How to Change Default System Folder Icons
This might seem a complicated process, but I promise it is not difficult. It is just more time consuming than in previous versions of OS X, such as Yosemite or Mountain Lion where the process to change default system folder icons was basically simple as: Downloading LiteIcon, dragging the custom icons onto the app's panels then clicking apply. But this process is worth it because the default folders in Yosemite and El Capitan that were designed by Apple are ridiculously ugly.
With El Capitan, you're still going to be using the LiteIcon app to change the default system folder icons. But several additional steps now have to be performed, as well. This is because Apple has implemented a new OS X security feature called System Integrity Protection that restricts certain processes from running and/or altering system files, even if you're using the administrator account.
I think there is a two-fold reason why Apple has decided to implement this:
- With OS X becoming ever more popular and more people buying Macs instead of Windows machines, Apple's market share and install base continues to grow and become larger. This makes OS X a bigger target for malicious hackers attempting to find operating system exploits in hopes of stealing confidential and/or personal information, i.e. bank or credit card info. System Integrity Protection has been added to better protect from potential malicious hackers.
- To help counter illegal spying operations by another type of arguably malicious hackers, in this case intelligence agencies such as NSA, CIA and GCHQ. See stories published from the Edward Snowden cache on lengths those intelligence agencies have gone to in their attempt to compromise desktop and mobile operating systems worldwide, OS X included.
Let's begin.
To set custom system folder icons in El Cap, you'll first need to have two things installed: OS X El Capitan and LiteIcon. You'll also need to have at least one custom folder icon set you wish to change the defaults to. I recommend the Cascade icon sets by Olivier Charavel. I use Cascade Ciel and, in my opinion, it is literally perfect. El Cap, LiteIcon and Cascade are all free:
El Capitan: Upgrade Now
http://www.apple.com/osx/
LiteIcon: Download Version
http://www.freemacsoft.net/liteicon/
Cascade: Ciel, Sable, Eau, Roche
http://olivier.design
If you're unsure which version of OS X you have installed: About This Mac
NOTE: Please take photos with your smartphone or print these instructions
With El Cap and LiteIcon installed, and with a folder icon set downloaded:
- In the Menu Bar at top of screen, click the Apple logo and select Restart
- After selecting Restart, hold down the Command-R keys on your keyboard
- Your Mac restarts; continue to hold Command-R until Apple's logo appears
- When Apple's logo appears, release the Command-R keys
Your Mac is now booting in to Recovery Mode.
After you have booted in to Recovery Mode and see the above OS X Utilities:
- In the Menu Bar, click Utilities and select Terminal
- In Terminal, type: csrutil disable
- Press enter/return: ‘Successfully disabled System Integrity Protection.’
- In the Menu Bar, click the Apple logo and select Restart
When you have restarted and logged in, now is when you change the icons:
- Open a folder containing folder icons, i.e. Cascade Ciel, and open LiteIcon
- Drag the icons from that folder one-by-one onto their respective panels
- When finished, click Apply Changes then click Clear Cache & Log Out
For me, LiteIcon doesn't actually log out after clearing the cache. Click Clear Cache & Log Out and if you aren't automatically logged out within 10 seconds, just log out manually: In the Menu Bar, click the Apple logo and select Log Out.
Log back in to your account and take a look to see that your folder icons were changed. Open your Home folder: If your Home folder icons were changed, good. Click the Desktop and create a new folder: If the new folder has its custom icon, good. The process worked, as it should. If any of the icons were not changed, this following restart should fix the problem.
Now simply re-enable System Integrity Protection, again in Recovery Mode:
- In the Menu Bar, click the Apple logo and select Restart
- After selecting Restart, hold down the Command-R keys on your keyboard
- Your Mac restarts; continue to hold Command-R until Apple's logo appears
- When Apple's logo appears, release the Command-R keys
After you have booted in to Recovery Mode, as you did before:
- In the Menu Bar, click Utilities and select Terminal
- In Terminal, type: csrutil enable
- Press enter/return: ‘Successfully enabled System Integrity Protection.’
- In the Menu Bar, click the Apple logo and select Restart
- Log in to your account.
Simple, just time consuming. You should be able to accomplish in ~10 minutes.
There is one other way to change default system folder icons, but this process won't work for creating new empty/generic folders with the custom icon automatically applied. This process, while also somewhat tedious, is how you can change certain individual folder icons for which the LiteIcon app doesn't have respective panels to drag icons onto.
For example, this Android folder icon:
- Select the Android folder icon (any other icon works the same)
- Press Command-I, or right-click the icon and select Get Info
- In the icon's Get Info panel, the icon at top-left is a white ICNS
- Drag the Preview image of the icon up onto the top-left ICNS
- With top-left highlighted; Command-C or Menu Bar>Edit>Copy
Dragging the Preview image up to the top-left ICNS
- Open any other folder's Get Info panel to paste the icon onto its top-left
- New folder's top-left highlighted; Command-V or Menu Bar>Edit>Paste
Android .icns top-left pasted onto the other (right) folder's top-left icon
LiteIcon obviously is the most important piece, as it sets the custom icon for all blank/generic folders already created and automatically for all new empty/generic folders later created. Because you're not going to spend countless hours Get Info paneling likely thousands of folders throughout the system, use LiteIcon!
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