Make your Mac's app icons look normal again

Why it happens

Since macOS Tahoe, your Mac can restyle every app icon and widget. The Icon & widget style options are Default, Dark, Clear and Tinted, and choosing anything other than Default makes icons dark, glassy or all one colour. It's easy to pick one by accident while exploring the new look.

How to fix it

1. Click the Apple menu, choose System Settings and click Appearance in the sidebar.

2. Find Icon & widget style and click Default.

   Appearance›Icon & widget style

3. Look at the Dock. The icons should switch back to full colour within a second, and desktop widgets follow.

Icon & widget style is in the same place on macOS 26 and 27. Liquid Glass differs: macOS 26.1 or later offers Clear or Tinted, while macOS 27 has a slider.

Still not fixed?

1. Everything else looks dark too? That's the main Appearance choice at the top of the same section. Pick Light or Auto there. The Dark under Icon & widget style only changes icons and widgets.

2. If the Dock and menus look too see-through, set Liquid Glass to Tinted in Appearance. On macOS 27 it's a slider: drag it to the right for a more solid look.

   Appearance›Liquid Glass

3. Still hard to read? Turn on Reduce transparency in Accessibility, under Display.

   Accessibility›Display›Reduce transparency

4. Some apps from other developers show inside a plain grey square. That changes once the developer updates the app for the new design, so check for app updates.

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