Mysterious Icon? file appearing when changing folder icons

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Mysterious Icon? file appearing when changing folder icons

I've upgraded to macOS Big Sur a few weeks ago and I've noticed a weird behaviour with custom folder icons I use (by copying-pasting graphics on the generic folder icon using the Get Info pane on the Finder).

I frequently get a file named “Icon?” within the folder whose icon I've changed.

If I delete that file, the folder's icon reverts back to its generic icon.
If I copy, from the Get Info pane, the icon I've pasted, delete it and paste my icon back, the Icon? file disappears… but if I copy the folder to another place (an external disc, for example), the Icon? file reappears.

I surmise that this Icon? file is some kind of placeholder for macOS to deal with custom icons, but shouldn't this file be invisible?

What can I do about this issue (beside NOT using custom icons, as I've been using custom icons since… always)? Is there SOMETHING that can be done?

Thanks!

iMac, OS X 10.11

Posted on Jan 18, 2021 8:07 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

217,562 points

Jan 18, 2021 1:06 PM in response to RémyGrondin

That should be an invisible file. I get the same file in every folder I've added a special icon to. But in my case the icon is hidden and is only visible if I use the key combination of Shift+Command+period (.) to toggle the invisible files to visible and off again.

Look in your Home folder to make sure you don't see any files like this:

Boot into Safe Mode by booting with the Shift key held down and check there to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following;

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

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Answer 2

RémyGrondin Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 20, 2021 8:24 AM in response to RémyGrondin

I asked a colleague of mine (who's on macOS High Sierra) to show me a folder with a custom icon and by toggling the invisible files on, I saw that a Icon? file was actually there and invisible.

I tried something using OnyX's (Files/Visibility tab) and force the invisibility status to a visible Icon? file. That seemed to work… but only for that one file (it's not system-wide). That operation didn't break the custom icon and the file didn't reappear upon copying the folder around.

So, it all sums up to this… the file SHOULD BE invisible, but Big Sur just can't seem to “cloak” it correctly.

Could there be a way to force invisibility to a file across the entire system and to all future occurrences of that file?

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Answer 3

Old Toad

Level 10

217,562 points

Jan 20, 2021 11:28 AM in response to RémyGrondin

Log into another vanilla admin user account, Set up users, guests, and groups on Mac, and see if the problem persists. (This tells us if the problem is limited to your user account or is system wide).

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Answer 4

RémyGrondin Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 20, 2021 11:09 AM in response to Old Toad

Yup. It appears every time I move to another volume (in my case external drives) a folder upon which I've pasted a custom icon.

So far, moving (or copying) a folder to another location on my Macintosh HD doesn't seems to make the Icon? file appear (although I can't confirm that information for sure).

It's as if there's something in the way those volumes are taken into account by Big Sur. I have 6-7 external HDs (ranging from 1 TB to 4 TB) formatted as Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and a 4 TB external HD used for Time Machine formatted as APFS (Case-sensitive) on which I can't copy files. None of my external volumes are SSDs.

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Answer 5

leroydouglas

Level 10

203,952 points

Jan 18, 2021 8:22 AM in response to RémyGrondin

RémyGrondin wrote:

• I've upgraded to macOS Big Sur a few weeks ago and I've noticed a weird behaviour with custom folder icons I use (by copying-pasting graphics on the generic folder icon using the Get Info pane on the Finder).

I frequently get a file named “Icon?” within the folder whose icon I've changed.

If I delete that file, the folder's icon reverts back to its generic icon.

• If I copy, from the Get Info pane, the icon I've pasted, delete it and paste my icon back, the Icon? file disappears… but if I copy the folder to another place (an external disc, for example), the Icon? file reappears.

I surmise that this Icon? file is some kind of placeholder for macOS to deal with custom icons, but shouldn't this file be invisible?

What can I do about this issue (beside NOT using custom icons, as I've been using custom icons since… always)? Is there SOMETHING that can be done?

Thanks!

Well, you lack details here— but let me say that some icons you do not have r/w on the Macintosh HD

so it may not stick. I would not waste a lot of time on this issue.

About the read-only system volume in macOS Catalina - Apple ...

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Answer 6

RémyGrondin Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 21, 2021 10:36 AM in response to Old Toad

I created another admin user and copy a folder with a custom icon to an external HD… the Icon? file appeared.

That does confirm that the problem is system-wide…

I left a feedback to Apple Support about the issue, but that doesn't mean that they'll see my feedback or that they'll fix the problem. Is there something I can do?

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Answer 7

Old Toad

Level 10

217,562 points

Jan 20, 2021 10:55 AM in response to RémyGrondin

Do you get the same visible icon file when you add icons to a new folder and move it to another volume?

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Answer 8

RémyGrondin Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 18, 2021 8:49 AM in response to leroydouglas

Copying-pasting custom icons prior to Big Sur worked just fine without creating this Icon? file.

Here's my Get Info pane for a folder I have where I've changed the folder icon.

And here's a screenshot of the folder on my Macintosh HD and from a copy I've done of the folder on one of my external HDs… we can see the Icon? file that appeared.

I've changed nothing to the r/w privileges of my Macintosh HD nor my external HDs and all I did was upgrading to Big Sur.

I know I shouldn't waste time on this issue, but seeing this nasty little file appears is getting under my skin and since my office make extensive use of custom folder icons to find and classify our clients' files, using a generic folder icon is not an option.

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Answer 9

RémyGrondin Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 18, 2021 11:14 AM in response to Old Toad

Here's the screenshot with some indications. As you can see, a file named Icon? appeared when I copied the folder named “1200-16 […]” to an external HD.

This odd behaviour never happened before I upgraded to Big Sur and if I delete the Icon? file, it also deletes the custom icon (the blue folder thing-y).

It is as if the Icon? file should be invisible but it isn't…

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Answer 10

RémyGrondin Author

Level 1

13 points

Jan 20, 2021 7:08 AM in response to Old Toad

That's what I thought, that it should be an invisible file. Those files are not appearing on my iMac (I knew how to toggle them on/off), that thing's for sure! 😀

I went ahead and boot in Safe Mode. While in Safe Mode, I connected an external HD and I copied a folder with a custom icon on it and the Icon? file appeared. I toggled the invisible files on and this is what I got on the contents of my external HD:

As you can see, all the invisible files are “greyed out”… except for that nasty Icon? file (on an interesting side note, I've discovered that the custom icon I put on my external HD seems to be contained in a .VolumeIcon (Apple Icon Image) invisible file).

I booted back in Normal Mode, checked the contents of the external HD and the Icon? file is still appearing.

I'm a bit at a loss here. For whatever reason, Big Sur seems to be having issues dealing with custom icons and just shows up a file (Icon?) that should be invisible. I know it's not such a big problem, but it does tick me a bit! 😄

But, should those icons be contained in a .VolumeIcon file, like the one I used for my external HD? Could that be the problem?

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Answer 11

Old Toad

Level 10

217,562 points

Jan 18, 2021 11:01 AM in response to RémyGrondin

I'm at a loss as to what you're referring to. Are you saying that there's a difference in the folder icon for the "1200-16 t Fiches PLC 11-2020" folder in the two screenshots?

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Mysterious Icon? file appearing when changing folder icons

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