Can you not change folder icons in Mac OS High Sierra any more?

this works fine on the original folder but does not transfer to alias folders. if you do the get info on the alias folder it does show the custom icon in the preview section but not on the desktop where the alias folder is located. please advise. thanks!

I think I understood what you were saying...take my icon, change the name by inserting the space up front. Move it to the System Applications Folder and it lands in slot one. Then the alias on the dock can use it IF I choose "stack" option for the view. Only problem is transparency of the PNG is not preserved and it shows up with white all around. So I made a new icon where the background is a standard Apple blue Folder but with my Application icon on top. Thought that would work only to discover that because of Stack view you can see the other folders behind it on the dock which makes it look worse. The Adobe Illustrator folder is bright orange and that show up behind the icon I made. Is there any way to use stack mode to only show the first item in the stack LOL?? I need an option here. Kluge but whatever. The icon I am trying to use is attached as well as the folder version of that same icon. I just wish I understood how changing a folder icon for the system folders would in any way affect the OSX itself?? It seems like such a simple request but there must be a programming reason why Apple won't let us customize System Folders any more. I'm thinking my best work around will be to bring the icon into photoshop, add a grey background that matches the transparent "grey" on the dock currently. And hope that will do the trick.

Yes, that's what I mean. If the new icon is big enough it will hide most of the icons behind it.

You can make an icon yourself that is large enough, add it on a page in keynote and then choose the instant alpha option for the image, to remove the background.

It is indeed strange that some icons can be replaced, and others can't.

Create custom icons for files or folders

Create a custom icon for any file or folder using your own pictures, icons downloaded from the web, or the icon from another file or folder.

Use your own picture or a picture from the web

1 Copy the picture you want to use to the Clipboard.

2 One way to do this is to open the picture in Preview, choose Edit > Select All, then choose Edit > Copy.

3 Select the file or folder whose icon you want to replace, then choose File > Get Info.

4 At the top of the Info window, click the picture of the icon, then choose Edit > Paste

This is the first intelligent and correct answer I've seen to this. You cannot change the plain blue folder icons... and yet, with some ancient flower icons and multi-colored Apple icons that I downloaded years ago, the system allows me to do so. It will not do so with other wonderful icons I want to use. As to why it won't, I have no idea.

Thanks for posting this. I bought it and dropped images into the app window for output, but... still seeing generic icons when I Get Info. Bummer.

Is it me, or has Apple lost it's mojo? Simple things like this seem so... off ... for Apple.

Does anyone know why? I'd like to change the icon to the system's Applications folder (not my user Applications folder where there are no apps at all) My goal is to have an alias to it on my doc that is not the plain old blue app folder. Are there workarounds to this? If yes, is this a security issue??? Just looking for a layman's explanation.

As I wrote earlier you can choose an icon that you like then change its name by adding a space before the name so that it comes first in any list, then add this icon to the folder you want to change the icon of. Then this icon will show on top of the other items in the folder.

I have the same problem with "Applications" folder. I had a different one a few months ago but it switched back to the original one. Each attempt i have tried hasn't been succesful. I tried creating an alias of the folder and move it to a different location but doesn't make any difference.

I also tried to create an additional application folder within my Documents, then create an alias of that, change the icon to a custom one and when I change the route from file Info to the System Applications folder it changes back to the default one.

I hope someone eventually figure it out how to do this.

I have tried all of these. I just bought my computer today, but I tried the copy paste, I tried the thing Diane suggested (which is pretty much what everyone else has suggested as well), nothing. So, what gives apple? I pay good money for a computer that I can't customize?

Can anybody help?

yep finally. Thanks for finding the fix Diane. That worked for me 🙂

Thanks for posting this. Unfortunately, another odd moment for Apple, in what seems to be a string of odd behaviors. They've lost their mojo, it seems. Sadly.

this really helps me with my issue. thank you so much