How to change the icon (apply a thumb) of a folder on Mac OS X?

In Mac OS X, suppose you open your root disk, following folders/directories will have different icon (thumb) on it.

  • Application
  • Developer
  • Library
  • System

How to apply a thumb image on my specific folder/directories?


Solution 1:

  • locate the image file you want to use
  • press Cmd-C (Edit:Copy)
  • locate the folder you want the thumbnail applied to
  • press Cmd-I (File:Get Info)
  • click on the top left icon until it gets a colored outline
  • press Cmd-V (Edit:Paste)

You can also copy existing icons, use the Get Info window as source.

Edit: If this doesn't work, open the image in Preview.app, select part of or the whole image and press Cmd-C (Edit:Copy). Then proceed with step 3.

Solution 2:

I'd go with drag'n'drop:

  • open info of file(s)/folder(s) to set icon on
  • locate your icon (it can be an icon file or just any file, which icon you see for that file will be the one you will set)
  • drag icon and drop it on top left icon in info window

Solution 3:

You need to create a special Folder-type icon (the usual app bundle .icns won't work here). Img2icns will give you an option to create this type of icon, despite its name.

Solution 4:

Customizing file and folder icons in Mac OS X presents a more involved process utilizing an .icns file which can contain several versions of an icon for display at different sizes. While less elegant than the + C, + I, + V method, it's useful in cases where scaling a single icon produces unacceptable results (such as when the 16x16 icon is an indistinct blur).