How do you alter a non-Steam game's icon in macOS?

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SolidSonicMania Dec 12, 2023 @ 7:52am

I can't seem to select any image file to act as an icon.

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Showing 1-15 of 16 comments

Beetroot Bertie Dec 12, 2023 @ 10:12am

Do you mean the icon in the library list on the left?

SolidSonicMania Dec 12, 2023 @ 10:37am

Originally posted by Beetroot Bertie:
Do you mean the icon in the library list on the left?

Yeah, I think so.

I added Sonic Dream Team to my Steam library on macOS but when I try to modify the icon I can't select anything to serve as that icon. Does it need to be in a specific format to act as the icon?

Beetroot Bertie Dec 12, 2023 @ 11:32am

I'm wondering if something's changed in Steam as I have a folder of PNG files I'd used in the past for this purpose but they can't be selected now. I thought maybe they need to be a certain format like GIF or ICO files but they don't seem to be accepted. Just tried some Targa/tga files too (32px square) and they don't work either. No file format seems valid when you browse to a folder containing them and drag and drop doesn't work.

No idea what else to suggest :(

Last edited by Beetroot Bertie; Dec 13, 2023 @ 4:17am

ybnorml1 Dec 12, 2023 @ 10:08pm

something about mac os going all 64 bit "NO 32bit" any more

SolidSonicMania Dec 13, 2023 @ 7:36am

Originally posted by ybnorml1:
something about mac os going all 64 bit "NO 32bit" any more

I can't select a PNG as an icon because of that...?

Beetroot Bertie Dec 13, 2023 @ 7:54am

I doubt it's that, more likely something missing/broken with the Mac client. In High Sierra (which still supports 32-bit apps) it still doesn't work. I've quickly checked it in Windows and both PNG and TGA files work for non-Steam games (JPG, GIF and ICO files not so).

Last edited by Beetroot Bertie; Dec 13, 2023 @ 7:55am

Zav Dec 13, 2023 @ 8:27am

If you know where the game's executable is, I suspect you can just do a get info and past in the icon. The executables are generally in ~/Library/Application Support/Steam/steamapps/

zadowcloud Dec 19, 2023 @ 8:05am

Having the same issue! Even tried going into the files to add it manually but no luck so far. Here's the location if anyone wants to try:
/Users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata/<id>/config/grid

Alice Apr 9, 2024 @ 10:30am

Yeah same problem here

The LJs Jan 25 @ 3:18pm

Still can't set custom icons on mac in 2025. :( I added a bug report here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/600768571255127802/

Last edited by The LJs; Jan 25 @ 3:25pm

#10

SolidSonicMania Jan 31 @ 5:31am

Originally posted by The LJs:
Still can't set custom icons on mac in 2025. :( I added a bug report here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/600768571255127802/

Does it really matter, though? Soon enough Intel Macs are going to be unsupported and then, poof, there goes Steam gaming on Mac with it.

#11

elrevert Feb 6 @ 9:56am

Worked out a solution and put it in r/macgaming, posting here as well. The process is finicky and probably not worth the effort, and there's almost definitely an easier way to do it but this is what worked for me:

1. You need Visual Studio Code. This is just what worked. Textedit will not work, I have tried it.
2. Put your icons (png format, might work with jpeg etc I haven't tried) in a folder somewhere. Doesn't matter where. They will need to stay here permanently.
3. Go to /users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata/<id>/config
4. Open shortcuts.vdf with Visual Studio Code. It will give an error, click open anyway and choose the text editor. This is a Valve Data File containing (what I can only assume is) Valve engine-specific characters, which are showing up in red here.
5. Find 'icon'. There should be three of the red characters following it.
6. Paste the full path to your icon file after the FIRST red character (no spaces), leaving two red characters after it.
7. Save and restart steam.
8. You should now see your icon in the library, but the game name may be blank. You can just rename it in the properties as normal.

#12

fabe Feb 7 @ 7:38pm

#13

TimV Mar 12 @ 10:32am

Originally posted by SolidSonicMania:
Originally posted by The LJs:
Still can't set custom icons on mac in 2025. :( I added a bug report here: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/SteamClientBeta/discussions/0/600768571255127802/
Does it really matter, though? Soon enough Intel Macs are going to be unsupported and then, poof, there goes Steam gaming on Mac with it.

Steam works on ARM powered M series Macs, so this is still an issue that should be fixed.

#14

Aeson Mar 23 @ 1:00am

Originally posted by elrevert:
Worked out a solution and put it in r/macgaming, posting here as well. The process is finicky and probably not worth the effort, and there's almost definitely an easier way to do it but this is what worked for me:

1. You need Visual Studio Code. This is just what worked. Textedit will not work, I have tried it.
2. Put your icons (png format, might work with jpeg etc I haven't tried) in a folder somewhere. Doesn't matter where. They will need to stay here permanently.
3. Go to /users/<user>/Library/Application Support/Steam/userdata/<id>/config
4. Open shortcuts.vdf with Visual Studio Code. It will give an error, click open anyway and choose the text editor. This is a Valve Data File containing (what I can only assume is) Valve engine-specific characters, which are showing up in red here.
5. Find 'icon'. There should be three of the red characters following it.
6. Paste the full path to your icon file after the FIRST red character (no spaces), leaving two red characters after it.
7. Save and restart steam.
8. You should now see your icon in the library, but the game name may be blank. You can just rename it in the properties as normal.

it works for me, thx