macOS Icon History
Documenting the evolution of macOS system icons over the past several decades.
With macOS 26, Apple has announced a dramatically new look to their UI: Liquid Glass. Solid material icon elements give way to softer, shinier, glassier icons. The rounded rectangle became slightly more rounded, and Apple eliminated the ability for icon elements to extend beyond the icon rectangle (as seen in the current icons for GarageBand, Photo Booth, Dictionary, etc.).
With this release being one of the most dramatic visual overhauls of macOS's design, I wanted to begin a collection chronicling the evolution of the system icons over the years. I've been rolling these out on social media over the past week and will continue to add to and update this collection slowly over the summer. Enjoy!
Note 01: Beta icons won’t be included. Occasionally, an icon may receive slight design tweaks during the beta cycle, but these temporary variations won’t be part of the collection.
Note 02: My main focus is on the era beginning with the launch of Mac OS X (2001 onward). When possible, I’ll include app icons from earlier versions of the Mac operating system, but these won’t be the primary emphasis.
Update History
June 23, 2025: Added System Preferences/Settings, Folders, Stickies, Notes, Messages, Calculator, Game Center, Dictionary
June 26, 2025: Added App Store, Maps
June 29, 2025: Added Podcasts, Photo Booth
July 06, 2025: Added Chess, Reminders, Apple Books
July 17, 2025: Added Time Machine, Trash - Empty, Trash - Full, iCal/Calendar
July 26, 2025: Added FaceTime, Mail
July 27, 2025: Updated Maps, Reminders, Books, Settings, Stickies, and Calculator icons with the updated icons from macOS 26 Beta 4
August 04, 2025: Added Automator, Disk Utility
August 08, 2025: Added Preview, Mission Control
August 15, 2025: Added Migration Assistant, iPhoto/Photos, Pages
August 18, 2025: Added Keynote, Numbers
August 27, 2025: Added Address Book/Contacts, DVD Player, AirPort Utility
September 06, 2025: Added TextEdit, Keychain Access
System Preferences/Settings
Folders
Stickies
Notes
Messages
Calculator
Game Center
Dictionary
App Store
Maps
Podcasts
Photo Booth
Chess
Reminders
iBooks/Apple Books
Time Machine
Trash - Empty
Trash - Full
iCal/Calendar
FaceTime
Automator
Disk Utility
Preview
Mission Control
Migration Assistant
iPhoto/Photos
Pages
Keynote
Numbers
Address Book/Contacts
DVD Player
AirPort Utility
Keychain Access
TextEdit
Special thanks to Remo (@remo_Pr0) for providing me with the Beta 1 & Beta 4 icons from macOS Tahoe for this article.
