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Specific folder icons replaced by generic folder icons.

Hello. I recently screwed over my mid-2010 MacBook Pro. Long story short, the partition was re-established, but many files were lost. Over half of my podcast archive had to be/is being re-downloaded. As one may expect, some of the missing files are affecting the visual functionality of the computer.


The icons I'm looking for in particular are the Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music, Pictures, and Public folder icons. They have been replaced by the generic folder icon in the Dock, Finder windows, and the Finder sidebar. They look rather ugly, and they aren't supposed to look that way. Anyone have any suggestions for how to fix them? The All My Files, AirDrop, Applications, and Dropbox (granted, this one is not a system default icon) folder icons are fine, for whatever reason. The other seven are missing. They can all be found in System/Library/CoreServices/CoreTypes.bundle/Contents/Resources, so unless this is not the location they are pulled from, they should all be there. As you can see in the provided screenshots, some icons are just fine, while others are missing.

User uploaded fileUser uploaded file

I have reinstalled Mac OS X 10.9, and this did not help. I do not really want to do a Time Machine restore if I can help it, because several changes that would be difficult to replicate would have to occur if I went back in time. I am trying to remember if the problem existed before or after I updated to 10.9.2. I will do some digging and let you know in a future post.


Thank you for reading and I hope you have some knowledge on this situation.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Mar 30, 2014 5:29 PM

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2 replies

Mar 7, 2015 8:58 PM in response to FriedWaffle

I too have had a problem with locating how to get the downloads icon back onto the folder in the dock. If your download folder is in the dock, right click the folder that needs the icon. While still holding down on your right click move your pointer up until you get to 'Display as'; just under that, highlight 'folder' and let go of your right click. Check the folder in the dock; it should now have your lost icon. This can also be used to get back the icon for your 'documents' folder in the dock.


I hope this has helped many of you who have had the same problem that I had.

Mar 7, 2015 9:20 PM in response to daniel.a.gross

Two things buddy:

1. This was a year ago.

2. You are so far off base you might as well have been playing football.

I am fully aware of the ability to display as a folder or as a stack. If I had that set to display as a stack, that would mean that I only had one folder in each of them. It is clearly not a stack or else you would be able to see two other folders behind it. Even if it were a stack, that wouldn't begin to explain why the icons were missing in Finder (second screenshot).


For what it's worth, I called Apple support on this issue and, if I remember correctly, it had to do with the way the person who recovered my data put the system back together. He/she missed a few settings that required going into root in order to fix. It was nowhere near as simple as you might think.

Specific folder icons replaced by generic folder icons.

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