How can I change an application icon in Mac OS X?

Question

I've just created an AppleScript simple application and I'd like it to have a nice icon (besides the rolled paper it is by default). How can I change an icon for this application (or any other application in my dock)?

Answer 1

• Select the application file in Finder.
• Open the Info window for that file (File > Get Info, or ⌘I)
• Click the icon in that window (a blue border will appear).
• Paste in a new icon.

Any image you can open in Preview can be used as an icon: open it in Preview, select it, and copy it. That will put an image on the clipboard that includes a format that can be pasted as an application icon.

Answer 2

1. Right Click on app in Applications folder
2. Click on Show Package Contents
3. Go to Contents > Resources
4. Check for icon file in the info.plist file located in Contents folder.
5. Replace the icon file (icns) file with the desired icns file.

Answer 3

Go to Applications in Finder, and right click Get Info for the app. Drag the image over the top icon, and it will be changed.

Don't drag it over the large preview on the bottom -- that will pass the image into the application as an argument. You don't want that.

Answer 4

According to macosxhints.com, it seems that in 10.6 the icons for standard Mac OS X applications (or even Apple software in general) might no longer be easily changed, as the application folders are kind of read-only.

One could of course change those access rights, but changing the package contents might break the Code Signing's signature for that application. And if the signature becomes invalid, then applications might no longer be allowed to access the keychain, will no longer be permanently allowed an exception in the firewall if it's known to check its own integrity (known to have caused trouble for configd, mDNSResponder and racoon), or might cause trouble when using software update.

(Above, might indicates that I am not sure. Some quick tests changing the iTunes, Safari and Activity Monitor icons did not break the Code Signing, though for some other, yet unknown reason the firewall might repeatedly ask Do you want the application “iTunes.app” to accept incoming network connections? For more details see If Mac code signing is tampered with, what might fail?)

Answer 5

First, open the app you want to change the image, then open the website https://iconverticons.com/online/

Into that website copy the image you want to use. The website will convert it into an .incs image which you need to download. After downloading it, drag it into the tiny image on top of the "get info" window. First, nothing is going to happen except that the big preview image is going to change.

IMPORTANT: After you completed all the steps, press the little "locked" checkbox, this is going to change the picture.

Answer 6

If you're having trouble getting this to work, like me, then I found a solution.

A Firefox update a long time ago brought back the classic icon - I, like many others, use a custom Tails icon (google it, it's really cute!) and I tried to set it back, but it wouldn't have it. Pasting over the icon didn't work.

Just this evening I found the problem - within Firefox.app was an Icon file, but when viewed from Terminal it had an unprintable character on the end. Turns out there was a Windows line-ending in the filename (possibly a bug in the update) that prevented the icon being modified ever since.

Deleting this file allowed me to change the icon again.

Answer 7

Just perform this "Copy -> Paste":

1. Open Information Panel of Application (Cmd+I), and Preview of image source.
2. Copy (Cmd+C) image from Preview and Paste on icon in Information Panel of Application.

Answer 8

Here is the guide by Apple:

Use your own picture or a picture from the web

1. On your Mac, copy the picture you want to use to the Clipboard.

   One way to do this is to open the picture in the Preview app , choose Edit > Select All, then choose Edit > Copy.

2. Select the file or folder whose icon you want to replace, then choose File > Get Info.

3. At the top of the Info window, click the picture of the icon, then choose Edit > Paste.

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/create-custom-icons-files-folders-mac-mchlp2313/mac

Answer 9

If you want an approach that works for Sequoia and doesn't lose the icon every time the app updates, I found a good technique on Reddit.

Summary: You make a new app folder for each app, symlink the Contents folder from the real app, customise the icon on your new app, and only open your new app, not the real app.

Here is my condensed version of the instructions:

• Open the terminal

• Make a new directory with the name of the app you want to change. I'll use the notes app for an example.

  mkdir ~/Applications/Notes.app
  

• Now that you have the fake app you need to link it to the real app.

  ln -s /System/Applications/Notes.app/Contents ~/Applications/Notes.app/
  

  I'm using /System/Applications... because that's where my Notes app is located, but if your app is located somewhere else use that pathname.

• Change the app Icon for the "new" application located in ~/Applications/ as you would for any other app, file, or folder:

  Right click it, Get Info, then paste/drag your icon into the old icon that should be in the top left.

Downsides of this method:

• You end up with two instances of the same application just with different icons. They still work functionally identically, but they have different icons.

• Your app with the custom icon will be the second one offered by Spotlight, Alfred and Raycast, not the first.

Answer 10

If you want an approach that works for Sequoia and doesn't lose the icon every time the app updates, I found a good technique on Reddit.

Summary: You make a new app folder for each app, symlink the Contents folder from the real app, customise the icon on your new app, and only open your new app, not the real app.

Here is my condensed version of the instructions:

• Open the terminal

• Make a new directory with the name of the app you want to change. I'll use the notes app for an example.

  mkdir ~/Applications/Notes.app
  

• Now that you have the fake app you need to link it to the real app.

  ln -s /System/Applications/Notes.app/Contents ~/Applications/Notes.app/
  

  I'm using /System/Applications... because that's where my Notes app is located, but if your app is located somewhere else use that pathname.

• Change the app Icon for the "new" application located in ~/Applications/ as you would for any other app, file, or folder:

  Right click it, Get Info, then paste/drag your icon into the old icon that should be in the top left.

Downsides of this method:

• You end up with two instances of the same application just with different icons. They still work functionally identically, but they have different icons.

• Your app with the custom icon will be the second one offered by Spotlight, Alfred and Raycast, not the first.

Answer 11

I would at least try out a trial version of Panic's CandyBar 3 application. Tuned up for 10.6, I haven't had any problems with it and I changed quite a few icons, including system applications like Finder and System Preferences.