【 Change Icon Size in MacOS 】 Step by Step Guide ▷ 2022

An icon is a pictogram used to represent files, folders, programs, and storage drives on a graphical operating system. By default, these have a moderate size that is sufficient to obtain a preview of the element in question.

However, it is possible that users change the size of these icons, without any intention. Whereby, may look too big or too small and, in some way, disturb the user experience.

But fortunately, between the there is the possibility of increase or decrease icon size that are displayed on the desktop of the computer. If you want to make this setting, here we show you how.

Learn how to change the size of desktop icons in MacOS

Either vision problems, for comfort or for any other reasonit is vital to know what is the procedure to follow to increase or decrease the size of the icons on a Mac. Which, serves to be able to visualize them better or place more elements on the desktop.

Luckily, it is very easy to change the size of desktop icons in MacOS and then you can check it with the following step by step:

First of all, open the Desktop panel on your computer and right click on any area of it or press with two fingers on the trackpad. Otherwise, you can press the key Control and click on the desktop.
After that, among the available options, select “Show view options” either “Show display options”.
Having done the above, locate yourself in the section of “Icon size” and there, you will find the regulator that allows you to modify their dimension. So, proceed to enlarge or reduce the size by sliding the bar to the right or leftrespectively.
Optionally, you can set a space between the file icons on the desktop. To do so, go to “Grid Spacing” and move the bar as you prefer.
You also have the option of increase or decrease the text size on the bottom. To do so, change the number that appears in the field “Text size” and by default it is “12”.
Another of the options available in this panel consists of modifying the position of the file label. In case you want to do it, locate yourself in the section “Label position” and check the box of your preference: Down or Right.
In addition, you can choose between two display modes: Show information or Icon with preview. Depending on what you decide to choose, check the indicated box.
Finally, the section “Computer by” allows you to select how you want to arrange the icons. So, just open the dropdown menu and click on the option you want.

Other changes you can make to personalize your iMac

In addition to change the size of desktop icons in MacOSthis operating system offers you different options available to be able to fully customize your user experience.

Indeed, in order for you to be able to liven up your Mac visually, we recommend you make the following changes, according to your preference:

Change folder icons

Just as it is possible to easily change the size of desktop icons, you also have the option of change folder or file icons. This means that you can place the image you want to customize the icon and differentiate it quickly.

In this sense, if what you want is to show a photo hosted on your Mac or place a download from the Internet, the steps to follow are the following:

To get started, locate the image you want to use. Either the one downloaded from the Internet or a completely personalized one saved on your computer.
Then, select that image and proceed to open the file through the Preview app, to click on “Edition” and choose the option “Copy” in the menu bar.
Now, you have to click on the folder or file of which you want to modify the icon.
Subsequently, press “File, Archive” and in the menu bar, you must press the option “Get information”.
Following that, go to the top of the information window and press the small icon (the blue folder). Make sure you don’t click the big icon under Preview.
Once the above is done, all that remains is to click on “Edition” and click on “Paste” in the menu bar. This will display the new custom icon.

change desktop background

To improve the appearance of your Mac desktop, you can also choose to change your image, i.e. the desktop background. Which, you can carry out from System Preferences or .

If you prefer to do it through the System Preferences menu, complete the following procedure:

Open the Apple menu and among the available options, click “System preferences”.
Next, it is time to select the option that says “Desktop and Screen Saver”.
Then click on the tab “Desk” on top.
Afterwards, you must choose one of the image folders which are on the left side.
Now, on the right side, proceed to choose the image you want to use on the desktop and ready.
If you are using MacOS Mojave or later, please note that you can select “Dynamic Desktop” images and define the time frame for them to change throughout the day.

For its part, if it seems more practical to make this change through the Finder, the step by step to follow is based on:

Initially, proceed to open one of the Finder windows or the Desktop of your Mac.
After, look for the image file that you want to use
Once you locate it, right-click on this file and in the menu, click on the option “Set as desktop image”.
If you don’t see the Set as Desktop Image option in this menu, look for a submenu called “Services” and within it, choose “Set as desktop image”.

change lock screen

In this case, the change consists of change lock screen image which is considered an important element of the user interface, since it appears before you unlock your Mac and is used to control user access.

If you want to customize the lock screen, do the following:

Open the Apple menu and select the option “System preferences”.
In the Preferences panel, click “Users and groups”.
Next, from the Users and Groups section, go to the bottom left corner and press the lock to enter the administrator password.
Subsequently, right click on the corresponding user and click on “Advanced Options”.
Now, look for the UUID field to copy what’s there, and proceeds to close Users and groups.
Then you have to open the menu “To go” and once it is displayed, click on “Go to folder…”.
From the displayed window, enter “/Library/Caches/” and press the Enter key.
With the above, you will access Caches and there you will find the folder Desktop Pictures to browse to the folder with the previously copied user UUID.
A) Yes, you will find the image in PNG format MacOS lock screen and to display it, you just have to select it.
Next, right click on the user’s UUID folder and click on “Get information”.
Proceed to look for the section “Share permissions” and set the permissions for all available fields in “Read and write”.
Open a new Finder window and choose the new background image that you want to use on the lock screen.
Next, you have to move said image to the UUID folder to set it as your new lock screen wallpaper.
Once the above is done, it is time to rename the original image with “old.lockscreen.png” and in the new image, you must place the name “lockscreen.png”.
Finally, restart MacOS for the changes to be saved and after that, you will be able to see the new lock screen wallpaper.

Move the Dock to the right or left

By default, the that allows you to access your favorite applications quickly, It is located at the bottom of the screen. However, if you wish, you can place it on the right or left side of it.

Therefore, if you want to change the appearance of your Mac through the Dock, you can move it as follows:

Open the Apple menu as you always do and click on “System preferences”.
Then, on the next screen, search and choose “Dock and Menu Bar”.
Then go to the section “position on the screen” and check the box you want, either Left or right.

Customize alert sound on Mac

another change that you can do to further customize your user experience on Mac, consists of choose a different alert sound which the system places by default.

If you are interested in making such a change, complete the following procedure:

First of all, open the apple menu and there, click on “System preferences”.
Among all the available options, search and select “Sound”.
Once you enter that section, click on the tab “Sound effects” on top.
Through the box that says “Select an alert sound”, you can search for the sound of your preference. Keep in mind that to listen to it, you just have to click on it and it will play.
You can also change where alerts are heard, through the option “Play effects through”. To modify it, press the dropdown menu and select your preferred option.
Optionally, you have the possibility of adjusting the volume of the alerts from the section “Alert volume”, dragging the slider to the left or rightto decrease or increase the volume level respectively.
Finally, you can check or uncheck the other available options and adjust the Output Volume to your liking with the slider, in order to finish customizing the Sound on Mac.