This brief tutorial will show you how to quickly and easily convert macOS icon files (.icns) to .png files, without having to download or install any new software.
FYI – using this method you can also do the conversion the other way around (from a .png to an .icns). We’ll go over how at the end of this guide.
- Start out by copying the icon file (.icns) that you want to convert to a png to your Desktop.
- Now open a Terminal by going to your Applications list, selecting Utilities and then double-clicking Terminal. From the command line, enter the following:
- A bit of text will appear in the Terminal window confirming that everything went as it should.
- Now you’ll have 2 files on your desktop – the icon file and the newly created .png file!
- If you want to do the reverse – convert a .png to an .icns file – run the command:
cd Desktop
and then hit the enter key.
Now type:
sips -s format png icon_file.icns --out png_file.png
Where icon_file is the name of your icon file, and png_file is the name you want the resulting .png file to be.
In my example (see screenshot below) I ran the command:
sips -s format png firefox.icns --out firefox.png
My icon file – firefox.icns will be converted to firefox.png.
sips -s format icns png_file.png --out icon_file.icns
The reverse can be done:
sips -s format icns input.png –out output.icns
Thanks a lot for your tip, very useful