Do you want to smile as soon as you switch on your laptop?
Then it’s time to get rid of that horrible blue folder icon and change it for something cuter. I have to admit I didn’t even know it was possible to customise your laptop screen in this way until yesterday but I am glad to report that Apple have made it pretty simple!
I made a little video to show you how I changed the folder icons on my MacBook, which you can see here, but you can also follow these steps:
- Find the image you would like to become your icon - I Recommend something that will work well small i.e. nothing very detailed. Naturally I went for a doodle :)
- Right click on the image and select ‘Copy’
- Find the folder whose icon you would like to change and right click on it and select ‘get info’ from the list of options
- When the info panel pops-up, click on the blue folder icon on the top left so it is highlighted. You will know it is highlighted when it looks like it has a blue square around it.
- Go to ‘Edit’ in the menu bar at the top of your screen and from the drop down options click ‘Paste’. The folder icon should now be replaced with your image image.
- If you want to be able to see the detail in your new image you can make the icon size appear bigger on your screen (see steps below)
- Click on the folder icon
- Go to ‘View’ in the menu bar at the top of your screen and from the drop down options click ‘Show View Options’
- A pop-up will appear with a sliding scale that will allow you to play around with the size of your icons
I realise working out how to do this was probably the peak of my back to work procrastination but I can honestly say that it was worth every minute!
I now have two very cute icons on my desktop instead of the very admin-y blue folders that screamed ‘I am dull and contain dull things’. It’s basically like buying myself some new stationary - small details that can really spark joy and give you something nice to look at when you are struggling to focus or in a boring meeting.
Let me know if you change yours and what symbol or icon you use.
P.S. It also helps to have a screensaver that makes you smile or gets you focused - a digital vision board would fulfil both of these functions