diff --git a/apps/desktop/README.md b/apps/desktop/README.md
index 32a9d3f5..cb426169 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/README.md
+++ b/apps/desktop/README.md
@@ -20,9 +20,26 @@ bun run dev:desktop
 The sidecar can be overridden for development with
 `EDGE_EVER_SIDECAR_PATH=/absolute/path/to/edgeever-sidecar`.
 
+## App icon (macOS Dock)
+
+Dock tiles need a complete multi-resolution `.icns` (including 1024px). Do not
+point electron-builder at a lone 512 PWA PNG — that produces a thin icon pack
+and macOS can show a blank Dock placeholder forever after installs.
+
+Regenerate committed icon assets after changing the brand mark:
+
+```sh
+bun run prepare:desktop:icons
+```
+
+This writes `apps/desktop/assets/icon.icns` (full ICNS) and `icon.png` (1024
+master). Packaging validation rejects incomplete ICNS types. Runtime also calls
+`app.dock.setIcon` as a Launch Services / Dock cache fallback.
+
 Build an unsigned installer for the current platform with:
 
 ```sh
+bun run prepare:desktop:icons
 bun run build:web
 bun run build:desktop:sidecar
 CSC_IDENTITY_AUTO_DISCOVERY=false bun run --cwd apps/desktop dist -- --publish never
diff --git a/apps/desktop/assets/icon.icns b/apps/desktop/assets/icon.icns
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..260db2eb
Binary files /dev/null and b/apps/desktop/assets/icon.icns differ
diff --git a/apps/desktop/assets/icon.png b/apps/desktop/assets/icon.png
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..457e5a91
Binary files /dev/null and b/apps/desktop/assets/icon.png differ
diff --git a/apps/desktop/electron-builder.yml b/apps/desktop/electron-builder.yml
index 333f1583..3b3af81a 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/electron-builder.yml
+++ b/apps/desktop/electron-builder.yml
@@ -18,7 +18,9 @@ fileAssociations:
     description: Open a Markdown document in EdgeEver
     role: Editor
 asar: true
-icon: ../web/public/pwa-512x512.png
+# Cross-platform master (1024). macOS uses the prebuilt full ICNS below so Dock
+# always receives ic10/ic14 instead of electron-builder's thin 512-only pack.
+icon: assets/icon.png
 directories:
   output: ../../release/desktop
 files:
@@ -34,6 +36,11 @@ extraResources:
     filter:
       - "trayTemplate.png"
       - "trayTemplate@2x.png"
+  - from: assets
+    to: .
+    filter:
+      - "icon.icns"
+      - "icon.png"
   - from: ../../migrations
     to: migrations
     filter:
@@ -45,6 +52,7 @@ extraResources:
       - edgeever-sidecar.exe
 mac:
   category: public.app-category.productivity
+  icon: assets/icon.icns
   target:
     - target: dmg
     - target: zip
diff --git a/apps/desktop/src/main/index.mjs b/apps/desktop/src/main/index.mjs
index 9aae9d2d..e44fab09 100644
--- a/apps/desktop/src/main/index.mjs
+++ b/apps/desktop/src/main/index.mjs
@@ -30,6 +30,29 @@ if (requestedUserDataDirectory) app.setPath("userData", requestedUserDataDirecto
 
 const currentDirectory = fileURLToPath(new URL(".", import.meta.url));
 const projectRoot = join(currentDirectory, "../../..");
+/**
+ * Force Dock to use our multi-resolution app icon. Bundle Info.plist is still
+ * the primary source; this covers cases where Launch Services/Dock cache a
+ * blank tile after overwrite installs.
+ */
+const applyMacDockIcon = () => {
+  if (process.platform !== "darwin" || !app.dock) return;
+  const candidates = app.isPackaged
+    ? [join(process.resourcesPath, "icon.icns"), join(process.resourcesPath, "icon.png")]
+    : [
+        join(projectRoot, "apps/desktop/assets/icon.icns"),
+        join(projectRoot, "apps/desktop/assets/icon.png"),
+        join(projectRoot, "apps/web/public/pwa-512x512.png"),
+      ];
+  for (const iconPath of candidates) {
+    if (!existsSync(iconPath)) continue;
+    const image = nativeImage.createFromPath(iconPath);
+    if (!image.isEmpty()) {
+      app.dock.setIcon(image);
+      return;
+    }
+  }
+};
 const webUrl = process.env.EDGE_EVER_DESKTOP_WEB_URL || "http://127.0.0.1:5173";
 // A packaged desktop app is self-hosted-client software: its instance URL must
 // come from the user-facing first-run setup, never from the build environment.
@@ -564,6 +587,7 @@ const confirmMacInstallation = async () => {
 };
 
 app.whenReady().then(async () => {
+  applyMacDockIcon();
   if (app.isPackaged && isMountedInstallerPath(app.getAppPath())) {
     const isChinese = app.getLocale().toLowerCase().startsWith("zh");
     const result = await dialog.showMessageBox({
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index da68a250..8118b65f 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
     "dev:desktop": "concurrently -k -n web,desktop -c magenta,cyan \"bun run dev:web\" \"bun run --cwd apps/desktop dev\"",
     "dev:mobile": "bun --cwd apps/mobile expo start",
     "prepare:mobile:icons": "bun scripts/prepare-mobile-icons.mjs",
+    "prepare:desktop:icons": "bun scripts/prepare-desktop-icons.mjs",
     "build:android:fast": "bash scripts/build-android-local.sh fast",
     "build:android:fast:local": "bun --env-file=${EDGE_EVER_ANDROID_ENV_FILE:-$HOME/.config/edgeever/android/signing.env} run build:android:fast",
     "build:android:apk": "bash scripts/build-android-local.sh apk",
@@ -36,10 +37,10 @@
     "dev:extension": "vite --config apps/extension/vite.config.ts",
     "build:web": "vite build --config apps/web/vite.config.ts",
     "build:desktop:sidecar": "cargo build --manifest-path crates/desktop-sidecar/Cargo.toml --release",
-    "build:desktop": "EDGE_EVER_DESKTOP_BUILD=1 bun run build:web && bun run build:desktop:sidecar && bun run --cwd apps/desktop dist",
+    "build:desktop": "EDGE_EVER_DESKTOP_BUILD=1 bun run prepare:desktop:icons && bun run build:web && bun run build:desktop:sidecar && bun run --cwd apps/desktop dist",
     "benchmark:desktop:sidecar": "bun scripts/benchmark-desktop-sidecar.mjs",
     "verify:web-performance": "bun scripts/verify-web-performance.mjs",
-    "test:release-planning": "bun test scripts/plan-native-release.test.mjs scripts/check-native-release-assets.test.mjs scripts/create-mac-update-metadata.test.mjs scripts/release.test.mjs scripts/validate-store-delivery.test.mjs scripts/store-delivery.test.mjs scripts/verify-android-apk-signature.test.mjs apps/web/src/lib/version-check.test.mjs apps/mobile/src/lib/mobile-release.test.ts",
+    "test:release-planning": "bun test scripts/plan-native-release.test.mjs scripts/check-native-release-assets.test.mjs scripts/create-mac-update-metadata.test.mjs scripts/release.test.mjs scripts/validate-store-delivery.test.mjs scripts/store-delivery.test.mjs scripts/verify-android-apk-signature.test.mjs scripts/desktop-icns.test.mjs apps/web/src/lib/version-check.test.mjs apps/mobile/src/lib/mobile-release.test.ts",
     "release": "bun scripts/release.mjs",
     "publish:stores": "bun scripts/store-delivery.mjs",
     "test:desktop:sidecar": "bun scripts/test-desktop-sidecar.mjs",
diff --git a/scripts/desktop-icns.mjs b/scripts/desktop-icns.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9f8d5928
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/desktop-icns.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,116 @@
+/**
+ * macOS ICNS inspection helpers.
+ *
+ * Dock and Launch Services need a complete multi-resolution icon pack. A single
+ * 512 PNG converted by electron-builder often omits the 1024 (ic10) slot and
+ * can leave Dock tiles stuck on the generic "empty" placeholder after installs.
+ */
+
+/** @typedef {{ type: string; length: number; offset: number }} IcnsEntry */
+
+/**
+ * Types that a modern EdgeEver macOS app icon must include so Finder and Dock
+ * can pick an appropriate bitmap at every scale.
+ *
+ * Note: current `iconutil` emits `ic04`/`ic05` for the smallest slots, while
+ * older electron-builder packs used `icp4`/`icp5`/`icp6`. Either family is OK
+ * for the small sizes; the high-resolution set below is mandatory.
+ */
+export const REQUIRED_MAC_ICNS_TYPES = Object.freeze([
+  "ic07", // 128
+  "ic08", // 256
+  "ic09", // 512
+  "ic10", // 1024 — required for modern Dock / retina large tiles
+  "ic11", // 16@2x
+  "ic12", // 32@2x
+  "ic13", // 128@2x
+  "ic14", // 256@2x
+]);
+
+/** At least one type from each group must be present. */
+export const REQUIRED_MAC_ICNS_ANY_OF = Object.freeze([
+  Object.freeze(["icp4", "ic04"]), // ~16px family
+  Object.freeze(["icp5", "ic05", "icp6"]), // ~32–64px family
+]);
+
+/**
+ * Parse the top-level type table of an ICNS container.
+ * @param {Buffer | Uint8Array} data
+ * @returns {IcnsEntry[]}
+ */
+export const parseIcnsEntries = (data) => {
+  const buffer = Buffer.isBuffer(data) ? data : Buffer.from(data);
+  if (buffer.length < 8 || buffer.subarray(0, 4).toString("ascii") !== "icns") {
+    throw new Error("Not a valid ICNS file (missing icns magic).");
+  }
+
+  const declaredLength = buffer.readUInt32BE(4);
+  if (declaredLength !== buffer.length) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `ICNS length mismatch: header claims ${declaredLength} bytes, file has ${buffer.length}.`,
+    );
+  }
+
+  /** @type {IcnsEntry[]} */
+  const entries = [];
+  let offset = 8;
+  while (offset + 8 <= buffer.length) {
+    const type = buffer.subarray(offset, offset + 4).toString("ascii");
+    const length = buffer.readUInt32BE(offset + 4);
+    if (length < 8 || offset + length > buffer.length) {
+      throw new Error(`Invalid ICNS entry at offset ${offset} (type=${JSON.stringify(type)}, length=${length}).`);
+    }
+    entries.push({ type, length, offset });
+    offset += length;
+  }
+
+  if (offset !== buffer.length) {
+    throw new Error(`ICNS trailing bytes: parsed ${offset}, file ${buffer.length}.`);
+  }
+
+  return entries;
+};
+
+/**
+ * @param {Buffer | Uint8Array} data
+ * @returns {{ types: string[]; missing: string[]; missingGroups: string[][]; ok: boolean }}
+ */
+export const inspectMacIcns = (data) => {
+  const entries = parseIcnsEntries(data);
+  const types = entries.map((entry) => entry.type);
+  const present = new Set(types);
+  const missing = REQUIRED_MAC_ICNS_TYPES.filter((type) => !present.has(type));
+  const missingGroups = REQUIRED_MAC_ICNS_ANY_OF.filter(
+    (group) => !group.some((type) => present.has(type)),
+  );
+  return {
+    types,
+    missing,
+    missingGroups,
+    ok: missing.length === 0 && missingGroups.length === 0,
+  };
+};
+
+/**
+ * @param {Buffer | Uint8Array} data
+ * @param {string} [label]
+ */
+export const assertMacIcnsComplete = (data, label = "icon.icns") => {
+  const result = inspectMacIcns(data);
+  if (!result.ok) {
+    const parts = [];
+    if (result.missing.length > 0) {
+      parts.push(`types ${result.missing.join(", ")}`);
+    }
+    if (result.missingGroups.length > 0) {
+      parts.push(
+        `small-size groups ${result.missingGroups.map((group) => group.join("|")).join("; ")}`,
+      );
+    }
+    throw new Error(
+      `${label} is missing Dock-critical ICNS ${parts.join(" and ")}. ` +
+        `Regenerate with: bun run prepare:desktop:icons`,
+    );
+  }
+  return result;
+};
diff --git a/scripts/desktop-icns.test.mjs b/scripts/desktop-icns.test.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..27d8a1a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/desktop-icns.test.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+import { describe, expect, test } from "bun:test";
+import { readFileSync } from "node:fs";
+import { join } from "node:path";
+import {
+  REQUIRED_MAC_ICNS_TYPES,
+  assertMacIcnsComplete,
+  inspectMacIcns,
+  parseIcnsEntries,
+} from "./desktop-icns.mjs";
+
+const incompleteIcnsFromPwa = () => {
+  // Synthetic ICNS with only a few modern types (mirrors the previous 512-only pack).
+  const chunks = [
+    Buffer.from("icp4"),
+    (() => {
+      const body = Buffer.alloc(8);
+      body.writeUInt32BE(16, 0);
+      return body;
+    })(),
+  ];
+  // Build one real-looking entry of length 16 (header 8 + 8 payload)
+  const entryType = Buffer.from("ic09");
+  const entryLen = Buffer.alloc(4);
+  entryLen.writeUInt32BE(16, 0);
+  const entryPayload = Buffer.alloc(8, 1);
+  const entry = Buffer.concat([entryType, entryLen, entryPayload]);
+  const total = 8 + entry.length;
+  const header = Buffer.alloc(8);
+  header.write("icns", 0, 4, "ascii");
+  header.writeUInt32BE(total, 4);
+  return Buffer.concat([header, entry]);
+};
+
+describe("desktop ICNS helpers", () => {
+  test("lists the Dock-critical type set including 1024px", () => {
+    expect(REQUIRED_MAC_ICNS_TYPES).toContain("ic10");
+    expect(REQUIRED_MAC_ICNS_TYPES).toContain("ic14");
+  });
+
+  test("rejects buffers that are not ICNS", () => {
+    expect(() => parseIcnsEntries(Buffer.from("not-an-icon"))).toThrow(/icns magic/i);
+  });
+
+  test("reports missing types for incomplete ICNS packs", () => {
+    const incomplete = incompleteIcnsFromPwa();
+    const report = inspectMacIcns(incomplete);
+    expect(report.ok).toBe(false);
+    expect(report.missing).toContain("ic10");
+    expect(() => assertMacIcnsComplete(incomplete, "test.icns")).toThrow(/missing Dock-critical/i);
+  });
+
+  test("committed desktop icon.icns is complete for Dock", () => {
+    const path = join(import.meta.dir, "../apps/desktop/assets/icon.icns");
+    const data = readFileSync(path);
+    const report = assertMacIcnsComplete(data, path);
+    for (const type of REQUIRED_MAC_ICNS_TYPES) {
+      expect(report.types).toContain(type);
+    }
+    expect(report.types.some((type) => type === "ic04" || type === "icp4")).toBe(true);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/scripts/plan-native-release.mjs b/scripts/plan-native-release.mjs
index 6e29381c..3c02c976 100644
--- a/scripts/plan-native-release.mjs
+++ b/scripts/plan-native-release.mjs
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@ export const planNativeRelease = (platform, changedFiles) => {
           ".github/workflows/desktop-build.yml",
           "bun.lock",
           "scripts/create-mac-update-metadata.mjs",
+          "scripts/desktop-icns.mjs",
+          "scripts/prepare-desktop-icons.mjs",
           "scripts/run-desktop-builder.mjs",
           "scripts/verify-desktop-package.mjs",
         ]);
diff --git a/scripts/plan-native-release.test.mjs b/scripts/plan-native-release.test.mjs
index 8d201bb9..f496c57a 100644
--- a/scripts/plan-native-release.test.mjs
+++ b/scripts/plan-native-release.test.mjs
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ describe("native release planning", () => {
     const changedFiles = [
       ".github/workflows/desktop-build.yml",
       "scripts/create-mac-update-metadata.mjs",
+      "scripts/prepare-desktop-icons.mjs",
+      "scripts/desktop-icns.mjs",
       "scripts/run-desktop-builder.mjs",
     ];
     expect(planNativeRelease("desktop", changedFiles)).toEqual({
diff --git a/scripts/prepare-desktop-icons.mjs b/scripts/prepare-desktop-icons.mjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..11227e52
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/prepare-desktop-icons.mjs
@@ -0,0 +1,107 @@
+/**
+ * Build a complete macOS ICNS (and 1024 PNG master) for the desktop app.
+ *
+ * Why this exists:
+ * electron-builder converting a lone 512 PWA PNG yields a thin ICNS that often
+ * omits ic10 (1024). Dock then falls back to the generic empty placeholder —
+ * including after clean installs. We prebuild a full iconutil pack and commit it.
+ *
+ * Usage: bun run prepare:desktop:icons
+ */
+import { mkdir, mkdtemp, readFile, rm, writeFile } from "node:fs/promises";
+import { tmpdir } from "node:os";
+import { join, resolve } from "node:path";
+import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
+import { fileURLToPath } from "node:url";
+import sharp from "sharp";
+import { assertMacIcnsComplete } from "./desktop-icns.mjs";
+
+const projectRoot = resolve(fileURLToPath(new URL(".", import.meta.url)), "..");
+const sourcePng = join(projectRoot, "apps/web/public/pwa-512x512.png");
+const assetsDir = join(projectRoot, "apps/desktop/assets");
+
+/** iconutil expects these exact basenames inside a .iconset directory. */
+const ICONSET_FILES = [
+  { name: "icon_16x16.png", size: 16 },
+  { name: "icon_16x16@2x.png", size: 32 },
+  { name: "icon_32x32.png", size: 32 },
+  { name: "icon_32x32@2x.png", size: 64 },
+  { name: "icon_128x128.png", size: 128 },
+  { name: "icon_128x128@2x.png", size: 256 },
+  { name: "icon_256x256.png", size: 256 },
+  { name: "icon_256x256@2x.png", size: 512 },
+  { name: "icon_512x512.png", size: 512 },
+  { name: "icon_512x512@2x.png", size: 1024 },
+];
+
+const run = (command, args, options = {}) => {
+  const result = spawnSync(command, args, {
+    encoding: "utf8",
+    stdio: ["ignore", "pipe", "pipe"],
+    ...options,
+  });
+  if (result.status !== 0) {
+    throw new Error(
+      `${command} ${args.join(" ")} failed:\n${result.stderr || result.stdout || result.error}`,
+    );
+  }
+  return result;
+};
+
+const writeResizedPng = async (sourceBuffer, size, destination) => {
+  await sharp(sourceBuffer)
+    .resize(size, size, {
+      fit: "contain",
+      background: { r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, alpha: 0 },
+      kernel: sharp.kernel.lanczos3,
+    })
+    .png({ compressionLevel: 9 })
+    .toFile(destination);
+};
+
+export const prepareDesktopIcons = async ({
+  sourcePath = sourcePng,
+  assetsDirectory = assetsDir,
+  requireIconutil = process.platform === "darwin",
+} = {}) => {
+  await mkdir(assetsDirectory, { recursive: true });
+  const sourceBuffer = await readFile(sourcePath);
+
+  // Master PNG used by electron-builder on Windows/Linux and as a Dock fallback.
+  await writeResizedPng(sourceBuffer, 1024, join(assetsDirectory, "icon.png"));
+
+  if (!requireIconutil) {
+    console.log("[prepare-desktop-icons] skipped iconutil on non-macOS; master PNG written.");
+    return { icnsPath: join(assetsDirectory, "icon.icns"), pngPath: join(assetsDirectory, "icon.png") };
+  }
+
+  const workRoot = await mkdtemp(join(tmpdir(), "edgeever-desktop-icon-"));
+  const iconsetDir = join(workRoot, "EdgeEver.iconset");
+  await mkdir(iconsetDir, { recursive: true });
+
+  try {
+    for (const { name, size } of ICONSET_FILES) {
+      await writeResizedPng(sourceBuffer, size, join(iconsetDir, name));
+    }
+
+    const icnsPath = join(assetsDirectory, "icon.icns");
+    run("iconutil", ["-c", "icns", iconsetDir, "-o", icnsPath]);
+    const icnsData = await readFile(icnsPath);
+    assertMacIcnsComplete(icnsData, icnsPath);
+
+    console.log(`[prepare-desktop-icons] wrote ${icnsPath} (${icnsData.length} bytes)`);
+    console.log(`[prepare-desktop-icons] wrote ${join(assetsDirectory, "icon.png")} (1024×1024 master)`);
+    return { icnsPath, pngPath: join(assetsDirectory, "icon.png") };
+  } finally {
+    await rm(workRoot, { recursive: true, force: true });
+  }
+};
+
+if (import.meta.main) {
+  try {
+    await prepareDesktopIcons();
+  } catch (error) {
+    console.error(`[prepare-desktop-icons] ${error instanceof Error ? error.message : String(error)}`);
+    process.exit(1);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/scripts/release.mjs b/scripts/release.mjs
index 6932177c..6b77ec36 100644
--- a/scripts/release.mjs
+++ b/scripts/release.mjs
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ export const RELEASE_VALIDATIONS = [
       "scripts/release.test.mjs",
       "scripts/validate-store-delivery.test.mjs",
       "scripts/store-delivery.test.mjs",
+      "scripts/desktop-icns.test.mjs",
       "apps/web/src/lib/version-check.test.mjs",
       "apps/mobile/src/lib/mobile-release.test.ts",
     ],
diff --git a/scripts/verify-desktop-package.mjs b/scripts/verify-desktop-package.mjs
index 7bd5fc05..96aee5f1 100644
--- a/scripts/verify-desktop-package.mjs
+++ b/scripts/verify-desktop-package.mjs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import { spawnSync } from "node:child_process";
 import { existsSync, readFileSync, readdirSync, rmSync, statSync } from "node:fs";
 import { basename, join } from "node:path";
 import { listPackage } from "@electron/asar";
+import { assertMacIcnsComplete } from "./desktop-icns.mjs";
 
 const outputDirectory = join(process.cwd(), "release", "desktop");
 const version = JSON.parse(
@@ -58,6 +59,11 @@ if (requestedPlatform === "darwin") {
   const asarFiles = new Set(listPackage(asarPath));
   assert.ok(asarFiles.has("/src/preload/index.cjs"), "macOS app bundle must contain the sandbox-compatible CommonJS preload");
   assert.ok(!asarFiles.has("/src/preload/index.mjs"), "macOS app bundle must not contain the unsupported ESM preload");
+  const appIconPath = join(appResources, "icon.icns");
+  assert.ok(existsSync(appIconPath), `macOS app bundle is missing icon.icns: ${appIconPath}`);
+  assertMacIcnsComplete(readFileSync(appIconPath), appIconPath);
+  const infoPlist = readFileSync(join(unpackedApp, "Contents", "Info.plist"), "utf8");
+  assert.match(infoPlist, /CFBundleIconFile/, "macOS Info.plist must declare CFBundleIconFile");
   // LaunchServices registers unpacked build products as additional document
   // handlers. The signed DMG/ZIP are the release artifacts, so discard the
   // disposable unpacked bundle once its contents have passed verification.