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Previously, I've changed the icon of an application before by manually replacing the icon file .icns located in loremipsum.app/Contents/Resources/loremipsum.icns.

This time, I've downloaded some beautiful icons which are folders with the needed icon and not simple .icns files.

How can I get access of the the *.icns file?

enter image description here

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Let me get this straight. You have an application for which you'd like to change the icon, and you can't figure out where it stores its icon file? – Harald Hanche-Olsen Feb 22 '12 at 14:02
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Or, from the title of your question, maybe you just want to get the icon from the app. You can mark it in the Get Info dialog, go Edit → Copy, switch to Preview, and select File → New from clipboard. – Harald Hanche-Olsen Feb 22 '12 at 14:05
I know where the application's icon is located. The problem is that the icon I want to replace it with is not stored in a *.icns file. I only got the folder like in the picture. – gentmatt Feb 22 '12 at 14:07
@HaraldHanche-Olsen That's it! Please make that an answer so I can accept it. – gentmatt Feb 22 '12 at 14:09
I see. Shouldn't the question then be about how to create a *.icns file (from existing graphics)? – Harald Hanche-Olsen Feb 22 '12 at 14:10
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3 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

You can mark it in the Get Info dialog, go Edit → Copy, switch to Preview, and select File → New from clipboard.

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up vote 2 down vote

There's no need to edit a resource bundle. You can copy the icon from an existing folder, file or application by selecting it and choosing Get Info from the Finder File menu or by using the keyboard shortcut ⌘ + i.

Select the icon file in the upper left hand corner by clicking on it once. The copy the file. I use ⌘ + c for this. Now Get Info for the application you want to use the icon for. Select it's icon, and paste the new icon into the application using ⌘ + v.

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Thanks! While this is true, I really wanted the .icns file. – gentmatt Feb 22 '12 at 14:27
up vote 2 down vote

You can use the free iCondubber, which is a sort of universal icon manager/converter.

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