If you’re working on a project or writing a technical document and need a high-quality Mac app icon, you don’t have to search for them on random icon websites. Instead, you can extract them from apps using macOS itself.
Be it default or third-party apps, you can easily extract the icons in seconds. We’ll show you how to extract all application and system icons on your Mac below.
There are two methods to get file icons from your Mac apps. The former is quick and easy, but the latter gives you a few more size options.
Follow these steps for the quick and easy option:
- Control-click an app and choose Obtain informations.
- Click the app icon in the upper left corner of the info panel to highlight it.
- Then press Command + C to copy the icon to your clipboard.
- Launch the Preview app and choose File > New from Clipboard. Select your icon from the left column and export it.
If you want more options for the file icon, head over to the Apps folder and locate the app you want to extract the icon from. Control-click an app and choose Show package contents.
The app bundle will open to reveal the Contents case. Inside you will see several folders and files. Click it Resources folder and you will find a file titled [App Name].icns. This is a special file type that contains several icons of different sizes for an application (16×16, 32×32, 128×128, etc.).
Double click on the [App Name].icns file to open it in Preview. The left pane displays a list of icons of different sizes. Select your icon and choose File > Export. In the dialog, choose a file format (PNG is usually the best) and enable it. Alpha option to keep the background transparent. Then click to safeguard.
macOS system icons encompass almost everything in Finder, System Preferences, and other basic utilities. They are located deep in the System CoreServices folder. For more information on this folder, read our guide to the CoreServices folder and its role in macOS.
To find it, go to Finder and select Go > Go to Folder. Then type the following:
/System/Library/CoreServicesInside the CoreServices folder, you’ll find icons for Printer, Control Center, Clock, Dock, Finder, Siri, Weather, and Screen Time. In the Basic Services > Apps folder, you will see various basic utilities such as archive utility, network utility, screen sharing, wireless diagnostics, etc. The CoreServices > CoreTypes.bundle contains generic icons, Finder icons and high quality Apple product icons.
To extract the icon from System Preferences, navigate to Open Finder Go to folder window again and type the following:
/System/Library/PreferencePanesIn this folder you will see all the preferences with the .prefPane extension. To extract the icon, Control-click a particular preference and choose Show package contents and follow the steps described above.
Find more ways to personalize your Mac
Whichever method you choose, it’s easy to extract high-quality icons from your Mac. If you’re tired of these default icons, why not change them? There are many ways to personalize your Mac desktop, including customizing the wallpaper, icons, color schemes, sounds, and more.
