How to change the icon of Trash?
- Thread starter efox5
- Start date
dmetzcher
Metzcher.com
To change the icons that appear in the Dock for Trash and Finder, you need to edit a couple PNG images inside the Dock application.
Browser to the following location.
/System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources
To get into Dock.app, you are going to need to browse to /System/Library/CoreServices/ first, and then Control+click (or right-click) on the Dock.app application. When you get the contextual menu, choose "Show Package Contents". The contents of the Dock app will open in a new Finder window.
Once there, open the Contents folder, and then open Resources. The files are in here. You are looking for:
trashempty.png
trashfull.png
Also, you'll find the icons for Dashboard and the Finder:
finder.png
dashboard.png
These files are owned by the system, so, if you try to delete them, you are going to be prompted for the username and password of an administrator.
Make backups of these files before you edit them! In fact, making a copy of the Dock.app application, located in the CoreServices folder, is a good idea. That way, you can just copy it back and replace everything that you change. Then, replace the files for the icons with new files of the same names.
When you are done, restart the Dock. Open Terminal, and type the following line, followed by the Return key.
killall Dock
You may need to move something to the Trash, or empty it, to get the icon changed.
I just found this method somewhere else, and re-wrote it to be a little easier to understand, and so that it uses the Finder to do all the work. If anyone else has any corrections to what I've written above, PLEASE post them. Thanks.
EDIT: Meant to post the article where I found this tip...
Here it is: http://interfacelift.com/icons-mac/articles/dock_10-3-x.php
Browser to the following location.
/System/Library/CoreServices/Dock.app/Contents/Resources
To get into Dock.app, you are going to need to browse to /System/Library/CoreServices/ first, and then Control+click (or right-click) on the Dock.app application. When you get the contextual menu, choose "Show Package Contents". The contents of the Dock app will open in a new Finder window.
Once there, open the Contents folder, and then open Resources. The files are in here. You are looking for:
trashempty.png
trashfull.png
Also, you'll find the icons for Dashboard and the Finder:
finder.png
dashboard.png
These files are owned by the system, so, if you try to delete them, you are going to be prompted for the username and password of an administrator.
Make backups of these files before you edit them! In fact, making a copy of the Dock.app application, located in the CoreServices folder, is a good idea. That way, you can just copy it back and replace everything that you change. Then, replace the files for the icons with new files of the same names.
When you are done, restart the Dock. Open Terminal, and type the following line, followed by the Return key.
killall Dock
You may need to move something to the Trash, or empty it, to get the icon changed.
I just found this method somewhere else, and re-wrote it to be a little easier to understand, and so that it uses the Finder to do all the work. If anyone else has any corrections to what I've written above, PLEASE post them. Thanks.
EDIT: Meant to post the article where I found this tip...
Here it is: http://interfacelift.com/icons-mac/articles/dock_10-3-x.php
dmetzcher
Metzcher.com
I replaced my Dock.app file using a backup that I had made with TransParent Dock (which is a GREAT app, by the way), and got everything back to the way it was (i.e. - the Dock is now owned by the system again, it's the original file, etc.). However, the sounds for duplicating files and folders, moving them to the trash, and emptying the trash, didn't come back until after I restarted (I tried logging out, and it didn't work either). Not sure what that was all about.
I've also read that CandyBar can change the icons for the Trash and Finder in the Dock, so maybe that's the safest way to do this sort of thing. I'm usually comfortable messing around with system files and Terminal, but that weird sound issue put me off a little.
dmetzcher
Metzcher.com
OK, this is my last update to this question. Sorry for all the info, but I wanted to preserve my steps. Better that I do this and screw up my system, when I have a fresh backup, then for you to screw up yours.
I just tested out CandyBar, and it's slick. I changed the trash icons in a few seconds, and there were no weird sound issues. If you want to test it out, download it here: http://www.panic.com/candybar/
It's just the easiest way to get what you want, and you can even apply themes (sets/containers of icons) to the whole system.
I just tested out CandyBar, and it's slick. I changed the trash icons in a few seconds, and there were no weird sound issues. If you want to test it out, download it here: http://www.panic.com/candybar/
It's just the easiest way to get what you want, and you can even apply themes (sets/containers of icons) to the whole system.
dmetzcher
Metzcher.com
Yeah, I've been playing with it myself today. It seems that iconfactory.com doesn't have many iContainer icon sets for CandyBar, however. I also use Pixadex (you can download it from the same Web site) to manage a few thousand icons that I've collected in the past year or so. It works well with CandyBar (drag-n-drop, etc.), so you can create your own iContainers for CandyBar after you pick through the icons you store in Pixadex and drag each one to the appropriate "well" in CandyBar. If you want true customization of your icons, I think these two programs, used together, make managing it all very easy. I'm definitely going to buy CandyBar now.