Customise Finder folders on the Mac with new colours and text

Have some fun on your Apple Mac by creating custom folders for your files with different colours, text or even emoji characters. This step by step guide shows exactly how to do it.

All folders in Finder on the Apple Mac are blue, so it had better be your favourite colour. What you may not realise is that you can change the colour and even add text or emoji to the icon. There are a couple of examples in the image above, but there are endless possibilities.

By creating custom folders you can make them stand out in Finder windows and this can make it easier to spot them when you are looking for them. A bright red, green or blue folder for example, would draw your eye to it. Don't do it for every folder, but when you want something different for special files, customise it.

Related: Have fun with your folders and customise them in Finder
Related: How to create Smart Folders in macOS to find and access files

1 Create a folder

Any folder on the desktop or in Finder windows can be customised, but I am going to create a new one on the desktop for my files. Ctrl+click the desktop or go to the File menu and then select New Folder. Name it.

2 Get the info

Select the folder and press Cmd+I to open the Info panel that shows the folder/file information. Click the icon in the top left corner of the panel and press Cmd+C to copy it to the clipboard.

3 Open Preview

Open the Preview app and press Esc when it prompts you to open a file on disk because we don't want to open anything. Instead, go to the File menu and select New From Clipboard to paste in the icon we copied from the folder info window.

4 View the icons

Icons used for folders and files on the Mac are not a single image and they consist of multiple images at different sizes. The left panel shows these icon sizes. Select a medium size one, such as number 3, and set the view to Actual Size on Preview's View menu.

5 Preview markup tools

Click for a larger version

Go to the View menu in Preview and select Show Markup Toolbar. You can now add objects or text to the icon and I clicked the text tool and added the word "Hey!". If the text is too small, click the A button and increase the size. The font and colour can also be changed.

I added text, but you could add any of the items on the Shapes button, such as arrows, boxes, circles, stars and so on. Be creative with your folder design and see what you can do within the confines of such a small area.

6 Colour the folder

Click for a larger version

Preview not only lets you draw and type on images, it also has some useful tools for adjusting the colours. Go to the Tools menu and select Adjust Colour. Drag the sliders to change the colour – the best ones are the Tint and Temperature but try them all.

The text colour is set with the text tool and shapes are set with the Fill Colour and Border Colour buttons in the toolbar, only the folder colour is set with these sliders.

7 Copy the icon

After creating your design, click the folder in the Preview window to select the icon (not the text or shape) and press Cmd+C to copy it to the clipboard. Click the icon at the top of the folder info window and press Cmd+V to paste in the new icon.

The folder icon on the desktop is immediately updated with your design!

8 Add emoji to folder icons

Click for a larger version

1. Select another folder and press Cmd+I.
2. Click the icon in the Info window and press Cmd+C to copy it.
3. Open Preview and select File > New From Clipboard to paste it in.
4. Click the Text button to add text.
5. Press Ctrl+Cmd+Spacebar to open the Emoji window and double click one to enter it.
6. Set the size as you would set the size of text by clicking the A button in the toolbar.
7. Click the folder icon with the emoji in Preview and press Cmd+C to copy it to the clipboard.
8. Click the folder icon in the Info window and press Cmd+V to paste it.

You now have a folder with an emoji character on it!

In case you were wondering, there is no need to save anything when quitting Preview.