Change Up Your Icons

Do you know it is possible to customize the icon of (almost) any file, folder, application, etc? In this article we will discuss the easy, fun way to personalize your dock and desktop in the Mac OS environment. Let's get started.

1)
First things first:
Find out what you want to change. As previously stated, this could be the icon for a file, folder, application or even a drive. For example, I recently began to use the Terminal utility rather heavily, so I decided to give the icon a more personal touch.

2)
If you're going to replace something, you should know what you want to replace it with. Perhaps you have something in mind already, but sometimes we all need a little inspiration. To see some good examples of possible icon choices, direct your browser to iconspedia.com. This site has plenty of icon packs to choose from. If you desire a specific image as an icon, try a Google Image search.

3)
Once you have the icon you want, locate the application you want to change in a Finder window. Then right click and select "Get Info". You'll notice the current icon displays in the upper left corner of the new window. Keeping this window open, go through Finder and open the "Get Info" window for the icon file as well.

4)
Now that you have both of those windows open, here's the trick. Click once on the image displayed in the top left of the "Get Info" window of the icon you want to use. It should now have a blue shadow around it. Use your keyboard shortcut keys of +C to copy the image. Then go to the "Get Info" window of the icon you want to change. Click on the image in the top left corner and press +P to paste the image. This should properly copy your icon file to the new image. If this doesn't work and your Mac honks at you, it may be because the file or program you are attempting to change is protected. Perhaps you could change the permissions from the "Get Info" window while you are there.