# *sigh*  Now what...?  Changing alias file icons with "Get Info" in Mavericks



## Atomic.Fusion (Oct 27, 2013)

Mavericks does not let me change the icon of an alias file, that for years I have been able to do all the way until now.  Does anybody know of a free way to change an alias' icon to a custom one?

Under Mt.Lion, I could make an alias of a file, and give it a custom icon for identification purposes in my dock.  I did this because the file that the alias pointed to was updated frequently, and so giving the original file a custom icon meant that it would be updated with a generic icon every time it was saved in Numbers.  By simply making an alias with a custom icon, I could update the Numbers file any time without the icon in my dock being changed.

Mavericks will not allow me to change the icon of the alias.  Such a simple thing that made life so much nicer for me is now gone.  What next, Apple?  Sheesh.


----------



## Cheryl (Oct 27, 2013)

I just tried it on my computer with 10.9. The original folder icon can be changed, but not the alias. Even after you change the icon of the master folder, the alias will still come up as a plain folder. 
An inconvenience to your work habits, but you can send feedback to Apple about it.


----------



## Atomic.Fusion (Oct 29, 2013)

I'm pretty sure this is a BUG, now.  If you attempt to make a custom icon of an alias, using the Get Info method, although the Mavericks Finder doesn't reflect the change in the Finder, it apparently is happening.  I wonder if there is some type of cache happening in Finder that is tied to the icon and doesn't get renewed.  The reason why say this is because out of curiosity I did the following, and lo and behold the custom icon change is revealed:
~~
Assign an alias a custom icon using Get Info.
Exit Get Info. (You see that the alias icon is not changed)
Compress the alias using the Rigth-Click menu by selecting Compress from the menu.
Double-Click on the newly created zip file, and the file appears on the screen with the custom icon.
~~
Hey, at least now I don't have to boot up Snow Leopard to make custom Alias icons from here on out!




Cheryl said:


> I just tried it on my computer with 10.9. The original folder icon can be changed, but not the alias. Even after you change the icon of the master folder, the alias will still come up as a plain folder.
> An inconvenience to your work habits, but you can send feedback to Apple about it.


----------



## Matt Else (Oct 30, 2013)

Atomic.Fusion said:


> I'm pretty sure this is a BUG, now.  If you attempt to make a custom icon of an alias, using the Get Info method, although the Mavericks Finder doesn't reflect the change in the Finder, it apparently is happening.  I wonder if there is some type of cache happening in Finder that is tied to the icon and doesn't get renewed.  The reason why say this is because out of curiosity I did the following, and lo and behold the custom icon change is revealed:
> ~~
> Assign an alias a custom icon using Get Info.
> Exit Get Info. (You see that the alias icon is not changed)
> ...




Nice job!! Thank you!
Now it's just an annoyance due to an extra step.


----------



## RichMock (Aug 10, 2015)

Atomic.Fusion said:


> I'm pretty sure this is a BUG, now.  If you attempt to make a custom icon of an alias, using the Get Info method, although the Mavericks Finder doesn't reflect the change in the Finder, it apparently is happening.  I wonder if there is some type of cache happening in Finder that is tied to the icon and doesn't get renewed.  The reason why say this is because out of curiosity I did the following, and lo and behold the custom icon change is revealed:
> ~~
> Assign an alias a custom icon using Get Info.
> Exit Get Info. (You see that the alias icon is not changed)
> ...


Thanks much, I wish I would have googled this 25 minutes ago but at least you got me to rediscover this site.


----------

