SidebarFavorites Docs

Quick start

This page takes you from an installed app to your first favorite: a folder in Finder’s sidebar with an icon you chose. Read it once; every later favorite uses the same steps.

On this page

Before you start

You need SidebarFavorites installed and a folder you want to give an icon. If the app is not installed yet, follow Install first. The app is the only tool you use; you do not edit any Finder setting by hand.

Add your first favorite

A favorite is one folder with one icon. You add it in the favorite editor, which opens in its own window.

  1. Open SidebarFavorites Manager from your Applications folder.

    The manager window before you add anything. Add Favorite and the + button at the top right both open the editor.

    You seeThe manager window opens. The first time it reads No Favorites.

  2. Click Add Favorite or +, or press ⌘N.

    The shortcut belongs to the menu item Add Favorite..., so it works whenever the app is in front.

    The editor from top to bottom: Folder Path, Mode, the icon Type, Symbol Name with the quick picks, and the Preview. Add is dimmed until a folder is chosen.

    You seeA window titled Add Favorite opens. You can move it and resize it, and leave it open beside the list.

  3. Click Browse... next to Folder Path and choose the folder.

    You can also type or paste a path into the field; ~ stands for your home folder. The name cannot be edited, because Finder always labels a sidebar row with the folder’s real name.

    You seeThe path appears in Folder Path, and Name shows the folder’s own name.

  4. Leave Mode on Sidebar icon only.

    Both icons is for folders that already carry their own icon. See Keeping both icons.

    You seeNothing changes. This is the default and the right choice for most folders.

  5. Choose the icon. The next section shows both ways.

    You seeThe Preview shows the icon enlarged and as a sidebar row.

  6. Click Add.

    Each favorite is a row with its icon, its folder and a switch. In Sidebar means the row is in Finder’s sidebar.

    The button is disabled until a folder and an icon are chosen, or while the folder already belongs to another favorite. Apply, next to it, saves the favorite and restarts Finder while the editor stays open.

    You seeThe editor closes and the favorite is listed in the manager window.

Choose the icon

The Type switch in the editor picks one of two kinds of icon. Pick the one that fits, then follow its steps.

Icon typeWhat to doChoose it when
SF SymbolType a symbol name, click a quick pick, or click Browse All….A symbol from Apple’s set is what you want. It is the default.
Custom SVGClick Import SVG... and choose an SVG file.You want your own artwork, such as a logo. See Custom SVG icons.

Use an SF Symbol

  1. Make sure Type is set to SF Symbol.

    You seeThe Symbol Name field, Browse All… and a grid of quick-pick symbols are shown.

  2. Click one of the quick picks, or type a name such as hammer.fill or star.circle into Symbol Name.

    The hammer quick pick is selected: its name is in Symbol Name and the Preview shows it enlarged and as a sidebar row.

    You seeThe chosen quick pick is highlighted and the Preview redraws with it.

Search every symbol with Browse All

Browse All… opens a sheet that searches every SF Symbol this Mac can draw, by name or by keyword, so a search for bin finds trash. The number of symbols depends on your macOS version, and the empty search field states the exact count for your Mac.

  1. Click Browse All….

    Matches for a search term. The selected symbol’s name is at the bottom left, next to Cancel and Use Symbol.

    You seeA sheet titled SF Symbols opens with a search field and a grid of symbols.

  2. Click a symbol.

    Double-clicking a symbol picks it and closes the sheet in one go, and the next step is then done.

    You seeThe symbol is outlined, and its name appears at the bottom left of the sheet.

  3. Click Use Symbol.

    If the symbol catalog cannot be read on your Mac, Browse All… is not shown and the quick picks and the name field remain.

    You seeThe sheet closes and Symbol Name holds the symbol you chose.

Use your own SVG

Set Type to Custom SVG, click Import SVG... and choose a file. The import, the preview and the size slider are described on Custom SVG icons.

What you see in Finder

After you click Add, the folder is a row in the Favorites section of Finder’s sidebar, drawn with your icon. The row stays in the sidebar when you quit SidebarFavorites, because the icon is registered with macOS and no running process draws it. You need the app only to add, change or remove a favorite.

If it does not work

The manager window reports problems in banners above its footer.

The orange banner appears when Finder has not redrawn a row yet. Restart Finder is at its right.
What you seeCauseFix
An orange banner at the bottom of the manager window: Some icon changes need Finder to restart before they appear.The sidebar has been updated, but Finder has not redrawn the row yet.Click Restart Finder in the banner. The app never restarts Finder by itself, because a restart closes Finder windows and aborts a copy in progress.
The editor shows already uses this folder, and Add is disabled.A folder can have only one favorite, because two would fight over the same sidebar row.Edit the favorite named in the message, or choose a different folder.
The row shows the old icon, or the folder has its own icon.Finder caches icons, or the folder carries an icon of its own.See Troubleshooting.