Hiding 'icon?' files visible in folders after Mac transfer

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davey17x Author

Level 1

62 points

Hiding 'icon?' files visible in folders after Mac transfer

How do I hide the single 'icon?' file now visible inside every folder after mac transfer? Thx

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 11.7

Posted on Jun 25, 2026 9:45 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Niel

Community+ 2026

Level 10

747,223 points

Jun 25, 2026 9:57 PM in response to davey17x

Press the Shift, Command, and period keys. If that doesn't work, choose Utilities from the Finder's Go menu, open the Script Editor, and run:

do shell script "chflags hidden " & quoted form of POSIX path of (choose file)

on each of them. The script won't have an effect if the Finder is set to display normally-hidden items.

(264217)

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Answer 2

Niel

Community+ 2026

Level 10

747,223 points

Jun 26, 2026 10:04 AM in response to davey17x

Use the following:

set theFiles to "(search for files named Icon in the Finder and drag them here)"

repeat with thisFile in paragraphs of theFiles

do shell script "chflags hidden " & thisFile

end repeat

(264222)

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Answer 3

davey17x Author

Level 1

62 points

Jun 26, 2026 9:55 AM in response to Niel

Thanks for your input John, but there was one created by apple for every folder throughout my hard drive during transfer.

Dealing with each one individually would take a very very long time. I need to batch hide them in one go. Thx

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Answer 4

davey17x Author

Level 1

62 points

Jun 26, 2026 11:01 AM in response to John Galt

Thank you John, but regrettably not in this instance.

It is not possible for Google to have created an 'icon?' file in every single folder throughout my whole hard drive. They were created by Apple during set up and transfer of files from one macbook to another.

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Answer 5

davey17x Author

Level 1

62 points

Jun 26, 2026 11:04 AM in response to Niel

Thanks for this Niel... Could you expand on it a little? As it's beyond my limited experience 😊

I can get them into the finder but not sure hereafter, and concerned about making the wrong move... Thx

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Answer 6

John Galt

Level 10

158,936 points

Jun 26, 2026 9:09 AM in response to davey17x

FIle "Icon?" are everywhere in my MacBook directories - Apple Community

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Answer 7

davey17x Author

Level 1

62 points

Jun 26, 2026 9:48 AM in response to John Galt

They're system files 'icon?' (usually hidden) in every folder throughout my hard drive John, I'm trying to re-hide the files, it's not an aesthetic choice. 😊

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