BraveCLHow to give folders matching icons on Mac
Give your Mac folders matching custom icons: design a family of icons, add your folders to a Saved Set, check the Finder sizes and apply.
- What you'll achieve
- Your folder shows the icon you designed in Finder.
- What you need
- A Mac with macOS 14 or later
- Custom Folder Icons installed
- The folders you want to restyle, in a place you can open
Folders that all look the same are hard to tell apart. In Custom Folder Icons you design the icons once, as a family with a role for each kind of folder, and then give them to as many folders as you like with one reviewed Apply. Nothing changes in Finder until you review the result and press Apply yourself. This guide follows the whole path with a real folder, from designing the family to the moment Finder shows the new icon.
1.Design a family of icons
Click New Family in the sidebar and name it; the example uses Home Folder Kit. A family has one role for each kind of folder: here Primary, Archive and Reference, each with its own symbol and color. Select a role and use the inspector on the right to style it, for example the HOME label on Primary. Click Add Role for another kind of folder.
The Home Folder Kit family editor with the Primary, Archive and Reference roles and the inspector open on the right 2.Publish the family
Click Review Publish r1… at the top right. The sheet shows the three roles exactly as they will be saved. Click Publish r1 to freeze this look as revision 1. Publishing does not change any folder in Finder.
The Publish Home Folder Kit r1 sheet showing the three candidate roles and the Publish r1 button 3.Add your folders to a Saved Set
Click New Set and name it; the example uses Family and Study. Click Add Folders, choose your folders with Choose Folders… in the Import folders sheet, and click Done once they show Ready to add. The app only uses the folders you pick, never the folders inside them.
The Import folders sheet listing the Family Photos folder as Ready to add, with Cancel and Done buttons 4.Adopt the family and give each folder a role
Use the Adopt published family menu in the toolbar to choose Home Folder Kit. Select a folder in the list and set Family role in the inspector, here Primary for Family Photos. The Primary card now shows the folder with the HOME icon it will get.
The Family and Study Saved Set with Family Photos assigned to the Primary role and its HOME icon previewed 5.Check how the icon looks at Finder sizes
Click Proof Sizes…. The Finder-size proof shows the icon at 512, 128, 32 and 16 px, the sizes Finder really uses. When it says All required Finder representations are current, click Continue.
The Finder-size proof sheet showing the HOME folder icon at 512, 128, 32 and 16 pixels with a Continue button 6.Refresh Finder and review the Apply
Click Refresh so the app reads what Finder shows now, then click Review Apply…. The Immutable Apply review lists each folder with its admission. A folder that says Ready will be changed. A folder that says Exact Finder-size proof is required before Apply needs the previous step first.
The Immutable Apply review listing Family Photos as Ready, with Cancel and Apply buttons 7.Apply the icons
Click Apply. The Apply result lists the folder as done, and Finder now in the inspector shows the same HOME icon as Proposed. Click Done to close the sheet.
The Apply result sheet, with Finder now showing the HOME icon in the inspector
After the last step
The family stays in the app as a published revision, so every other folder you add to a Saved Set can take the same look, and the Restore Center keeps a receipt in case you want the original icon back.
Tips
Publish the family once and reuse it: a Saved Set adopts a published revision on purpose, so later edits to the family never change your folders by surprise.
Each folder needs its own Finder-size proof before it is Ready in the Apply review.
Use Proof Sizes… to check that a small symbol is still readable at 16 px before you apply.
Watch outApply changes the real icon of the folders you added. The Restore Center keeps a receipt for each Apply so you can bring back the previous icon.
