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Mac Trick (or Treat?): Easily change icons

Halloween puns aside, this is an easy way to give your Mac a little personality.

Joe Aimonetti MacFixIt Editor
Joe is a seasoned Mac veteran with years of experience on the platform. He reports on Macs, iPods, iPhones and anything else Apple sells. He even has worked in Apple retail stores. He's also a creative professional who knows how to use a Mac to get the job done.
Joe Aimonetti
2 min read
Halloween puns aside, this is an easy way to give your Mac a little personality. With a few quick clicks and a little imagination, you can give your Desktop a completely new look. And, aside from the fun aspect of this, changing icons for folders and files can make you more organized.

So, without further adieu, follow these steps to change your icons:

  1. First, you will want to find some cool icons to change your folders or applications to. There are many free icon sets available on the Internet, including from Apple's Downloads pages. For this tutorial, I downloaded the Star Trek icons, currently featured on the front page.
  2. Once the file downloads and unzips, you will see the Icons folder (where the icon files are located).
  3. Find the icon you wish to use, highlight it, and press (Command + i) to "Get Info". You can also access the "Get Ifo" window by navigating to File > Get Info. I, of course, used the Enterprise icon.
  4. Now, find the folder for which you wish to change the icon. Press (Command + i) to "Get Info". You should now have two "Get Info" windows open on your Desktop.
  5. Make the Enterpise "Get Info" window active. Click on the icon in the top-left corner. You will notice a blue highlight appear. Now, press (Command + C) to copy the icon image.
  6. Make the folder "Get Info" window active. Click on the folder icon in the top-left corner. Press (Command + V) to paste the Enterprise icon image in place of the folder icon.
This process also works on Applications and files. Simply select the file, press (Command + i) to "Get Info" and complete the other steps as noted. To revert to the original icon, open the "Get Info" window, highlight the icon in the top-left corner, and press delete.


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