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How do I change the drive icons in Catalina? I reformatted an external drive and now have the standard orange icon and would like to change it to a custom one. This was possible in prior OS versions but cant do it in Catalina. Does any one has instructions or suggestions on how to do this?
Thanks!
iMac 27″, macOS 10.15
Try changing it while booted into it.
While I stated it does happen with Startup Drives and Time Machine drives, I have been able to change mine.
The OS portion of Catalina is mounted Read Only. However, the .VolumeIcons file is a symlink to the .VolumeIcons file on the read/write volume (- Data) of the drive. Since it isn't mounted, it may not be able to make that link. The link points to /System/Volumes/Data which doesn't exist when you view it while booted into the primary os drive.
Try changing it while booted into it.
While I stated it does happen with Startup Drives and Time Machine drives, I have been able to change mine.
The OS portion of Catalina is mounted Read Only. However, the .VolumeIcons file is a symlink to the .VolumeIcons file on the read/write volume (- Data) of the drive. Since it isn't mounted, it may not be able to make that link. The link points to /System/Volumes/Data which doesn't exist when you view it while booted into the primary os drive.
Dexter1968 wrote:
How do I change the drive icons in Catalina? I reformatted an external drive and now have the standard orange icon and would like to change it to a custom one. This was possible in prior OS versions but cant do it in Catalina. Does any one has instructions or suggestions on how to do this?
Thanks!
From the Desktop make change from the Information pane ( Command i) on any File or Folder or Drive.
If it does not work in Catalina as expected, then it does not work.
Apple Feedback http://www.apple.com/feedback
Thanks for your response.
I have found this with a USB connected drive that I use to create a bootable backup, I reformatted it to comply with new formats being used by Apple and found I can’t change its icon to a custom one using the Command-i approach I used in prior OS versions.
The second drive I found this not to work is with my Time Machine Thunderbolt-3 drive, this one remains with the standard TimeMachine icon.
Prior disks on which I changed the icons to custom ones (in former OS versions) show with the icons I assigned them before, even if they are bootable backup or TimeMachine ones.
Regards and thanks again for your assistance.
I've never found it to be a problem. Works like all other drives and files/folders.
Is it a Startup Drive or Time Machine backup? Those tend to be more protected by Finder in Catalina.
How do I change the drive icons in Catalina?
