file extension icons in MacOS

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file extension icons in MacOS

I just got a new Mac MIni and thought I was "restoring" my current Mac Mini disk contents into the new one's disk via Time Machine. What I got was a bit of a mess -- it kept Catalina and loaded in the rest of my drive. That's not what I told it to do, and especially after it said it would erase the disk before restoring from Time Machine. I still have Mojave installed on this machine and I don't want to upgrade because there are a bunch of utilities I don't want to lose. <sigh>

Anyway, I have some folders where I keep files I download for Windows. A lot of them have .EXE file extensions on them.

So why in the world does Catalina show an icon for ... FLASH files of all things ... for files with the .EXE extension on them?

How in the heck can I change that? (And why does it even DO that since Macs don't care what the file extensions are?)

Posted on Jun 27, 2020 7:29 PM

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Answer 1

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TheToolWiz Author

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4 points

Jun 27, 2020 8:45 PM in response to Barney-15E

Well, it's a refurbished mac that says it's a 2018 version. So they updated it at the factory I guess. But I didn't know that they prevent you from loading an older version even though that version was current at the time the machine was shipped.

Thanks for the other info. I assigned .EXE to an app that I later deleted. There should be a way to not assign anything.

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

117,556 points

Jun 28, 2020 2:44 PM in response to TheToolWiz

You may be able to install Mojave.

I would use cmd-opt-shift-R on restart to install the OS that shipped on that Mac. Hopefully, it will actually install Mojave since that was the shipping OS on that model Mac.

You will have to erase the Mac completely. See how to erase your disk.

I would start by trying Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as some have reported Mojave installer balks at APFS even though it will convert the drive to that format during install.

Then, reinstall macOS.

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

117,556 points

Jun 27, 2020 8:14 PM in response to TheToolWiz

I just got a new Mac MIni and thought I was "restoring" my current Mac Mini disk contents into the new one's disk via Time Machine. What I got was a bit of a mess -- it kept Catalina and loaded in the rest of my drive.

A "new" Mac cannot run Mojave. A Mac can only run the OS that shipped with it, or a later one. If your "new" Mac is not actually new but new to you, then you might be able to install Mojave.

So why in the world does Catalina show an icon for ... FLASH files of all things ... for files with the .EXE extension on them?

How in the heck can I change that?

Whatever thinks it should open Flash files also thinks it can open .exe files.

Select a file with an exe extension and Get Info. Pick another app to open them and click Change All…

If you have nothing else to open them, then you would need to remove whatever app is claiming ownership (Get Info might tell you).

(And why does it even DO that since Macs don't care what the file extensions are?)

They do care. The file type and creator codes were dropped about a decade ago.

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file extension icons in MacOS

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