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ColorfulSidebar
ColorfulSidebar
1.1.2

4.4

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ColorfulSidebar free download for Mac

ColorfulSidebar

1.1.2
20 December 2013

Make Lion's grey Finder sidebar icons color again.

Developer website

Overview

ColorfulSidebar offers a simple but pleasing visual modification for OS X 10.7's Finder.

OS X 10.7 brought greyscale icons to the Mac OS X Finder window sidebar, but if you'd rather have some color back in your desktop window sidebars, you can get this done easily through a third party plugin.

If you've been following some of our other Lion tips, you may already have SIMBL installed, otherwise it's a small download.

Installation Instructions

  • Download and install SIMBL, which you can get here
  • Download the ColorfulSidebar SIMBL plugin (direct link) or visit the developers home and mount the DMG file
  • Move the ColorfulSidebar.bundle into the following SIMBL plugin folder:~/Library/Application Support/SIMBL/Plugins/
  • Either login and logout of Mac OS X, or just kill the Finder through the Terminal to relaunch it: killall Finder
One oddity about this solution is that you may need to kill the Finder again to bring the color icons back after a full system reboot, otherwise this works trouble free.

If you ever want to get the grey icons back, you just need to remove the ColorfulSidebar.bundle file from the SIMBL plugins folder and then relaunch the Finder again.

On a somewhat related note, you can also bring back the personal folders in your OS X Lion Finder window sidebars. Those icons will gain color again too.

What's new in ColorfulSidebar

Version 1.1.2:
  • Add the target application to Info.plist.
  • PowerboxInjector is no longer required when used in EasySIMBL1.6 or more.

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ColorfulSidebar Screenshots

  • ColorfulSidebar for Mac - review, screenshots
  • ColorfulSidebar for Mac - review, screenshots

24 ColorfulSidebar Reviews

See all

Rate this app:

Albabe
Albabe
14 March 2014

Most helpful

This is an AWESOME(!!!) little ditty that brings colors back to a Colorless Corporation (Apple). I recently realized that the reason why Mac's recent OSs are such a pain in the proverbial posterior, is because these Apple "Engineers" don't actually work on a Computer for a Living. They work on working on a Computer for a living. There's a BIG difference. They're more concerned with what their geeky little personalities think is cool (and I know a few of these guys) rather than creating something that actually helps a Working Person's Workflow and Workload. As an example: In Mavericks you can no longer default the OS to Double-Clicking on a Folder and having it open in a new window. One of the SIMBL guys is working on that, and some people are having success (not me). What can I say - I'm still pissy that they got rid of WindowShade... sigh. I don't want my Computer to be a Cartoon - I want it to help me with my Work... not slow me down and annoy me. Just FYI: I'm a geek... but these boys at Apple make me look norBal.
Like (3)
Version 1.1.2
Albabe
Albabe
16 September 2016
New Simbl Client (since the Original went away!) https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/56755/mysimbl
Like
Version 1.1.2
g6295526
g6295526
03 July 2015
The latest Mac security update 2015-005 seems to have disabled ColorfulSidebar from working. Anyone have suggestions to remedy this? Thank you.
Like
Version 1.1.2
1 answer(s)
Sknott
Sknott
03 July 2015
Try moving the Plugins folder from ~/Library/Application Support/SIMBL to /Library/Application Support/SIMBL. You won't be able to manage your plugins with EasySIMBL anymore, but they should work.
Like
Albabe
Albabe
14 March 2014
This is an AWESOME(!!!) little ditty that brings colors back to a Colorless Corporation (Apple). I recently realized that the reason why Mac's recent OSs are such a pain in the proverbial posterior, is because these Apple "Engineers" don't actually work on a Computer for a Living. They work on working on a Computer for a living. There's a BIG difference. They're more concerned with what their geeky little personalities think is cool (and I know a few of these guys) rather than creating something that actually helps a Working Person's Workflow and Workload. As an example: In Mavericks you can no longer default the OS to Double-Clicking on a Folder and having it open in a new window. One of the SIMBL guys is working on that, and some people are having success (not me). What can I say - I'm still pissy that they got rid of WindowShade... sigh. I don't want my Computer to be a Cartoon - I want it to help me with my Work... not slow me down and annoy me. Just FYI: I'm a geek... but these boys at Apple make me look norBal.
Like (3)
Version 1.1.2
2 answer(s)
Aargl
Aargl
07 May 2014
Totally agree! :-)
Like
James-Christopher
James-Christopher
25 August 2015
I agree with you 100%. For the life of me I just don't understand why they have to make the icons in the sidebar black and white, or blue and white.
If the programmer doesn't like icon color on the sidebar why doesn't he put a switch in preferences to turn color on or off.

PS I love the window shade also.
Like
nutella59UCLAedu9864
nutella59UCLAedu9864
25 November 2013
Is there a way to get back the color also for the mailboxes in Apple Mail?
Like
Version 1.1.1
dalesorel
dalesorel
25 October 2013
I sure hope this is updated soon for 10.9 Mavericks so I can get the color back in both my favorites and tags.
Like
Version 1.1
6 answer(s)
Sergesouszero
Sergesouszero
26 October 2013
In any case, you can use XtraFinder, wich provides the same function and many others for the same price.
Like
dalesorel
dalesorel
26 October 2013
No, XtraFinder doesn't fix the color for the tags. It also does the same thing as TotalFinder in that when it's running you lose all the stuff we got with 10.9. Though I haven't tried it yet, there's another tweak called SideEffects that's supposed to work with 10.9 i.e. provide color for both the favorites and devices as well as the tags.
Like
dalesorel
dalesorel
26 October 2013
OK, I just found out that unlike TotalFinder, XtraFinder allows you to turn the tabs off which allows you to keep all the 10.9 stuff. But the icons for the tags still remain colorless.
Like
cmotdibbler
cmotdibbler
30 October 2013
I remember using this some time ago and it worked. When 10.9 came out again with the gray favorites SideEffects appeared first and it works. Does anyone know if there is a difference between SideEffects and ColorfulSidebar?
Like
Tipp-Flo
Tipp-Flo
30 October 2013
SideEffects installs ColorfulSidebar. "... Combines the work of several developers in an all-in-one installer. Installs SIMBL, ColorfulSidebar and PowerboxInjector."
Like (2)
dalesorel
dalesorel
31 October 2013
OK, so it's finally updated and I can't download it. Is anyone able to get this thing?
Like
Aargl
Aargl
23 October 2013
Actual site is: http://cooviewerzoom.web.fc2.com/colorfulsidebar.html Current version is 1.1.1 and supports OS 10.9. (haven't tried it myself yet)
Like
Version 1.1
Kranboll
Kranboll
09 September 2013
No longer works, oh wait, sometimes it does. If anyone has a straightforward solution that an ordinary mortal can grasp, please post.
Like
Version 1.1
Brooklyn-Al
Brooklyn-Al
16 June 2013
Trying to bring back color in finder on Mavericks works fine except color is lost on the individual tags but all other items in the sidebar have good color. Will this be updated for Mavericks?
Like (1)
Version 1.1
katdev
katdev
18 April 2013
THANK YOU, cooViewerZoom. I'm still shocked that Apple removed the colors. What a pointless downgrade. So nice to have my colors back. I'm having one issue with it that I've had on multiple computers, even after clean installs: I keep shortcuts to my network shares in the sidebar under Devices, and they disappear when this plugin is running. Has anyone else seen this? Know of a workaround? I have since put shortcuts to the shares in a folder and put the folder on the sidebar, but this is not ideal.
Like
Version 1.1
MarckyG
MarckyG
05 December 2012
I am using this since Lion. I love it. But since Mountain Lion 10.8.2., is anyone else experiencing extreme delays until the sidebar becomes colorful after a boot?
Like
Version 1.1

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