Folder icons in the Finder sidebar won't revert to its default icons

I haven’t seen other discussions mentioning this issue in macOS 27.0.1.

Using the same article above, add a custom icon to the folder and remove it, to see if macOS then defaults to the correct icon.

You could also start your Mac in safe mode (Start up your Mac in safe mode – Apple Support (UK)), wait 5 minutes to let macOS finish cleaning up and reboot in normal mode.

Also, to see if it’s a system-wide issue, create another user account on your Mac.

I had a similar issue on macOS 27.2 and found a fix in my case. It may be worth checking if you have ever renamed your user account or home folder.

The affected folders opened correctly, but their icons in the Finder sidebar would not return to normal. Removing the remaining Synology Drive components and rebuilding the user’s IconServices caches did not fix the sidebar icons.

We eventually checked this file:

~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.FavoriteItems.sfl4

Inside the file, the bookmarks for Pictures, Movies, Music and Desktop still contained my old home folder path. For example:

Saved path: /Users/oldname/Pictures

Current path: /Users/newname/Pictures

Interestingly, macOS could still resolve these bookmarks to the correct current folders, and it did not mark them as stale. The folders opened normally, so the old paths were not obvious.

After backing up the file, we used the macOS Foundation APIs to generate fresh bookmark data for those folders using their current paths. We replaced only the affected bookmark data, keeping the sidebar item order, UUIDs and other properties unchanged. We then restarted the current user’s sharedfilelistd process and Finder.

The sidebar icons returned to normal and remained correct after another Finder relaunch.

Important: this is a binary property list containing an NSKeyedArchiver archive, not a plain-text settings file. Please do not simply search and replace the username in a text editor. Make a backup before making any changes.

I cannot say whether this is the cause in your case, but if your account or home folder has been renamed, checking the saved bookmark paths may help.

Kaimo & Guanzi

I also found this older discussion that mentions extended attributes: How can you restore normal icons? - Apple Community.

Do not run the Terminal command yet as it deletes the extended attributes. Instead run the following command in Terminal (the app is in Applications > Utilities):

xattr [path to the folder]

For instance, for the Downloads folder, the command would be:

xattr /Users/[your username]/Downloads

On my Mac (macOS Sequoia 15,8,1), the only extended attribute is: com.apple.macl. If you see the "com.apple.FinderInfo" in the output of the command, this will be an indication that your Mac has this extended attribute.

Everything looks good on the screenshot (except the icons, of course).

First, a long shot: change your privilege from Read & Write to Read Only and back to Read & Write. Otherwise, try this: Restore the original icon for a file or folder.

I considered reinstalling macOS but decided against it because I didn't want to go through the hassle of backing up my files, reinstalling the OS, and setting everything up all over again.

I also tried the command you've mentioned. I'm getting com.apple.macl for all the affected folders except for the Application folder which returns com.apple.provenance. No com.apple.FinderInfo or whatnot.

I recently came across this open-source app on GitHub that let's you change the icons of folders in the sidebar. It's a bit of a band-aid solution but it works.

Thanks, this confirm that the issue is linked to your user account.

1. Do you remember when the issue started? After a macOS update? After installing a new app or updating an existing app?
2. You talked about resting Finder in Terminal? Did you do this by removing the com.apple.finder.plist file?
3. How do those icons look like when they are displayed in the right pane? (In Finder, go to your user folder in Macintosh HD/Users/[your username] and view the right pane in either Icons view or List view.

Thanks! So we know that something changed in your user session but it is not related to the com.apple.finder.plist file. I’m unsure how to proceed.

You could try to reinstall macOS: How to reinstall macOS - Apple Support. This shouldn’t affect your personal data but make a backup to be on the safe side.

I’d also be tempted to tell you to make a new Time Machine backup, to restore your whole Mac using a backup made before the incident and to restore the latest files / documents from the latest backup.

Have you tried removing this folders from the Favorites section (right-click and choose Remove from Sidebar) and adding them again?

Right-click on one of those folders (let's say the Downloads folder), choose Get Info and post a screenshot in your reply. (Hide any personal info in the screenshot, in particular your name in the "Where" field.)

Tried changing the permissions from Read & Write to Read Only and then back to Read & Write, then relaunched Finder but still nothing. Tried the link you provided next, but I can't do step 4 because it doesn't let me Cut.

I'm starting to think this is a macOS 27.0.1 bug since this only happened after I updated.

1. I added a custom icon and then removed it - the folders still show the generic folder icons.
2. I also tried booting into safe mode - the folder icons didn't revert to their defaults.
3. I created a new user account, and the folder icons appear normal there. It looks like the issue isn't system-wide.

Here's a screenshot of the Get Info for the Downloads folder. I didn't change the icons for this and the other folders, just an fyi. It just defaulted to the blue generic folder one day. If I remember correctly, it should be a blue folder with the Download symbol in the middle.

1. I think it started a few days after updating macOS, but I'm not exactly sure when. I just noticed one day that the icons were no longer the default ones.
2. Yes, I created a backup first. When nothing happened after the reset, I restored the backup back to its default location.
3. This is what it looks like now:

Yes, I've done that already. Nothing happened.