The Mac Finder and applications such as Preview provide window title icons when you hover over the window title text. Previously, these icons were displayed by default in the window title bar itself. These interactive icons, sometimes called “proxy icons,” allow actions like dragging and dropping or right-clicking to open menus.

In recent macOS versions including Monterey, Big Sur, and later, these icons still appear when hovering over the title bar text, but you can enable an option in System Preferences to always display them in the title bar.

How to Always Display Window Title Bar Icons on Mac

Here’s how to make sure the title bar icons are always visible on your Mac:

1. Open the ? Apple menu and select “System Preferences”

2. Navigate to “Accessibility”

3. Click on “Display”

4. Enable the option labeled “Show Window Title Icons”

5. Exit System Preferences

This setting takes effect immediately, so if you have a Finder window open, you’ll instantly see the folder’s icon appear in the title bar.

You'll also notice that title bar icons appear in other apps like Preview.

Beyond just visual appeal, these proxy icons are functional—you can click them, drag and drop files, or use them to open files in different apps. These features have been part of the Mac experience for many years.

If you prefer, you can disable this setting later to return to the default look:

It's unclear why Apple decided to hide these icons by default in newer macOS versions for Finder, Preview, and other apps. Likely, it's to maintain the sleek, minimal aesthetic that modern macOS interfaces are known for. However, if you miss seeing those title bar icons, this simple preference change will restore them wherever they're available.

Earlier macOS versions, like Snow Leopard, used to show these icons by default and didn’t give users the option to toggle them off. Now, you can choose whether to always see them or keep them hidden—whichever you prefer.

Do you find the proxy icons in the window title useful? Do you keep them visible all the time or prefer hiding them? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below.

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