1

I am trying to rename an app in MacOS. I tried it using Finder, navigating to Applications, right clicking on the app to rename, moving to "information" and renaming it there.

This works in most places where the app name appears, but if I have the app opened in fullscreen and I swipe up with 3 fingers I still see the old app name in the menu at the top of the screen.

How can I change the app name also there?

Improve this question
  • 3
    What are you actually trying to achieve from this? Apps are essentially 'named at compile' in a .plist inside the app bundle & are not renameable in any real sense by the user. – Tetsujin Mar 24 '20 at 13:01
1

Renaming the .app package in Finder only changes the name there, it doesn't change the name shown in the menu. To do so edit YOUR.app/Contents/Resources/XY.lproj/InfoPlist.strings (with XY being the language you are using) and change CFBundleName there.

For applications without localization files you can also edit YOUR.app/Contents/Info.plist and set a new value for CFBundleName there.

Improve this answer
  • This did not work for me. But thanks for your answer anyway :) – Kizame Mar 24 '20 at 13:20
  • May also be CFBundleDisplayName – lx07 Mar 24 '20 at 13:26
  • This should work for you as it's how we developers set the application name. Can you share the steps you took so we can see if there's anything missing? – fsb Mar 24 '20 at 13:27
  • Tried both of them, but neither works. To @fsb: I navigated to /Applications/JupyterLab.app/Contents/ and set <key>CFBundleName</key> <string>Desired Name</string> same with CFBundleDisplayName – Kizame Mar 24 '20 at 13:28
  • @Kizame There might be additional entries in that file, so you may need to try them all. – nohillside♦ Mar 24 '20 at 13:41
1

I tried it using Finder, navigating to Applications, right clicking on the app to rename, moving to "information" and renaming it there.

What you have essentially done here is changed the name of the app bundle. An app bundle is a special kind of a folder in macOS that contains the app executable and the associated file. This doesn't really renames the app, just the container which is abstracted to look like the app.

This works in most places where the app name appears, but if I have the app opened in fullscreen and I swipe up with 3 fingers I still see the old app name in the menu at the top of the screen.

You can't technically rename the app name, as it's something that's wired in when the app is created by its developer. The name that you see on the top is the app's menu bar, and its not generally possible to change the name that gets displayed by the users of the app (only the developer can change it, when they build the app).

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .