Icons For Mac Users



On your Mac, choose Apple menu System Preferences, then click Users & Groups. Open Users & Groups preferences for me. Click the lock icon to unlock it. Enter an administrator name and password. Click the Add button below the list of users. Click the New Account pop-up menu, then choose a type of user. Mac users love to customize the look and feel of OS X, and one of the easiest ways to do it is by using custom icons for your apps and utilities. Apps like CandyBar have long offered a quick solution to managing your Mac’s application icons, but it’s just as simple to change most icons yourself.

  1. Mac Desktop Icons
  2. Change Icon Mac

After a few hours of work, a Finder window in icon mode can look something like a teenager’s room: stuff strewn all over the place, as demonstrated with the Applications folder in Figure 1.

Change icon macIcons

Mac Desktop Icons

Figure 1: Will someone please clean up this mess?

To restore order to your Desktop, click in any open area of the active window and then choose View –> Clean Up. This command leaves the icons in approximately the same position but snaps them to an invisible grid so that they’re aligned, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Tidying up is no problem with the Clean Up menu command.

After things are in alignment, work with the icon view options. (Naturally, you’ll want the active Finder window in icon view first, so choose View –> As Icons or press COMMAND+1.) From the Finder menu, choose View –> Show View Options — or press that swingin’ COMMAND+J shortcut — to display the View Options dialog box that you see in Figure 3. (Remember that these options are the ones available for icon view.)

Figure 3: The settings available for icon view.

Note these first two radio buttons, which also appear in the list View Options dialog box:

  • This Window Only: Select the This Window Only radio button to apply the changes that you make only to the Finder window that opens when you open the selected item — in other words, the item that appears in the window’s title bar.
Users
    For example, any changes made to the settings in Figure 3 will affect only the Applications folder because it was the active Finder window when you pressed COMMAND+ J. (You may have noticed that the window name also appears as the title of the View Options dialog box.)
  • All Windows: Select the All Windows radio button to apply the changes that you make to all Finder windows that you view in your current mode.

Of course, Mac OS X remembers the changes that you make within the View Options dialog box, no matter which view mode you’re configuring. You can also make other changes from this dialog box, including

  • Resizing your Desktop icons: Click and drag the Icon Size slider to shrink or expand the icons on your Desktop. The icon size is displayed in pixels above the slider.
  • Resizing icon label text: Click the up and down arrows to the right of the Text Size drop-down box to choose the font size (in points) for icon labels.
  • Moving icon label text: Select either the Bottom (default) or the Right radio button to choose between displaying the text under your Desktop icons or to the right of the icons.
Free icons for mac
  • Snap to Grid: Enable this check box to automatically align icons to a grid within the window, just as if you had used the Clean Up menu command.
  • Show Item Info: With this check box enabled, Mac OS X displays the number of items within each folder in the window.
  • Show Icon Preview: If you enable this check box, the Finder displays icons for image files using a miniature of the actual picture. (A cool feature for those with digital cameras — however, showing a preview does take extra processing time because Mac OS X has to load each image file and shrink it down to create the icon.)
  • Keep Arranged By: To sort the display of icons in a window, enable this check box and choose one of the following criteria from its drop-down list: by name, date modified, date created, size, or item type.
  • Choosing a background: To select a background for the window, select one of three radio buttons here:

White: This is the default.

Color: Click a color choice from the color block that appears if you make this selection.

Picture: Select this radio button and then click the Select button to display a standard Open dialog box. Navigate to the location where the desired image is stored, click it once to select it, and then click Open.

After all your changes are made and you’re ready to return to work, click the dialog box’s Close button to save your settings.

System Icons (iOS 12 and Earlier)

Icons

In iOS 13 or later, prefer using SF Symbols to represent tasks and types of content in your app. If your app is running in iOS 12 or earlier, follow the guidance below.

Change Icon Mac

The system provides built-in icons that represent common tasks and types of content in a variety of use cases.

In apps running iOS 12 and earlier, it’s a good idea to use these built-in icons as much as possible because they're familiar to people.

Use system icons as intended. Every system-provided image has a specific, well-known meaning. To avoid confusing users, it’s essential that each image be used in accordance with its meaning and recommended usage.

Provide alternative text labels for icons. Alternative text labels aren’t visible onscreen, but they let VoiceOver audibly describe what's onscreen, making navigation easier for people with visual impairments.

Design a custom icon if you can’t find a system-provided one that meets your needs. It’s better to design your own than to misuse a system-provided image. See Custom Icons.

Navigation Bar and Toolbar Icons

Use the following icons in navigation bars and toolbars. For developer guidance, see UIBarButtonSystemItem.

TIP You can use text instead of icons to represent items in a navigation bar or toolbar. For example, Calendar uses “Today,” “Calendars,” and “Inbox” in the toolbar. You can also use a fixed space element to provide padding between navigation and toolbar icons.

IconNameMeaningAPI
Action (Share)Shows a modal view containing share extensions, action extensions, and tasks, such as Copy, Favorite, or Find, that are useful in the current context.action
AddCreates a new item.add
BookmarksShows app-specific bookmarks.bookmarks
CameraTakes a photo or video, or shows the Photo Library.camera
CancelCancelCloses the current view or ends edit mode without saving changes.cancel
ComposeOpens a new view in edit mode.compose
DoneDoneSaves the state and closes the current view, or exits edit mode.done
EditEditEnters edit mode in the current context.edit
Fast ForwardFast-forwards through media playback or slides.fastForward
OrganizeMoves an item to a new destination, such as a folder.organize
PausePauses media playback or slides. Always store the current location when pausing, so playback can resume later.pause
PlayBegins or resumes media playback or slides.play
RedoRedoRedoes the last action that was undone.redo
RefreshRefreshes content. Use this icon sparingly, as your app should refresh content automatically whenever possible.refresh
ReplySends or routes an item to another person or location.reply
RewindMoves backwards through media playback or slides.rewind
SaveSaveSaves the current state.save
SearchDisplays a search field.search
StopStops media playback or slides.stop
TrashDeletes the current or selected item.trash
UndoUndoUndoes the last action.undo

Tab Bar Icons

Use the following icons in tab bars. For developer guidance, see UITabBarSystemItem.

IconNameMeaningAPI
BookmarksShows app-specific bookmarks.bookmarks
ContactsShows the person’s contacts.contacts
DownloadsShows active or recent downloads.downloads
FavoritesShows the person’s favorite items.favorites
FeaturedShows content featured by the app.featured
HistoryShows recent actions or activity.history
MoreShows additional tab bar items.more
Most RecentShows content or items recently accessed within a specific period of time.mostRecent
Most ViewedShows the most popular items.mostViewed
SearchEnters a search mode.search
Top RatedShows the highest-rated items.topRated

Home Screen Quick Action Icons

Use the following icons in home screen quick action menus. For developer guidance, see UIApplicationShortcutIconType.

IconNameMeaningAPI
AddCreates a new item.add
AlarmSets or displays an alarm.alarm
AudioDenotes or adjusts audio.audio
BookmarkCreates a bookmark or shows bookmarks.bookmark
Capture PhotoCaptures a photo.capturePhoto
Capture VideoCaptures a video.captureVideo
CloudDenotes, displays, or initiates a cloud-based service.cloud
ComposeComposes new editable content.compose
ConfirmationDenotes that an action is complete.confirmation
ContactChooses or displays a contact.contact
DateDisplays a calendar or event, or performs a related action.date
FavoriteDenotes or marks a favorite item.favorite
HomeIndicates or displays a home screen. Indicates, displays, or routes to a physical home.home
InvitationDenotes or displays an invitation.invitation
LocationDenotes the concept of location or accesses the current geographic location.location
LoveDenotes or marks an item as loved.love
MailCreates a Mail message.mail
Mark LocationDenotes, displays, or saves a geographic location.markLocation
MessageCreates a new message or denotes the use of messaging.message
PausePauses media playback. Always store the current location when pausing, so playback can resume later.pause
PlayBegins or resumes media playback.play
ProhibitDenotes that something is disallowed.prohibit
SearchEnters a search mode.search
ShareShares content with others or to social media.share
ShuffleIndicates or initiates shuffle mode.shuffle
TaskDenotes an uncompleted task or marks a task as complete.task
Task CompletedDenotes a completed task or marks a task as not complete.taskCompleted
TimeDenotes or displays a clock or timer.time
UpdateUpdates content.update