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How to change folder icons on MacOS
In This Article
Folders are boring and, even if you enjoy organisation, the bland look of the storage format isn’t exactly exciting. Thankfully, you can jazz things up and help organise your files in a more visual fashion by changing folder icons inMacOS. Here’s how.
Things like folders and files are far from the most exciting part of an operating system like MacOS but, especially if you’re using a device for work, keeping stuff in order can save you a bunch of time.
One of the easiest ways to do this is to add some images to your folders to help speedily distinguish between them. These are the key steps to changing your folder icons on MacOS.
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What you’ll need:
The Short Version
Step1
Open Finder
Click the Finder icon from your dock to open.
Step2
Locate the image and open
Go to the image you’d like to assign as the folder icon and double click to open it.
Step3
Select Edit and Copy
Now the image is open, select Edit at the top left corner on the screen then Copy.
Step4
Select the folder and click File then Get Info
The image is now copied. Head to the folder with the icon you’d like to change. Select it, then click File and, next, Get Info.
Step5
Click small folder icon at top left of the window
Towards the top left of the screen, there will be a small folder icon (highlighted blue in the image), click it.
Step6
Select Edit then Paste
Click Edit and then Paste to add your image to this folder.
Step7
Your image will now be displayed as the folder icon
As you can see in the image, your desired image will now be assigned to the folder’s icon.
FAQs
You can change the colour of your folders on your Mac by using the method above but, instead, copy the folder icon and edit the colour in the Apple Preview app (or other photo editing software).
The folders app, or Home as it is called on Windows, is called Finder on Mac. You’ll find it on the far left side of your dock by default in MacOS.
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Adam is the Computing Editor of Trusted Reviews. He joined as a staff writer in 2019 after graduating from Newcastle University with an MA in Multimedia Journalism. After spending two years at WIRED,…
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
