Give a folder, file or drive your own picture as its icon

Why it happens

Every file, folder and drive on a Mac can show a picture of your choice instead of its normal icon. The Info window for that item is where the icon lives. Pasting a copied image there swaps it in, and deleting it brings back the standard icon.

How to fix it

1. Double-click your picture to open it in Preview, then choose Edit, then Copy. The whole image is now on the clipboard.

2. In Finder, click the folder, file or drive once to select it, then press Command-I. You can also choose File, then Get Info.

   Finder›File›Get Info

3. Click the small icon at the very top-left of the Info window. A faint highlight appears around it when it's selected.

4. Press Command-V. The new picture shows straight away, in the Info window and in Finder.

5. Changed your mind? Open Get Info again, click the small icon and press Delete. The original icon comes back.

Still not fixed?

1. If you get the picture file's own icon instead of the picture, you copied the file in Finder, not the image. Open it in Preview and copy from there.

2. If nothing pastes, the item may be locked. In the same Info window, untick Locked under General, then try again.

   Finder›File›Get Info

3. Changing the icon of a drive or something outside your own folders may ask for your Mac's administrator password. That's normal.

4. If you'd rather just recolour all folders, have a look at the Icon & widget style options in Appearance settings.

   Appearance›Icon & widget style

5. If icons stay blank or wrong everywhere even after a restart, contact Apple Support.