-                } else {
-                    "go-next-symbolic"
-                }
-            }
-            Self::File { .. } => "text-x-generic",
+            Self::Folder { open, .. } => icon::from_name(if *open {
+                "go-down-symbolic"
+            } else {
+                "go-next-symbolic"
+            })
+            .size(size)
+            .icon(),
+            Self::File { path, .. } => mime_icon(path, size),
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/tab.rs b/src/tab.rs
index 06b1648..66fde17 100644
--- a/src/tab.rs
+++ b/src/tab.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,10 @@
 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-only
 
+use cosmic::widget::{icon, Icon};
 use cosmic_text::{Attrs, Buffer, Edit, Shaping, SyntaxEditor, ViEditor, Wrap};
 use std::{fs, path::PathBuf, sync::Mutex};
 
-use crate::{fl, Config, FONT_SYSTEM, SYNTAX_SYSTEM};
+use crate::{fl, mime_icon, Config, FALLBACK_MIME_ICON, FONT_SYSTEM, SYNTAX_SYSTEM};
 
 pub struct Tab {
     pub path_opt: Option<PathBuf>,
@@ -95,6 +96,13 @@ impl Tab {
         }
     }
 
+    pub fn icon(&self, size: u16) -> Icon {
+        match &self.path_opt {
+            Some(path) => mime_icon(path, size),
+            None => icon::from_name(FALLBACK_MIME_ICON).size(size).icon(),
+        }
+    }
+
     pub fn title(&self) -> String {
         //TODO: show full title when there is a conflict
         if let Some(path) = &self.path_opt {