Changing the Trash icon

Question

Changing the Trash icon

I've been able to change any other icons that I feel like on my Mac, but the Trash icon is proving a little resistant to change. I'd like to replace both the empty and full wire basket icons with others of my choosing, but I've been unable to do so, or to locate a topic on these forums that deals with this.

G5iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.6)

Posted on Jan 5, 2009 4:18 PM

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Answer 1

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joshz

Level 4

3,300 points

Jan 5, 2009 4:26 PM in response to Gareth Holder

I'll try to track them down for you, but you should back them up first in case it causes some problems, or in case you ever want to revert.

EDIT: Found them.

Go to /System/Library/CoreServices. Right- (or control-) click "Dock", and click "Show package contents". Then go to Contents/Resources. You'll see "trashempty.png" and "trashfull.png". BACK THEM UP, AND NOTE THEIR ORIGINAL LOCATION somewhere where you'll be able to find it later, and replace those files with the images you want, making SURE the names are correct, and the EXACT same as the originals.

Then restart. (Logging out and logging in may be sufficient, but it's probably safer to restart.)

Good luck!

Message was edited by: joshz

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Answer 2

Jan 6, 2009 12:32 PM in response to joshz

Well, I did try this, but it's telling me that the Resources folder cannot be modified. Also, I have a bunch of icons that are not .png extensions. I'm wondering if I can use them by renaming them. That's not really an issue as I can create or obtain .png files, but the permission issue is proving a problem.

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Answer 3

joshz

Level 4

3,300 points

Jan 6, 2009 2:33 PM in response to Gareth Holder

You'll probably have to sudo cp them. If you don't know how, I would STRONGLY recommend learning a bit about Unix and the command line before attempting something like this.

I could probably walk you through it if you gave me the image file names, and locations on your computer (that is, the ones that you want to replace the trash icon with). (And to save as .png, open the images in Preview, and then click File>Save As..., and choose png).

Good luck!

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Answer 4

Jan 7, 2009 10:49 AM in response to joshz

I'm not too worried about saves as I have Time Machine running. Would the Unix procedure be as simple as firing up a Terminal session and doing a cp /xxx/xxxx/xxxx/trashfull.png /xxx/xxxx/xxxx/trashfull.png ?

Bit rusty on the command line...

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Answer 5

joshz

Level 4

3,300 points

Jan 7, 2009 2:15 PM in response to Gareth Holder

You'd have to do a sudo cp, and put in your password.
I think it'd be easiest, though, if you told me where on the computer the files you want to use are. Then I'll give you a command to copy it and check the permissions on it. Then we can change the permissions to correct them, if necessary.

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Answer 6

Jan 7, 2009 5:23 PM in response to joshz

OK, lets give it a go then. The files are /Users/Gareth/Icons/Trash fullshadow and /Users/Gareth/Icons/Trash emptyshadow

Both of those files are currently not in a png format, so I might have to finagle new ones, but whatever files I end up using, the sudo cp command will be the same, so if you could drop me those commands and where I execute them from, that would be great.

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Answer 7

joshz

Level 4

3,300 points

Jan 7, 2009 5:37 PM in response to Gareth Holder

FIRST BACK UP THE ORIGINAL FILES!!! THAT IS CRUCIAL, IN CASE SOMETHING GOES WRONG!
Assuming you convert them to .png files, and rename the one to "trashempty.png" and the other to "trashfull.png", the command would be this:
sudo cp /Users/Gareth/Icons/trashempty.png /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/;sudo cp /Users/Gareth/Icons/trashfull.png /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/;ls -le@O /System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources/trash*.png
Post the results of that here, and then restart.

Use V.K.'s advice. It's easier, more straightforward, and has less risks. I should have recommended something like that right away.

Good luck!

Message was edited by: joshz

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Answer 8

V.K.

Level 9

56,202 points

Jan 7, 2009 5:28 PM in response to Gareth Holder

rather than digging through system files by hand you can use a 3rd party app like LiteIcon (freeware) or Candybar(shareware) to do this.

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Answer 9

Jan 8, 2009 12:07 PM in response to V.K.

Worked like a charm. I used LiteIcon to install icons that came with the Candy Bar package. Thanks !

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