Whether it is a dock icon or an application, there’s a simple way to change the icons on your Mac OS X. And you don’t have to use any application for this, as it is kind of built-in feature in Mac.
OS X uses a proprietary icon format with the.ICNS file extension, but image files work just as well. Many icons found online will be in the.PNG format, but even.JPEG files will work. The key is to find image files that are big enough in the first place — if you're using a Retina screen your choices will be limited to icon sets released. How to Change Icons on a Mac. Many icon collections are available on the web. The easiest way to find Mac icons is to search on the phrase 'Mac icons' in your favorite search engine. You'll find numerous sites that offer free and low-cost icon collections for the Mac, including IconFinder and Deviantart. How do I change the Open Folder icon? The Open Folder is no longer a separate icon in Mac OS X. The Open Folder icon must be bundled into the Generic Folder icon itself, as something called an 'OpenDrop' variant. Some icon sets may already feature this, and tools like Icon Builder let you add 'OpenDrop' states to icons. It’s fairly simply to change an app or folder icon in Mac OS X. The possibilities are endless. You could change an app icon to one that looks a little more polished in the dock. You could customize a folder you access often to make it easier to find. Whatever your reason may be, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
There are some apps which can help you change the icons, but since you can do it with yourself, using a third-party app is useless. Alike iOS, Apple’s Mac OS X is customizable and with Flavours app, you can also apply themes on Mac or you can even create your Flavours theme.
This trick works on Lion, Mountain Lion and it should work on OS X Mavericks too as there are not many changes, but it is not yet confirmed whether it works on Mavericks or not.
How to Change the Icons
First things first, whenever you are changing the icon of any application or any file or any folder, you should backup its icon first so that you can revert back if you want or if something goes wrong.
For taking a backup of your icon, open the folder containing the application or folder and right-click on it and click on “Get Info”. You can alternatively select the application or folder and press “Command + I” . Once opened, you will see a big icon of the application under Preview section. Just drag the icon from their to the desktop to make a copy of it.
Now to change the icon, what you have to do is download your favorite icon from web and save it on your Desktop. Now hit “Command + I” after selecting the application and drag the downloaded icon from desktop to the small icon on the top left in the Get Info Window.
This will update the icon but it will show the default icon until you Restart or Relaunch the Finder. Once you restart the finder, it will show you the new icon which you have applied. If you don’t like the new icon or if you want to revert back to the default icon, just drag the backup icon from desktop from the very first step to the small icon in the top left in the Get Info window and you will set it to default icon.
Changing desktop icons is one of the easiest ways personalize your desktop. Icons in OS X look like the item that they represent. Personalizing your icons is a great way to make your Mac uniquely yours. You may customize application, file/folder, and document icons. Here is how:
Steps
1. First we will create or find then copy a new icon that will replace the old folder icon (desired icon). This can be any image you want like screenshots, photos etc. In this example, we will copy our logo (appletoolbox.com). Open the logo/image in Preview (or iPhoto).
2. Press Cmd + A to select and Cmd + C to copy the image. (you may copy selections)
3. Now click the folder, or file whose icon you want to customize/change.
Change File Icon Mac
4. From the File menu, choose Get Info (or Command-I).
4. Click the folder/file icon (upper left corner).
6. Choose Paste from the Edit menu.
7. Close the Info window. Here is the final result:
How to delete (reset) a custom icon
1. Select the item from which you like to delete a custom icon.
2. Select Get Info from the File menu.
3.Click the folder/file icon (upper left corner).
4. Hit the delete key.
Related:
Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.
In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.