The icons of all my applications have suddenly stopped displaying in my Time Machine backup. The applications themselves seem to have been backed up - judging from the size of the files - but instead of the icon there's now a default Apple icon (indicating that the file is missing – see attached screenshot).
The app icons on my MacBook are displaying fine.
Does anyone know what to do about this?
MacBook Pro 15", macOS 10.14
Tesserax, that's what I'm wondering too: whether it means the apps are damaged or it's just a harmless bug.
I also tried to copy-paste one of the apps from Time Machine and onto my desktop. Once it was on the desktop, it showed the app icon again. I was able to open the application, so it was clearly still working.
FWIW. Hmm, I noticed the same strange behavior on my Mac mini running macOS Mojave 10.14.3 in both Finder and in the Time Machine interface ... except in the very latest backup. However, when clicking on any of these default icons, I am still given the option to restore ... so I'm not sure if this is a glitch or an actual issue.
You're welcome.
I can see where it might be disconcerting. My guess is it's a 'glitch' introduced with Mojave. I didn't say but I see the same thing on some dates but not others. It's how I came up with my "theory". 😎
And FWIW, I see the same thing on all 5 of my Macs running Mojave.
FWIW, I think what might be happening is the displayed icon just means the app wasn't backed up on a given date because it wasn't changed. It doesn't mean it's damaged.
dialabrain,
I don't think that's the case. The icons used to be displaying, whether they were backed up or not - so something is not right. Also, when I look at the very first back-up to Time Machine - where all the apps were backed up - the app icons are missing too.
Just my theory. As far as something being "wrong", if anything it's just how they're displayed. They still restore just fine. You can always file a bug report if you like from the feedback page. Just change the feedback type. Feedback - macOS - Apple
One other interesting thing that I noticed is that when flipping back in time these icons momentarily appear normally, and then, revert to the default icons within a second or two. Definitely a strange behavior.
Ok, thanks! I might do that.
You're probably right that the files are intact, but it does worry me to see missing or warning icons on my back-ups from the last three years.
App icons not showing in Time Machine backup
