Change your Mac's icon and widget style, and your folder colour

Why it happens

Recent versions of macOS let you change how app icons and widgets look without changing anything else. Default shows icons in full colour, Dark gives them dark backgrounds, Clear makes them see-through, and Tinted colours them all in one shade. Folders can follow a colour of your choice too.

How to fix it

1. Choose Apple menu > System Settings and click Appearance in the sidebar.

2. Find Icon & widget style and click the look you want. Dark suits a dark Mac, Clear lets your wallpaper show through, and Tinted colours everything in one shade.

   Appearance›Icon & widget style

3. For folders, look for Folder color on the same page and pick a colour. Finder's folders change to match.

4. Look at the Dock and your desktop widgets to see the change. To go back to the usual look, click Default.

Still not fixed?

1. If the rest of the Mac looks dark too, that's the main Appearance choice at the top of the same page. Pick Light or Auto there. Icon & widget style only changes icons and widgets.

2. Some apps from other developers don't change with the style, or show inside a plain grey square. That changes once the developer updates the app, so check for app updates.

3. Clear icons hard to read? Pick Tinted or Default instead. If the Dock and menus are hard to read as well, turn on Reduce transparency in Accessibility, under Display.

   Accessibility›Display›Reduce transparency

4. If the icons look blank or broken even on Default after a restart and the latest macOS update, contact Apple Support.