Q: Blurry/pixelated icons at random in Finder windows

Boy, I got suckered in on that one. People who have not thoroughly researched the issue and/or have experience with the problem really should not post possible solutions. When I referred back to Christopher's post and saw that the instructions read " go to Rebuild Finder Menu Icons " it clicked that Christopher really did not understand the issue. The blurred or pixelated icons we are all referring to are not the Finder Menu Icons but Finder File Icons. Still, I gave it a shot but like I suspected Christophers "fix" did nothing to solve the problem even temporarily.

I'm sure he was trying to help, but when it comes to an issue like this one, it's best to not post a suggestion unless you've really researched the issue. Otherwise you come off like this:

"Hey Dave, having trouble starting your car ?"

"Yeah, I keep turning the ignition key and she keeps trying to start but nothing happens. Maybe I'm out of gas or something"

"Wow, well have you checked the air in your tires lately? "

LOL

I've been trying to find a solution and I think I may have found one, although I'm not sure if it's permanent or not. Try command-clicking the blurry icons on the doc so that they are opened in the finder. It instantly cleared up any blurry icons I had. Hopefully this fix will be permanent, but even if it's not, it takes two seconds to do.

Is there any progress?

no progress on my end ... in fact after "upgrading" to 10.6.4 a little while back the pixelated/blurry icon problem has actually become worse than it ever was ... it does however follow a pattern (albeit a rather generic one) ... I use the "Create Icon & Preview" Service (supplied by the program GraphicConverter) to quickly create a custom icon of an image ... I then paste that icon onto the folder that contains a series of images (this helps me visually differentiate the thousands of sets that I have) as I continue to repeatedly do this procedure other program, folder and file icons will start to show up pixelated/blurry until eventually the finder crashes and reboots itself which then in most cases clears up the pixelated icon issue but also corrupts the .ds_store files which in turn screws up all the custom View option settings that I made for the particular folders I was working in ... thus making it a triple whammy

this whole problem really just plain *****

but at least on the off topic 10.6.4 did at least allow me to once again write to my SMB shares (what a novel thing to be able to do with computers /sarcasm) ..... I highly doubt with all the focus on Apple iRetard and iDiot products now that something that sounds as superfluous as this pixelated and disappearing icon issue will ever get fixed

you gotta be kidding me ... the board auto censored the word "s-u-c-k-s" ... I never realized it was an offensive word ... is fiddlesticks too harsh?

I just started seeing blurry icons with the last update of iTunes, however it is only in the dock and not the Finder window. Background: I have been using SL since it came out. I most certainly did not have the problem them. I am running 10.6.4 but cannot remember exactly when I updated to it. Again, the first time I noticed this issue was a few days ago when I installed the latest iTunes update, however I am fairly sure that is only because iTunes always refreshes the icon when updated/installed. I have of course drug the icon out and drug it back in. If I add another app to the dock, it is blurry as well. As I rarely add new apps to my dock, I cannot say with any certainty how long this issue could have been around and gone unnoticed. Also, these are not custom icons. They are the ones provided by iTunes, etc., upon installation. Any solution would be appreciated.

Your note sounds very familiar to me and I was wondering if there's any connection to having a large number of files in a folder, since I also have thousands or files in a folder, with several having custom icons. I've noticed that my files and folders that I've arranged in a particular folder lose that arrangement. Usually the last item I've renamed has been moved elsewhere in the folder or items are rearranged alphabetically. Other times, a file will be moved waaaaay down, down, down in a folder, creating a super large folder that I then have to draaaaag back up to the others. My finder has crashed or required restart fairly regularly, but I never connected that with a corruption of the .ds-store files. I still have pixelated icons in my Dock and in various folders. It affects both provided and custom icons (usually the more recent ones but not always older ones). It occurs in both administrative and guest users. Love having custom icons bedcause it makes finding things a lot easier. Hope this can be resolved.

I posted way back on the front page of this topic, right after Snow Leopard was released, with this problem. The problem occurred repeatedly, all the time, when i had 10.6.0. Then, a little while later, i updated to 10.6.1 (or possibly 10.6.2 — i can't remember), and it seemed completely resolved! I haven't had problems with it for months, it was great.

Then all of a sudden it came back the other day. :,(

The following things happened:

1. I installed the latest iTunes.

2. I installed Safari 5.

3. I installed OS X 10.6.4.

4. I installed Adobe Photoshop CS5.

(As you can see i've been putting off my updates for some time....)

After this, the problem came back with a vengeance. I am now seeing this repeatedly again, in Quicksilver, in the Dock, and in the Finder.

Things that did NOT happen:

1. I did not mess with anything in CandyBar. I haven't even used CandyBar for almost a year.

2. I did not add or remove anything in my Dock EXCEPT for taking out the old Photoshop icon and putting in the new one.

3. I do not have any custom icons directly in my Dock.

4. I do have a folder (my Downloads directory) which CONTAINS other files that have custom icons — but i've had this in the Dock since the very beginning.

Oh Apple, why won't you fix this faster :,(

Here we are in August 2010, 10.6.4, and the problem is still not resolved. I've tried every solution presented herein, and the best I can get is a temporary fix for a few days. The problem can be with application switching icons (the images you see in the horizontal bar when you press Command+Tab), icons for applications (the Applications folder in Finder), and on various graphics in folders (TIFFs, JPEGs, etc.), and icons in the Dock.

What oh kine and Tim Murray said.

Message was edited by: Couchcowboy

Just wanted to throw in my lot with everyone here. I just started getting the pixelated icons on my mac as well. Such a huge part of the UI experience being messed up is pretty unacceptable. I'd give Apple a break if it hadn't been going on for so long. You would think that after 4 updates to SL they could have fixed this.

There are some temporary solutions... quitting and restarting the Finder clears it up, sometimes, for most of the day. Running a maintenance-utility app such as OnyX or Cocktail will remove invisible .ds. store files -- temporarily. It's not a major problem. But it is a chronic irritant and it's been with us since the birth of 10.6. I may have missed something +(too many .ds store files in my pre-frontal cortex)+, but a search of the support pages indicates that the problem is rather widespread and that Apple lacks the resources or will to address it... just like the Safari-slow-to-load pages problem.

I'm pretty sure all of our blurry/pixelated icon problems are the same that have been posted around as sample images ... but I was just curious if anyone has seen their icons look THIS bad (see link below) ... this has only happened to me on a few occasions but it represents just how bad this problem can be

http://a.imageshack.us/img824/6672/screengw.jpg

I have never seen anything like that on any version of OS X.

This happened frequently on my iMac G5 running the late stages of Leopard (10.5.x), and continued to happen on my iMac 27" (with tons more memory)... I have contacted many sw developers of suspected apps. Thru screen shots and crash dump files... they have been unable to duplicate this. (Even the Graphic Converter creator!).

This is the most disappointing non-response by Apple that I have ever encountered.

My loyalty and technical expertise goes way back to the introduction of the Power Mac. Back when Apple would research and address issues like this... Back when Apple had on-site warranty/AppleCare service in the early 90's.
Restarting, and the occasional PRAM zap will solve the issue for me, temporarily... Typically, I restart around 3 times a day. (I used to keep it running for a couple of months...)