When your folders all look alike, picking out the one you need takes more attention than it should. On macOS Tahoe 26, you can change an individual folder’s color right in Finder or set a new default color. Want a more personal look? Preview gives you the tools to recolor an icon or replace it with a picture.
Change a folder’s color in Finder
Start with Tahoe’s built-in color picker for an individual folder.
Select the folder in Finder.
Click the Action button and choose Customize Folder.
Click a colored circle to apply that color.
For an extra visual cue, select a symbol or click Emoji.
Use the shortcut menu or set a new default color
For a folder on your desktop or in Finder, open Customize Folder from its Control-click or right-click shortcut menu. Select a color.
To change the default folder color, open Apple menu > System Settings > Appearance.
Set Icon & widget style to Default, Dark, or Clear. Choose a color under Folder color.
For matching folders, icons, and widgets, select Tinted under Icon & widget style. Choose a color under Icon, widget, and folder color. This setting changes all three; use Folder color when you only want to adjust folders.
Use a picture as your folder icon
A custom image gives you a folder design beyond the built-in color choices.
Open your colored image or downloaded icon in Preview.
Choose Edit > Copy.
Select the destination folder in Finder.
Open File > Get Info.
Click the small icon at the top of the information window.
Choose Edit > Paste to apply the image.
Make your own color in Preview
For more control over the color, combine Preview’s editing tools with Finder’s custom-icon feature.
- 1.Select the folder in Finder and open File > Get Info.
- 2.Click the small icon at the top of the window and press Command-C.
- 3.In Preview, choose File > New from Clipboard.
- 4.Click Show Markup Toolbar, then Adjust color. Adjust the tint, saturation, and other controls to get the look you want.
- 5.Press Command-A to select the image content, then Command-C to copy it.
- 6.Return to the folder’s Get Info window, select its small icon, and press Command-V.
Organize folders with color tags
Finder tags assign color labels to local and iCloud folders. They also give you a way to organize those folders by tag.
Control-click the folder to open its shortcut menu.
Choose a color above Tags.
To select a tag by name instead, open Tags from the same shortcut menu.
Select the tag you want.
To change a tag’s color, open Finder > Settings > Tags.
Choose a new color from the tag’s color menu.
If tagging doesn’t give the folder the appearance you want, open Customize Folder from the folder’s shortcut menu for Tahoe’s direct folder-color controls.
Restore a folder after pasting a custom icon
Select the folder in Finder.
Choose File > Get Info.
Click the small icon at the top of the window.
Choose Edit > Cut to remove the custom icon and restore the original.
To adjust the default folder color, use System Settings > Appearance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why can’t I customize certain folders?
Apple excludes built-in folders such as Applications, Library, System, and Users from folder customization. You can customize your Home folder.
Can I copy a colored icon from another folder?
Yes. Select the source folder and press Command-I to open Get Info. Select the small icon at the top. Press Command-C. Open the destination folder’s Get Info window. Select its small icon. Press Command-V.
Is there a keyboard shortcut to change folder colors?
Finder has shortcuts for favorite color tags: select a folder and press Control-1 through Control-7 to add or remove the corresponding favorite tag. Press Control-0 to remove all tags. These shortcuts control tags, not an arbitrary folder-color picker.
How do I choose which tags appear in the shortcut menu?
Open Finder > Settings > Tags. Drag the tag you want into Favorite Tags to make it available in the shortcut menu.