Modify Finder sidebar labels
Wed, 21 November 2007
If you are happy to do a little code editing, you can modify the labels in the sidebar of your Finder (Leopard only). You can change the labels to the lower case, e.g. from PLACES to Places, or you can completely rename them.
You need to log in as an administrator (root) then navigate this way:
/Macintoch HD/System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app
Right-click on Finder.app icon and select Show Package Contents the select Resources/English.Iproj
Once in this folder, locate the file LocalizableCore.Strings and copy it somewhere else, (e.g. Option-Click and drag it to the Desktop) just in case things go wrong.
Now, back to your Finder and edit the file LocalizableCore.Strings (double-click)
Scroll down to lines 50-53 where you can modify the following values:
“SD5″ = “DEVICES”;
“SD6” = “SHARES”;
“SD7” = “SEARCH FOR”;
“SD8” = “PLACES”;
and change them any way you like. I have changed mine to
“SD5″ = “Devices”;
“SD6” = “Network”;
“SD7” = “Search for”;
“SD8” = “Places”;
Once you have saved the file you need to either log out and log in, or simply restart the Finder. Open Terminal and type killall Finder and press return.
You can do the same with the iTunes, however the path is slightly different:
/Macintosh HD/Applications/iTunes then right-click and Show Package Contents, then select Resources/English.Iproj and edit the file called Localizable.strings. (You have already backed it up, haven’t you?)
Find the lines 162 - 165
“135.011″ = “LIBRARY”;
“135.012″ = “DEVICES”;
“135.013″ = “STORE”;
“135.014″ = “PLAYLISTS”;
and make the changes any way you like.
Related posts
Stumble it!- What’s jellybean’s job in OS X ?
- The new theme - updated
- Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Finder
- Viewing hidden files in OS X
- GAFYD - new style with coloured labels
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scwjunk said: Sun, 2 December 2007 at 16:09
is there a terminal manual, or “owner’s guide” or something online somewhere that will give a dedicated mac owner an intro to terminal and the commands it uses? it seems like there are so many ways that terminal unlocks the mac’s back end but it also seems like the only way to find out all of the things it does is to troll the blogs. anyone have any thoughts on this?
Felipe said: Mon, 3 December 2007 at 19:17
Could this hack work for Safari’s Bookmark menu or iPhotos sidebar?
Felipe said: Mon, 3 December 2007 at 19:47
I actually could not wait and tried it and followed the same path style for both Safari and iPhoto and until now everything seems to be workings properly…
helpmeplz said: Wed, 5 December 2007 at 02:56
help! i use a G5 iMac and i can’t open this .strings file! what do i use to open it? plz help me!!!
Felipe said: Thu, 6 December 2007 at 16:25
Try to use TextEdit or you can download TextMate and edit the file, just remember to backup the original .strings file before trashinig it on the System folder…
Sean said: Wed, 12 December 2007 at 15:45
Beyond editing the text of the titles in the sidebar, does the same file control the size of the text in the sidebar? I am desperate to increase the font-size in the sidebar for improved readability. Thanks!