How to Change the Icons for Your Favorite Apps on macOS Big Sur
By Andrew Myrick 0 comments Last updated September 16, 2020
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Thankfully, Apple has not completely forgotten the Mac, as WWDC ‘20 brings a huge number of new changes to macOS and the Mac hardware line. From a complete redesign to a surprising hardware shift, the Mac is back.
What’s new in macOS Big Sur
Instead of playing it safe, as many were expecting, Apple surprised everyone at WWDC ‘20. The company announced a complete redesign for Big Sur, spreading the design out a little bit. You’ll find rounded corners, unified symbols, and much more.
Outside of the larger spacing in the Menu Bar, you might notice that there’s a new icon. The Control Center has been introduced, which looks familiar, as it takes many of the same design cues found on iOS and iPadOS. This makes it easy to control some of the system features, including keyboard brightness, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Sound, and more.
Notification Center has also been re-tooled, with grouped app notifications. Plus, the new widgets found on iOS and iPadOS 14 are here with macOS Big Sur and can be placed in your Notification Center.
A few other big changes have come to Safari, the Messages app, and Maps. All of these features bring design cues from iOS, while making them more accessible on your Mac.
It should come as no surprise as Apple is attempting to unify macOS, iOS, and iPadOS. The company made a big splash by announcing the beginning of the transition from Intel processor to ARM chipsets in the Mac. For reference, these processors are built on the same infrastructure as the processors found in the iPhone and iPad.
How to change your icons in macOS Big Sur
Gone are the days where you could just swap your icons whenever you wanted. There were applications like LiteIcon which changed icons by simply dragging and dropping the icons. Then, the application’s icon would be instantly changed, making for an extremely easy process.
While it seems that Apple is trying to prevent things like that from happening, there are still ways to change your icons. The biggest problem is that there are a lot more steps that you need to take in order to change the icons.
Find the icons you want to use and keep them organized
Before you can start having fun with changing your icons, you’ll need to find some good icons to begin with. With the new design language across macOS Big Sur on the whole, this means that not all of your icons will match up with each other anymore. Thankfully, a few developers have taken the time to create some beautiful-looking icons. Not only are these unique, but they also will help make your Dock look more uniform.
Here are some great places to find Big Sur icons:
We highly recommend creating a folder somewhere on your computer or in your favorite cloud storage service. Go through and find the icons that you want to download and then place them in that created folder. This way, your Downloads folder won’t be cluttered with icons, and you can keep them all in the same place.
Make sure the file format is right
During our testing, we found that standard JPG or PNG files would not trigger the icons to be changed. We even tried changing the icons, closing the app, and then restarting our Mac, and the icons wouldn’t change. However, we found that downloading and using ICNS files (Apple’s icon file system) worked perfectly fine.
If not, use Automator to change the file type
If you’ve found an icon, but are stuck with a PNG file, you can turn to Automator for some help. Automator makes it possible for you to quickly change the icon from PNG to ICNS. We’ve made it easy for you, as you’ll just need to download the following file and have it opened in Automator.
PNG to ICNS Automator Workflow
After the workflow has been added to Automator, this is how you can convert files from PNG to ICNS.
- Locate the file you wish to convert.
- Right-click on the file.
- From the drop-down menu, highlight Quick Actions.
- Select PNG to ICNS.
Automator will work its magic, and the file will automatically be converted.
Disable System Integrity Protection
System Integrity Protection is a feature that was introduced in OS X El Capitan, which is designed to prevent malicious software from modifying files. This restricts the root user account, and limits what actions can be performed on protected parts of the operating system.
However, it seems this is the same feature that has prevented the icons from being changed. There is a way to disable SIP, but, proceed at your own risk, and AppleToolBox is not liable for anything that may happen to your Mac.
**Warning: SIP is designed to keep your Mac protected from malicious software. Proceed at your own risk.**
- Click the Apple logo in the Menu Bar.
- Select Restart… from the drop-down menu.
- When your screen goes dark, hold down Command + R to reboot into Recovery Mode.
- After your Mac restarts in Recovery Mode, log into your Admin account.
- Click Utilities in the Menu bar.
- Select Terminal from the drop-down menu.
- In the Terminal window, type csrutil disable
- Press Return on your keyboard.
- Click the Apple logo in the Menu Bar.
- Select Restart… from the drop-down menu.
Once your Mac has finished restarting, System Integrity Protection will be disabled. In the event that you want to turn this feature back on, follow the steps above, but enter csrutil enable in the Terminal window.
Change your icons
Now that you’ve found the icons, and your system is ready to accept the changes, you can finally replace the icons. Here’s what you’ll need to do.
- Open the folder where all of your newly-downloaded icons are located.
- Open the Finder app.
- Select Applications from the sidebar.
- Locate the application you wish to change the icon for.
- Click on the app to highlight it.
- Press Command + I to reveal the Information Panel.
- Drag the ICNS file from the icon folder to the small icon in the top right-hand corner of the Information Panel.
- Enjoy.
If you are trying to change the icon for a “system” app, or one created by Apple, there’s an additional step. You will be prompted to enter your password, or use the TouchID sensor to authenticate the changes.
You will want to repeat these steps for all of the icons you wish to change. If you see a blank preview, quit the app, and then try again. If the icon still does not change, highlight the icon and press Command + Z to undo the changes.
One more note when it comes to changing icons. If an application is updated, the icon will revert to the original icon. This is another reason why we recommend creating a folder dedicated to new icons.
He has written for a variety of sites over the years, including iMore, Android Central, Phandroid, and a few others. Now, he spends his days working for an HVAC company, while moonlighting as a freelance writer at night.
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