The fastest way to color a folder on Mac

Open Finder and right-click the folder you want to color. Select Get Info from the menu. At the top of the window that opens, you'll see a small folder icon. Click it once to select it, then go to the menu bar and choose File > Change Color. Pick your color from the eight options that appear. Close the info window, and the folder is now colored.

That's the whole process. The color sticks to the folder permanently until you change it again. You can color as many folders as you want, and each one remembers its color even if you move it to a different location on your Mac.

Key Takeaways

  • Right-click a folder, select Get Info, click the folder icon at the top, then use File > Change Color to pick from eight preset colors.
  • The color applies only to the folder icon itself, not to the files inside it.
  • You can color folders in any order and change a folder's color anytime by repeating the same steps.
  • Colored folders appear in Finder windows, on the desktop, and in the sidebar with their chosen color.
  • macOS does not offer custom colors—you choose from red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, gray, or the default gray.

Step-by-step: coloring a single folder

Start by opening Finder. Navigate to the folder you want to color, or if it's already visible on your desktop, you can work from there. Right-click directly on the folder icon itself.

A menu will pop up with several options. Look for Get Info and click it. A new window titled "[Folder Name] Info" will open. At the very top left of this window, you'll see a small folder icon. Click that icon once—it should highlight with a blue border when selected.

Now look at the menu bar at the top of your screen (where you see the Apple logo, Finder, File, Edit, and so on). Click File, then move your cursor down to Change Color. A row of eight colored circles will appear. Click the color you want. The folder icon in the Get Info window will change color when ready. Close the Get Info window by clicking the red button in the top left corner, and you're done.

Coloring multiple folders at once

If you have several folders to color, you can speed up the process by selecting them together. In Finder, hold down the Command key and click each folder you want to color. They'll all highlight. Then right-click one of the selected folders and choose Get Info.

A single Get Info window will open for all selected folders. Click the folder icon at the top, go to File > Change Color, and pick your color. The color will explore to every folder you selected. This works even if the folders are in different locations on your Mac.

Be careful: if you select folders and then change the color, all of them will turn the same color. If you want different folders to be different colors, you'll need to color them one at a time.

Where colored folders appear on your Mac

A colored folder shows up in every place you see it. If the folder is on your desktop, the icon will be colored there. If it's in a Finder window, the icon will be colored in that window too. If you have the folder pinned to your Finder sidebar, the icon will be colored there as well.

The color does not change the appearance of files inside the folder—only the folder icon itself changes. So if you open a colored folder, all the files and subfolders inside will look normal unless you've also colored those subfolders individually.

Removing or changing a folder's color

To remove a color and return a folder to its default gray appearance, right-click the folder and select Get Info. Click the folder icon at the top, then go to File > Change Color. Click the gray circle on the far right of the color options. The folder will return to its default look.

To change a folder from one color to another, follow the same steps but pick a different color instead of gray. You can change a folder's color as many times as you want without any limit.

The eight colors available on Mac

macOS offers exactly eight color choices for folders. From left to right in the color menu, they are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, gray, and the default gray. There is no way to create custom colors or use colors outside this set. If you need a specific shade that isn't in the list, the closest available color is your only option.

The colors are the same across all Macs running the same version of macOS, so a red folder on your Mac will look the same shade of red on someone else's Mac (assuming they're running a similar macOS version).

Common mistakes to avoid

The most common mistake is clicking the wrong icon in the Get Info window. Make sure you click the small folder icon at the very top left of the window, not any other icon that might appear elsewhere in the info panel. If you click something else, the File menu won't show the Change Color option.

Another mistake is expecting the color to change the folder's contents. The color only affects the folder icon itself. If you want to visually organize files inside the folder, you'll need to color those files separately or use a different method like tags or labels.

Finally, don't assume the color will sync across devices. If you color a folder on your Mac, that color won't automatically appear on your iPhone or iPad. The color is stored locally on your Mac only.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a custom color instead of the eight preset colors?

No. macOS only offers the eight colors shown in the Change Color menu. You cannot create a custom color or import a color from outside the system. You must choose from the available options.

Will the folder color stay if I move the folder to a different location?

Yes. The color is attached to the folder itself, not to its location. You can move a colored folder to any drive, any directory, or any external device, and it will keep its color.

Can I color a folder inside another folder?

Yes. You can color subfolders the same way you color any other folder. Right-click the subfolder, select Get Info, click the folder icon, and choose your color. Subfolders are colored independently from their parent folder.

What if the Change Color option doesn't appear in my File menu?

Make sure you've clicked the folder icon at the top of the Get Info window—it should have a blue border around it. If you've selected a different icon or element, the Change Color option won't show. Click the folder icon and try again.

Can I color folders on an external drive or USB stick?

Yes, as long as the drive is formatted as Mac OS Extended or APFS. If the drive is formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, the color won't stick because those formats don't support macOS folder colors. The folder will appear gray when you plug the drive into another Mac.