I have heard that there are ways to customise my Mac folders in Finder. What can I do to make the ones that I use most stand out from the generic masses?

1 Create a folder

In Finder, press Shift+ Cmd+n to create a new folder, then highlight it and press Cmd+i to ‘Get Info’. Now click on the folder icon at the top.

2

To remove edited icons from your folders, simply highlight the folder, press Cmd+i, then click on the folder icon at the top and press Cmd+x.

Copy the icon

Press Cmd+c to copy the icon to the clipboard and then open the Preview app. Now go to File>new from Clipboard to create a new image for editing.

3 Pick an icon

Icons for apps, files and folders are not single images but a collection of images at different sizes from small to large. Pick a medium size icon, such as 3.

4 Change colour

Go to the Tools menu in Preview and select ‘Adjust Colour’ to open the colour panel. Use the sliders like Tint and Sepia to change the folder icon.

5 Add text

Go to the ‘View’ menu and select ‘Show Markup Toolbar’. Any of the tools can be used to modify the folder icon. Click the ‘T’ tool to add text.

6 Copy design

When you are happy with the design, click the folder to select it and press Cmd+c. Now click the icon at the top of the info window and press Cmd+v.