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Find the file or folder you wish to copy the icon from. Using the icon from another file or folder is similarly easy. If you’re having trouble, make sure to select the small icon in the upper-left, not the larger image below. Alternatively, you can go to Edit > Paste in the menu. You can also copy an image (from the Preview app, for example), then select the icon in the upper-left, then press Command + V to paste it. As one option, you can drag and drop an image on top of it to change the icon to that photo. You’ll see the file or folder icon in the upper-left of this screen. Then, go to the file or folder you wish to change the icon for and right-click on it. These instructions work for changing Application icons as well.įirst, you’ll want to choose the image you want to use. We’ll cover that first, but we’ll also look at how to copy and use the icon from another file or folder. Most of the time, if you’re changing a file or folder icon, you want to use your own photo or a photo from the web. You may not have even known it was possible to change file and folder icons on macOS, but it’s surprisingly easy. Using a different icon for a folder, for example, can be a visual cue to display what you’re storing inside. Sure, you can choose between Light and Dark mode, or change the wallpaper, but what else can you do?Ĭhanging your icons to something more personal isn’t just fun, but it can be useful as well. You may have to try several options before you find something that fits your needs.Many people who use macOS like the way it looks, but that doesn’t mean you don’t want to personalize it. Your best bet is probably to search around this site or with Google to find recommendations.
There's a lot of potential to royally screw things up when doing so.įor step 5, you'll need some sort of program that can edit or generate ICNS files. Needless to say, be very careful when turning off System Integrity Protection and editing system files.

However, if you turn off System Integrity Protection, you'll gain the ability to edit the icon files. If you're running Mac OS X El Capitan (10.11) or later, due to System Integrity Protection, you won't be able to modify these files. The folder icon in which you're interested is named GenericFolderIcon.icns. Most standard system wide icons for the macOS are stored here:
