In this guide, we will show you the detailed steps to clear and then rebuild the icon cache on your Mac. There could be a few instances wherein the system might just display a generic white icon for a specific app or a file, instead of their actual icons. In other cases, the OS might even end up displaying an incorrect icon, for example, a PDF file icon for an MP4 file.
Such issues have been noticed across Dock, Finder, and even in the System Settings menu. While it is definitely quite infuriating, to say the least, fortunately, there does exist a pretty straightforward method to rectify it. All that you need to do is simply clear the existing icon cache and let the system rebuild a new one. And in this guide, we will show you how to do just that. Follow along.
How to Clear and Rebuild Icon Cache on Mac
- Open Launchpad, go to Others, and launch Terminal.
- Then execute the below command in the Terminal:
sudo rm -rfv /Library/Caches/com.apple.iconservices.store
- After that, type in the following command:
sudo find /private/var/folders/ \( -name com.apple.dock.iconcache -or -name com.apple.iconservices \) -exec rm -rfv {} \; ; sleep 3;sudo touch /Applications/* ; killall Dock; killall Finder - Once done, boot your Safe Mode using the below-listed steps:
For Mac M1/M2 chipset: Power off your Mac. Then press and hold the power button until “Loading startup options” appear. Now select your disk, press and hold the Shift key, and click Continue in Safe Mode. For Mac with Intel chipset: Restart your Mac. Then press and hold the Shift key until the login window appears. Now log into your Mac and it will boot to Safe Mode.
- Be in Safe Mode for a couple of minutes and then restart your Mac to normal mode.
- The OS will rebuild all the icons and file cache and your task stands complete.
That’s it. These were the steps to clear and then rebuild the icon cache on your Mac. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.
