Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

ThatSomeone

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 9, 2016
327
73
Here, where else?
After updating to Ventura, I had some icons associated with a video player become generic white icons in the Dock, file picker window etc.(although not in Finder?). It's not really a huge deal and I'm aware that you can run some commands to clear it, but it made me curious: When does macOS rebuild/clear the icon cache by itself?
 
  • Like
Reactions: maxoakland
I would just remove the icons from the Dock and either run the App, and choose Keep in Dock from the options, or just drag the App back onto the Dock from Finder.
 
I would just remove the icons from the Dock and either run the App, and choose Keep in Dock from the options, or just drag the App back onto the Dock from Finder.
Sorry, I should've specified it was the downloads folder where it's generic icons in the dock. I tried moving the file(s) out of it to the desktop and back, but it didn't solve it.. Although the file icon returned when it was on the desktop.
 
Sorry, I should've specified it was the downloads folder where it's generic icons in the dock. I tried moving the file(s) out of it to the desktop and back, but it didn't solve it.. Although the file icon returned when it was on the desktop.

You only ever rebuild the icon cache, if it doesn't work. If it's a problem with Ventura itself, there might be no solution. Keep us updated!

How to Clear Icon Cache on Mac

 
It's a bug in Ventura. All formats that are set to be opened with third-party app, will show generic icons everywhere except Finder.
Ah, that explains why they still didn't re-generate despite updating the app, running its "register file types" utility several times and updating to 13.0.1 didn't help...
 
  • Like
Reactions: desmortum
Ah, that explains why they still didn't re-generate despite updating the app, running its "register file types" utility several times and updating to 13.0.1 didn't help...
I can tell you more. Developer of archiver I contacted about this issue said it's not solved in latest 13.1 beta. He also said similar issue existed in Catalina and it wasn't fixed until Big Sur. So we're quite some time away from fix but fingers crossed.
 
I can tell you more. Developer of archiver I contacted about this issue said it's not solved in latest 13.1 beta. He also said similar issue existed in Catalina and it wasn't fixed until Big Sur. So we're quite some time away from fix but fingers crossed.
So clearing the icon cache isn't going to help anyway? I recall something similar happening between two major releases, maybe it was them.
 
Exactly the same issue here. (for me it's iina media icons).

Can't believe there isn't a fix. (besides, I'd imagine a full OS wipe and re-install)
 
This is odd. I'm not experiencing this issue at all with any apps, no matter where the icon appears (Finder, Open/Save dialog boxes, etc.) I'm running macOS 13.0.1, if that matters.
 
Not a fix, but more of a workaround.

Installing QLVideo gets a video thumbnail generated and displayed (instead of a white generic icon).

Not ideal, but better then nothing till Apple fixes it.

1670448178553.png
 
I didn't mean this thread to become a bug thread, I had no clue this was so widespread and exclusive with Ventura

Anyway, 13.1 did not fix it... I thought I saw it trying to regenerate the thumbnails right after the update, but then they just turned to the generic white. Same thing with the smaller icons used in other apps.
 
According to this post here, it's related to an API change within Macos.
We can report this issue to Apple directly. On the same page is a text you can copy/paste

Title: Third party document icons not displayed properly on macOS 13
Area: AppKit
Issue: Incorrect/Unexpected behaviour

Third party applications that define icons for macOS recognized document types are not displayed properly on macOS 13.

To reproduce:

- Download Keka or another app that defines icons for system known formats (like ZIP, MOV)
- Be sure to set that application as the default handler for the document type (ZIP, MOV).
- Restart the system if needed to refresh icon caches.
- The custom icons will show properly in the Finder but will show blank where they’re displayed using [NSWorkspace.sharedWorkspace iconForFile:(NSString *)].

You can check this adding a folder with the offending files inside to the Dock, as shown in the screenshots.

Additional info:

This was reported by three users already (more to come) and reproduced by me.

All apps that use the NSWorkspace iconForFile: API (and variations of it) will be affected by this issue.

macOS 13.0 Beta 22A5286j displayed the macOS icons, instead of the custom ones.
macOS 13.0 22A380 and later (tested macOS 13.1 Beta 22C5044e as well) display blank icons.

Already mentioned in November 22 :/
 
Last edited:
According to this post here, it's related to an API change within Macos.
We can report this issue to Apple directly. On the same page is a text you can copy/paste



Already mentioned in November 22 :/
Nice find!

I can't believe they just left it like that... Been 6 months now. The documentation looks the same as well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: phloo
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.