How to set label color for “Utilities” folder in Lion?

Question

In earlier versions of OSX I've set the label color of the /Applications/Utilities folder so that it's easy to spot (visually).

Lion disables the labels for this folder. (Why?)

I've tried changing the permissions on the folder but that didn't work.

Anyone have a fix?

Answer 1

Lion disables most of the customizations that were once available in versions prior to 10.7. As to why that is I can only speculate, however, it can't be done like before. I personally do not recommend any type of SIMBL plug-in either, for it can cause more grief than happiness. I usually try and find the most sensible work-around for such things without having to go to extremes.

---

Here's what I do:

1. Highlight the Utilities folder
2. Press ⌘ L (Make alias)
3. Rename the [Utilites alias] to [Utilities ] ↙ leaving and extra space behind the 's'

4. Open Terminal and type the following:

   sudo chflags hidden /Applications/Utilities

This will hide the original Utilities folder, leaving your new alias ready to label with your color of choice.

If you want to un-hide the original Utilities folder type nohidden instead of hidden. I hide it, since there's no point to having the Utilities alias and the original Utilities folder sitting there.

Answer 2

Unless something unexpected on your system is preventing labels from being applied to your Utilities folder, the following should work in Lion:

1. Log into OS X using an administrator account.

2. Select the Utilities folder in the Finder and choose File > Get Info.

3. Under "Sharing and Permissions" at the bottom of the Get Info window, click the lock icon in the bottom right corner to unlock it. Enter your admin password when prompted.

4. Change admin (group) privileges to "Read & Write".

5. Set the label as desired.

6. Change admin (group) privileges back to "Read only".

7. Close the Get Info window.

Answer 3

There is a way to set the label value directly with xattr:

sudo xattr -wx com.apple.FinderInfo 0000000000000000000C00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 /Applications/Utilities

This will set the label to red.

For other labels

red: C
orange: F
yellow: B
green: 5
blue: 9
violett: 7
grey: 3

To clear the label again, either use 0 as a value or run sudo xattr -d com.apple.FinderInfo /Applications/Utilities.

Caution: This will wipe out any other FinderInfo value there might be set for the target file/directory already. For the Utilities folder this shouldn't be an issue but it might for others.