How to Change Icons for Files and Folders on Mac: Quick Guide

There are many great things about Mac, but one of the strangest is how easy it is to change the labels for files and folders. A file is shown as a piece of paper by default, and a folder is shown as, well, a folder. You can also find zip files with zippers and other familiar icons. Apple does, however, make it easy to change the icons for your files and groups if you want to change how they look.

Here’s how to change the file and folder icons on a Mac, with tips on how to use different pictures or change the colour of the folder icons.

Table of Contents

Use a different icon image.

On Mac, you can make a picture the icon for either a file or a folder. This helps you quickly find what you need.

Step 1: Here are some ways to copy the picture you want to use for the icon:

To copy it, open it in Preview and go to Edit > Copy in the menu bar.
From the Finder menu bar, choose Edit > Copy and then pick the picture.
Click and hold on the picture, then choose “Copy.”
Press Command + C on your computer after you’ve chosen the picture.

After that, the picture will be saved to your clipboard.

Step 2: You can view the icon that corresponds to a specific folder or file in the settings box. Choose “Get Info” from the context menu or use the “File” menu item to access more information about a file or folder.

When you do this, a popup with detailed information about the item will pop up. In the top left corner of the window, you can see the icon.

Step 3: To highlight it, click the icon in the Get Info window. Next, either hit Command + V on your PC or go to Edit > Paste in the menu bar to paste the photo.

The picture you copied should now be used instead of the file or folder’s default icon. After that, the Get Info window can be closed.

Change the folder icon colour.

There is a tool called Preview for Mac that can change the colour of a folder icon. Follow the steps above to open the Get Info box for the folder.

Step 1: To make it stand out, click on the icon in the top left corner of the information window. You may now copy the image by selecting Edit > Copy from the main menu or by hitting Command + C on your keyboard.

Step 2: On your Mac, open the Preview app and go to the menu bar. Then, choose File> New From Clipboard. You should see the folder icon that you can change.

Step 3: In the Tools bar at the top of the Preview app, click the Markup button. Then, click the Change Colour button and move the Tint tool to pick the icon’s colour.

If you want to, you can use the other colour-changing tools as well.

Step 4: Copy and paste the picture back into the folder details window once you’re happy with how it looks.

There is a menu bar that says Edit > Select All, and then there is Edit > Copy. This will copy the picture. The selection tool in Preview can also be used to draw a line around the picture. Then, go to Edit > Copy.

Step 5: “Get Info” window of the folder should be returned to. Press the symbol in the top left corner once more to highlight it. After that, to insert the new icon, press Command + V on a PC or go to Edit > Paste from the main menu.