Changing icons on OS X El Capitan

Discussion in 'OS X El Capitan (10.11)' started by parzianello, Jun 23, 2015.

  1. surr3a1 macrumors newbie

    surr3a1

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    Sep 3, 2015
    #26
    You can't drop PNG files directly onto the info window with Finder, then you get a generic png icon like in my shot a few posts above. You have to the trickery with opeing the image in preview first and then copy/paste which for me is lame. That is after executing the command above of course.
     
  2. lk219 macrumors newbie

    lk219

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    Sep 10, 2015
    #27
    Does it make my computer vulnerable to disable, if so, how can i enable it again?
    also if it can be reenabled, will that restore all the icons i changed?
     
  3. surr3a1 macrumors newbie

    surr3a1

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    Sep 3, 2015
    #28
    You just run the same command with enable instead of disable. It shouldn't rever the icons back to default. I can't tell you anything for vulnerability though as I really do not care about that.
     
  4. iSquirrelu macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2012
    Location:
    Brisbane, Australia
    #29
    Interesting, on system reboot it seems to reset the permissions or something as I can no longer change icon's today?

    May I ask how do you change the permissions, it pops up a dialog box saying I dod not have the user credentials to do that, but I am logged in as the admin? And the only user account?
     
  5. surr3a1, Sep 11, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2015

    surr3a1 macrumors newbie

    surr3a1

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    Sep 3, 2015
    #30
    This sounds strange, I did restart few times and even started the terminal from recovery to test if this setting is preserved and it really is. You can just repeat the procedure but just type "csrutil status" and it should show the status. Usually when I get the permissions issue there is a small dialog window with 3 buttons and the middle one is something like "Authenticate" - when I press it I have to enter my password and then the permission problem is gone.
    The other way is to open the info panel for the specific item and check the persmissions section. Look who is the owner and what are the permissions (Read/Write/Execute). If it is not you, check the group to which your user belongs and the permissions for that one.
    Sounds a bit confusing so I'm hoping that you can understand it : ).
     
  6. KALLT macrumors 68040

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2008
    #31
    Have you used PNG files for this before and it worked? Have you tried with an ICNS file? I think you need that latter file format. Hence why the ‘generic PNG icon’ (which itself is an ICNS file) supersedes the actual PNG.
     
  7. surr3a1, Sep 11, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2015

    surr3a1 macrumors newbie

    surr3a1

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    Sep 3, 2015
    #32
    Yes, my friend, you are correct that with ICNS it is working much better. Unfortunately my icon colletion is PNG files mostly and most icons in DA are in that format.
    As I said before there are two ways to change icons (w/o an external app):

    1. Open info window for the object you want to change. Open the PNG file with Preview (not with Space but by clicking on it). Preview app will be opened. Cmd+A (to select the image), Cmd+C (to copy the image). Now go to the info window and select the small icon on the top left, then Cmd+V (to paste the image). This will change the icon and you are done!

    2. If you use PathFinder, just open the info window. Find the PNG image and drag it over the same small icon on the top left. When you see the green "+" icon - drop the file. The icon is changed immediately.
    (Yosemite!)

    As you can see the 2nd option is way much easier but it doesn't work from Finder!
     
  8. KALLT macrumors 68040

    Joined:
    Sep 23, 2008
    #33
    Well, you are disabling a new security feature so you are indeed making yourself vulnerable. Also, what are you trying to change specifically? I can change almost all icons without disabling the feature.
     
  9. surr3a1 macrumors newbie

    surr3a1

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    Sep 3, 2015
    #34
    I think that all the system app icons like Finder, Trash need this to be disabled.
     
  10. lk219 macrumors newbie

    lk219

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    Sep 10, 2015
    #35
    thank you! and "csrutil disable" worked for me after trying all the other options :)
     
  11. Sirious, Sep 11, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 11, 2015

    Sirious macrumors 65816

    Sirious

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    United Kingdom
    #36
    Glad I found this thread. I got really used to my much more 'calmer' icons that I replaced in Yosemite. Was really gutted to see the update remove them and put the default set on.

    I had only changed the iTunes, Maps and Settings icons though ;)
    Thanks for the help guys!
     
  12. td1439, Sep 30, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2015

    td1439 macrumors 6502

    td1439

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    Sep 29, 2012
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    Boston-ish
    #37
    Updated to El Capitan today. I had used LiteIcon to change a lot of the app and system icons. Settings and Clendar reverted back to the stock icons, while the rest remained changed. I tried to run LiteIcon again to re-load my preferred icons, and I got the message it's not compatible. Now I have no idea how to get the stock icons back. Any help?

    EDIT: got them all to revert back except Finder. No idea how to change this one back, since there's no 'Get Info' option.
     
  13. NoHo macrumors 6502

    Joined:
    Aug 2, 2011
    #38
    I forgot how ugly the stock icons are on OS X. I've had them changed for years. They look really outdated.

    Still trying to find a way to change them. It's really bugging me.
     
  14. Apteryx72 macrumors newbie

    Apteryx72

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    Oct 1, 2015
    #39
    It worked well for me, disabled the security feature with srutil disable, used liteicons to change everything, re-enabled with csrutil enable. Done

    TY
     
  15. Drew-SD macrumors newbie

    Drew-SD

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    Oct 1, 2015
    #40
    Did you have problems with changing the safari, finder and trash icons?
     
  16. Drew-SD macrumors newbie

    Drew-SD

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    Oct 1, 2015
    #41
     
  17. Drew-SD macrumors newbie

    Drew-SD

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    Oct 1, 2015
    #42
    Apparently LiteIcon now works with El Capitan but you cannot change the system doc icons unless you do the recovery reboot and use terminal as written above
     
  18. fturcheti macrumors newbie

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    Sep 21, 2011
    #43
    Hey, what is the icon set you're using for your folders?
     
  19. jonhall macrumors newbie

    jonhall

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    Oct 23, 2015
    Location:
    The dining room.
    #44
    Changing the system icons (I've done finder and trash) is no problem once you've disabled System Integrity Protection (discussed above), just follow this guide.

    But I can't get aliases to change no matter what I try. The only solution I've found is to use Path Finder, find the original file, open a 'get info' window and drag the PNG/ ICNS file to the icon file in the top left corner (or copy then paste, as people have mentioned above). Then you can finally create a new alias and the icon will be the same as the original file. All a bit tedious...
     
  20. emendelson macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Nov 9, 2014
    #45
    In this thread, I posted a link to a set of darker folder icons for Yosemite and the method of applying them using LiteIcon:

    http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/darker-versions-of-yosemite-folder-icons.1816561/#post-20328479

    The method still works for El Capitan, but requires disabling System Integrity Protection before using LiteIcon, and then enabling SIP afterwards. Other posts in this thread explain how to do this from the Recovery partition. If you want to be obsessive about safety, turn off Wi-Fi and disconnect any ethernet cable before disabling SIP, and then turn it on after you've enabled SIP again.
     
  21. Schusterjunge macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2015
    #46
    This sounds helpful, thanks for your advise (like Ervstopic, I want to change system icons), but before I dare to enter that line of code I'd like to understand it (sorry, I know quite little about programming and stuff): Would you please tell me the following:
    · What exactly does it do? (What's csrutil?)
    · Do you know if afterwards I can even change the Finder and Trash icons like I could in Yosemite?
    · How do I undo the command? (… Probably by typing "csrutil enable"?)
     
  22. redheeler, Oct 29, 2015
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2015

    redheeler macrumors 601

    redheeler

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    Oct 17, 2014
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    #47
    It is used to disable System Integrity Protection, a feature in El Capitan that prevents modification of system files and apps by even the highest (root) permission level. This includes system icons.
    Yes, the process should be the same as Yosemite after you disable SIP.
    You guessed right! Just boot into Recovery again and run it. The icons won't revert back.
     
  23. Schusterjunge macrumors newbie

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    Oct 29, 2015
    #48
    Great, thanks a lot for your quick response!
     
  24. Schusterjunge, Oct 29, 2015
    Last edited: Oct 29, 2015

    Schusterjunge macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Oct 29, 2015
    #49
    One more question: Does anyone know how/where to change the Finder icon? I have replaced all .png and .icns files I could find but still the old Finder face smiles at me from the dock (also after rebooting).

    Places where I have exchanged files:
    System / Library / CoreServices / CoreTypes / Contents / Recourses
    · FinderIcon.icns
    System / Library / CoreServices / Dock.app / Contents / Recources
    · finder.png
    · finder@2x.png
    System / Library / CoreServices / Finder.app
    · Opened informations and dragged and dropped new Finder icon over old one.

    EDIT: Also the Trash icon automatically changed back after a few reboots … any ideas how to prevent that?

    EDIT 2: Sorry for spamming this thread! I found the solution: http://osxdaily.com/2014/05/01/change-finder-dock-icon-mac-os-x/
    It's explained for an older version of OS X, but it still works.
     
  25. bbb543 macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    Feb 28, 2013
    #50
    Schusterjunge
    I was just about to post the link in your 'EDIT 2' to http://osxdaily.com/2014/05/01/change-finder-dock-icon-mac-os-x/

    I just found that and it worked for me. Haven't finished changing everything, but you get the idea (see attached)...

    (Running OS X El Capitan 10.11.3 Beta)
     

    Attached Files:

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