Some System Settings (Preferences) icons are not shown or do not work [workaround provided]

[Robert Kovacs]

[Admin Note: A few threads have been merged here covering the same topic. You can use the System Settings Workflow from Alfred Gallery to work around the issue in macOS.]

 

Hi guys,

 

Does anyone has this issue with some system icons not showing? Here some examples:

 

 

Edited March 18 by Vero
Link to System Settings workflow added by admin

[Stephen_C]

I assume you're using macOS Ventura. If so there have been several reports of this on the forum: see here for the basic reason for the problem.

 

Stephen

[vitor]

Indeed that’s Ventura-related, specifically affecting the preference panes. You can hide those then use a Workflow to open them. Take your Pick:

• System Settings uses multiple keywords.
• Open macOS Settings Panes uses one keyword.
  

[cookie]

When I first get into Alfred, I believed within a year, you can directly reach system preference (now system settings) by typing out the keywords, such as "wallpaper", "accessibility", etc, and they DO show the corresponding icon. Perhaps it was because the system update I went from Monterey(12.-) to Ventura(13.-), the search results has been messed up. For instance, I can no longer search for "wallpaper" directly, and "security" has missing icon when showed, while "accessibility" remains just fine.(pics showed below)

 

I believe there could be some easy quick fix for this bug!

 

 

[Andrew]

Take a look here:

 

[Vero]

@cookie Welcome to the forum

 

This is a known issue in macOS Ventura - essentially an unfinished feature by Apple - where only some of the System Settings are accessible by search, and some open the incorrect Settings panel.

 

We've published a workflow that works around that issue, and allows you to open all System Settings to the correct panel, and with icons:

https://www.alfredapp.com/blog/tips-and-tricks/open-system-settings-in-ventura/

[cookie]

So... I did not buy the powerpack, the issue will not be fix anytime soon?

[Vero]

@cookie This would be a question for Apple as the bug is in their software, not in Alfred. Even with Apple's poor track record of fixing issues after a main release, I'm surprised that this wasn't fixed in a later Ventura update. 

[DwightB]

In Ventura and earlier O/S versions, typing "Time Machine" in Alfred would open the Time Machine preference pane. This no longer works in Sonoma. Instead, the System Settings will open in the General Tab. 

 

This is repeatable 100% of the time.

 

If you type, "Time Machine" in Spotlight, and select the entry "Time Machine," the preference pane successfully opens.

 

See the attached photos

 

Using Alfred 5.1.4 [2195]
Running an M2 Pro MacBook Pro with Sonoma 14.3.1

 

Would be happy to find a work around, as I do this multiple times a day. But I think it's a bug, in that Alfred is selecting the wrong thing to open.

 

 

[Stephen_C]

Welcome to the forum.

 

This sort of problem has been reported a number of times on the forum (see this thread, for example) and, for what it's worth, exactly the same happens to me.

 

7 hours ago, DwightB said:

Would be happy to find a work around, as I do this multiple times a day.

There are two workflows on the Gallery (here and here). (Full disclosure: the second one is mine.) Either will do what you wish.

 

Stephen

[DwightB]

Thank you for responding, @Stephen_C. And thanks for the workarounds.

 

BTW, I looked for previous examples, but guess my search terms were bad. 

 

--Dwight

[rionine]

Hi thank you for developing this great app like Alfred. It helps me with my personal and professional stuff I do on my MacBook. 

 

But there has always been an issue with Alfred 5 which started the upgrade from 4 to 5 and I've been waiting for a fix for that ever since. 

 

When I try to find some of the items of system settings, the icon of some of them are missing. They don't appear on the Alfred search bar as you can see in the screen shots att ached. This is quite bugging because one of the things I like about Alfred is its design is beautiful. 

 

Hope you can fix this soon. Thanks.

 

 

[Stephen_C]

See this post and the suggestion a couple of posts after it.

 

Stephen