Applications folder GONE

One day,i was installing something and when it finished, my entire applications folder is GONE. all of my applications, such as safari, iTunes, system preferences, app store and downloaded applications are gone. i posted this topic form firefox, witch wasn't in the folder. i tried data rescue 3, it didn't help. it there any way to get the folder back?

If you have none of your Applications (did you do a search for, say, Safari or Mail to see if it was accidentally moved elsewhere?) - I'd suggest doing a reinstall from your install disk. You can insert the disk and then choose Restart, hold down the C key until you see the installer. Before proceeding, make sure you have any of your music, videos, etc. backed up just in case.
Once the install is done, repair permissions.
After that, download the combo update to 10.6.6 from the Apple website and install it. Again repair permissions.
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1349
After that is done, run Software Update to bring everything else up to speed. Again repair permissions.
If everything is working as it should, you're done (except for having to reinstall any downloaded applications).

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Missing applications folder, gone hidden & need help!

This is the second time this has happened to me and someone did tell me how to fix this but I have since forgotten. I'm hoping someone here can remind me.
I've got an eMac running 10.4.10 and when I open the Finder window, the applications folder is no longer there, where it should be and slowly my Mac is turning haywire. Apparently it has gone "hidden" and I don't know how to un-hide it. If someone could please let me know how to fix this, that would be great. And if someone knows why this has happened to me more than once so I can avoid it in the future, that would be great too.
eMac Mac OS X (10.4.10)

Your startup drive should be the drive listed on your Desktop. If you never renamed it, then it is probably named "Macintosh HD" which is the default. You can also go to the Apple menu item and select "About This Mac" and just above the More Info button there should be the entry
Startup Disk Nameofdisk
You would use the name shown in the path. So launch Script Editor and paste this in:
tell application "System Events"
set visible of folder "Macintosh HD:Applications" to true
end tell
Be sure to use the name of your startup drive where "Macintosh HD" is in the script above, if the name is something else (mine for instance is Noobix). Then click the Compile button in the Script Editor toolbar, to make sure there aren't any errors, and then the Run button. If the script runs without reporting an error, you will need to log out and back in, or restart the Finder for the change to be recognized.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Hi the itunes icon has gone from the applications folder and the icon in the dock has a question mark in it. How can we get itunes back to normal? thanks

Hi we've lost the itunes icon from the applications folder. How do we get it back and where has it gone? I dragged it off the dock by accident and dragged it from the applications folder to the desktop then to the dock. But now we've lost it.

The iTunes app is no longer in the Applications folder?
Try Spotlight ...

I updated to OS X version 10.9 and now my applications in the applications folder are gone

When I click Finder-->katelynsmith(with the little house icon; under favorites)-->Applications folder all of the icons for my applications are gone (chess, iPhoto, etc.). However, when I search for "chess" (or any application names, for that matter), hilight the icon, and click the tiny applications folder on the toolbar on the bottom of the window (see photo attached), all of my applications are there and they still work.
Why did this happen and how can I get the applications back to the applications folder they used to be in? Do I need to just copy and paste all of them?
Thank you,
Katelyn

Welcome to Apple Support Communities
There are two Applications folders: /Applications (in the root level of the hard drive) and ~/Applications (in your user folder).
If you have a look at the bottom part of the screenshot, you can see where Chess is stored, and it indicates that it's stored in /Applications, so you are looking for applications in the wrong folder.
Open a Finder window, go to Finder menu (on the menu bar) > Preferences > Sidebar, and mark Applications. Then, close the Preferences window and you will be able to access to the Applications folder in the Finder sidebar. Another option would be to go to View menu (on the menu bar) and type:
/Applications

HT204408 My applications folder has a black question mark on it at the bottom of my screen. I do not know what error I made, but my fan effect of the previous applications has gone away. Can I get some help with this?

One day ago I inadvertantly removed my applications folder. In it's place is a folder with a black question mark which appeared after I attempted to open up the applications file. Also, previously when I clicked on the file applications would open in a fan display. Could I please get some assistance with this?

...removed my applications folder.
From where? And to where?
If you trashed it and emptied the trash, what backup, if any, do you have? If it's still in the Trash, move it back.
If no backup, reinstall Snow, which will give you the version as of the DVD you use, then update back to 10.6.8, and run all other needed updates, including any security updates. This should save all your third party programs, as well as settings.
The white puff of smoke is nothing, it only means you moved it out of the Dock. If you still have it, or had it, as soon as you open it it would reappear in the Dock. The item in the Dock is only a kind of alias.

My Applications Folder seems to have gone missing from my dock. I can see it in the finder window but can't get it back to my dock. Any help would be appreciated!

I can see the Application folder in the Finder window but can't seem to get it back on to my dock.
Any help would be appreciated it!

Close all windows and quit all applications.
Launch Finder by clicking the Finder icon in the Dock.
Right click the "Application" folder and select "Get Info".
At the bottom of the resulting window there will be a blue folder icon in the preview section.
Drag the whole window to the right side of the desktop,closer to the Dock.
Now drag the blue preview folder to the Dock right of the separator line.
Right click the folder icon and select "Folder" under "Display as" if it is not shown as folder.
Best.

My Applications folder and Mac HD is gone from finder and cannot locate it anywhere. Also now getting download errors on everything and they cannot complete. This happened with iPhoto tonight. Any ideas?

I don't realize when this started because I don't download apps that often or look for my applications folder. But I cannot find my HD anywhere. I know it has been less than two-three weeks since the last time I specifially accessed the applications folder. Its odd because tonight I tried downloading iPhoto and got an error that it was unable to download ... try again from the app store. I did this twice with the same result. Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you.

Basically I ended up bringing the MacBook into the Apple Store. It was determined something was going wrong with my hard drive and I ended up getting a new MacBook because I could not wait for it to be fixed (I was already starting to get behind on my school work). There was no real solution.

APPLICATIONS FOLDER HAS GONE BESERK - PLEASE HELP!

For the past few weeks, most of my apps no longer are visible in the applications folder.
The apps work; finder shows them as residing in the apps folder.
If I go to the applications folder, though, all I see are the apps with names that begin with "A", plus the CALCULATOR app.
Everything else [Quicktime, MS Office, etc.] does not appear.
However, all the applications are working, and finder shows them as being located in the apps folder.
Today, I found I cannot ADD new apps to my apps folder.
It will not accept new apps.
I am trying to install dashline 2.0 [a new app for me].
When I drag the app to the apps folder, the time bar appears and runs through the move.
However, the app never appears in the apps folder.
When I search in finder, dashline does NOT show up as being in the app folder.
If I try again, to drag the app to the apps folder, I get a prompt telling me the app is already in the apps folder.
I googled these problems but all the answers I find have to do with setting up new computers, transferring from one computer to another, or 'losing' apps from the computer altogether.
Here is the info on my computer.
MacBook Pro
17" late 2011
Mac OSX 10.7.5
1.4Ghz Intel Core i7
16GB Memory
not networked or shared
Please help if you can. I am hugely confounded on this one.

Hello, Thomas, and thank you for this suggestion. Here is my list:
total 56
drwxrwxr-x+ 108 root      admin   3672 Jun 10 09:15 .
drwxrwxr-x   35 root      admin   1258 Jun 5 16:10 ..
-rw-rw-r--    1 root      admin 21508 Jun 10 09:14 .DS_Store
-rw-r--r--    1 root      wheel      0 Jun 13 2011 .localized
drwxr-xr-x+   3 root      wheel    102 Oct 5 2012 Address Book.app
drwxr-xr-x    7 root      admin    238 Jun 6 17:52 Adobe
drwxrwxr-x@   7 root      admin    238 Feb 9 09:19 Adobe Acrobat X Pro
drwxrwxr-x@   8 root      admin    272 Mar 28 12:02 Adobe Acrobat XI Pro
drwxrwxr-x@ 13 root      admin    442 Feb 5 2012 Adobe After Effects CS5
drwxrwxr-x@ 13 root      admin    442 Feb 22 17:46 Adobe After Effects CS5.5
lrwxr-xr-x    1 root      admin     64 Jun 6 17:40 Adobe Application Manager -> /Applications/Utilities/Adobe Application Manager/core/PDapp.app
drwxrwxr-x@   6 root      admin    204 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Audition CS5.5
drwxrwxr-x@   9 root      admin    306 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Bridge CS5.1
drwxrwxr-x@   8 root      admin    272 Jun 6 18:07 Adobe Bridge CS6
drwxrwxr-x@ 13 root      admin    442 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Contribute CS5.1
drwxrwxr-x@   5 root      admin    170 Feb 4 2012 Adobe Device Central CS5
drwxrwxr-x@   5 root      admin    170 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Device Central CS5.5
drwxr-xr-x    3 501       admin    102 Mar 22 2012 Adobe Digital Editions.app
drwxr-xr-x    3 giovanna staff    102 Oct 9 2012 Adobe Download Assistant.app
drwxrwxr-x@ 12 root      admin    408 Jul 25 2012 Adobe Dreamweaver CS5.5
drwxrwxr-x@ 10 root      admin    340 Jun 6 17:59 Adobe Dreamweaver CS6
drwxrwxr-x@   5 root      admin    170 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Encore CS5.1
drwxrwxr-x@   8 root      admin    272 Feb 4 2012 Adobe Extension Manager CS5
drwxrwxr-x@   8 root      admin    272 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Extension Manager CS5.5
drwxrwxr-x@   6 root      admin    204 Jun 6 18:07 Adobe Extension Manager CS6
drwxrwxr-x@ 10 root      admin    340 Aug 4 2012 Adobe Fireworks CS5.1
drwxrwxr-x@ 21 root      admin    714 May 18 18:01 Adobe Flash Builder 4.5
drwxrwxr-x@ 14 root      admin    476 Mar 28 16:52 Adobe Flash CS5.5
drwxrwxr-x@ 20 root      admin    680 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5.5
drwxrwxr-x@ 12 root      admin    408 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Illustrator CS5.1
drwxrwxr-x@ 11 root      admin    374 Jun 6 18:07 Adobe Illustrator CS6
drwxrwxr-x@ 13 root      admin    442 Feb 5 2012 Adobe InDesign CS5
drwxrwxr-x@ 13 root      admin    442 Jul 23 2012 Adobe InDesign CS5.5
drwxrwxr-x@ 12 root      admin    408 Jun 6 17:53 Adobe InDesign CS6
drwxrwxr-x@   5 root      admin    170 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Media Encoder CS5.5
drwxrwxr-x@   5 root      admin    170 Jun 6 17:53 Adobe Media Encoder CS6
drwxr-xr-x    3 root      wheel    102 Feb 4 2012 Adobe Media Player.app
drwxrwxr-x@   6 root      admin    204 Feb 4 2012 Adobe OnLocation CS5
drwxrwxr-x@   6 root      admin    204 Jul 23 2012 Adobe OnLocation CS5.1
drwxrwxr-x@ 16 root      admin    544 Sep 26 2012 Adobe Photoshop CS5.1
drwxrwxr-x@ 12 root      admin    408 Jun 6 17:58 Adobe Photoshop CS6
drwxrwxr-x@   8 root      admin    272 Feb 5 2012 Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
drwxrwxr-x@   8 root      admin    272 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5
drwxrwxr-x    3 root      admin    102 Feb 4 2012 Adobe Reader.app
drwxrwxr-x@   5 root      admin    170 Feb 4 2012 Adobe Soundbooth CS5
drwxr-xr-x    3 root      wheel    102 Jul 23 2012 Adobe Story.app
drwxr-xr-x    3 giovanna staff    102 Oct 24 2012 Amazon MP3 Downloader.app
drwxrwxr-x    3 501       staff    102 Jun 4 2012 Android File Transfer.app
drwxr-xr-x+   3 root      wheel    102 Oct 5 2012 App Store.app
drwxr-xr-x    3 root      wheel    102 Oct 5 2012 Automator.app
drwxr-xr-x    3 root      wheel    102 Oct 5 2012 Calculator.app

List view in applications folder missing arrows

I have a 27" i7 iMac and I recently updated to 10.7.1. I have a clean install of Lion. After updating, a strange thing happened in my Applications folder. When in list view, the arrows that are usually next to the folders, allowing you to expand and collapse them, are gone. It is only one the top level of that folder. Everywhere else works fine. Also, I can't click on the headings to resort. Is anyone else experiencing this or have an idea on how to fix it?

Found this answer over in another question. Solved my issue.
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15693400#15693400
Check the following:
1. Go to Application folder (or any other folder with similar behavior)
2. Chose "View" --> "Arrange by" --> "None"

Applications Folder won't stay in Icon View

In the Applications Folder I want to have my icons arranged in a certain way at a certain size and always open in that view, but they never stay that way after I switch my mac back on.
I have tried everything:
1. Ticking "Always open in icon view". The tick is always gone next time I switch my mac back on. In all other sidebar folders this tick remains so I always get the view I want, along with icon order and icon view which is OK for other folders - but not Application Folder. It always opens in List View so when I change it to icon view, my icon sizes and order are back to default.
2. Arrange by "Snap to grid" - still opens in List View.
3. Tried "Set as default" in icon view - still opens in List View.
4. Deleted DS Store in Application Folder, as advised elsewhere, and setting it up again with "Always open in icon view". Still opens up again in List View.
5. Deleted "com.apple.finder.plist", as advised elsewhere, and set everything up again, but still opens in List View next time I start up my mac.
Why does the tick in "Always open in icon view" keep disappearing for my Applications Folder next time I start up?
How can I have this folder always open in icon view?
Something is not right somewhere but I don't know how to make it right.

Yes, I have done everything as you've outlined. It has worked as it should for all other Finder/Sidebar folders - Documents, Downloads etc, whether permanently list view, icon view etc.
I also set up the Applications Folder the way I want it, tick the "Always open in icon view" box, then the next time I switch on the tick is gone and it's opened in list view. All other Sidebar folders are fine, and still have the box ticked.
It's just the Applications Folder - something seems to be wrong somewhere and it's not anything I've done, or not done as it works with the other folders.

Applications folder missing

Hello all,
Kind of freaking out here...I recently downloaded a trial version of Episode Pro to try out with FCP. I didn't work to my liking. I decided to uninstall it, because there was an uninstall option in the finder window with the trial application. Anyway, during the uninstall I was asked if I wanted to keep some things, and I said no...I figured these would have been items relating to the software. Well, when the installation was done, my applications folder was gone, and none of the shortcuts in my dock will work. I have a good feeling that the folder is gone, not just misplaced. Anyone think there is a chance in **** that I can get it back?

That's a pretty bad installer, if it uninstalled EVERYTHING. You can recover deleted files using a tool like TechTool Pro, but the delete files will be there only if nothing new has been written over the space they occupy. Since this is on your startup disk, it is likely that just running your Mac will start overwriting that space. You may just have to backup your personal data and reinstall everything. Alternately, you can use a program called Pacifist to install your Apple apps individually, but that may be a lot of work.
http://www.charlessoft.com/
Actually, before you do anything drastic, maybe you should check the possibility that the Applications folder became invisible. You can use a program called TinkerTool to make invisible files visible.
http://www.bresink.com/osx/TinkerTool.html

Missing application icon in applications folder

I drug my applications folder to my doc to make a shortcut and got the poof cloud. now all my icons are gone in Applications folder in finder and in all my time machine backups.how do I get them back. all I can find in trash is a folder called Recovered Files with 48 files like this one /var/tmp/tmp.0.BbdYw430645480 inside.

I'm guessing you didn't prep your new drive. Do the following (you will need to boot from your external drive:)
Extended Hard Drive Preparation
1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
After formatting has completed quit DU. Now use SuperDuper! or your favorite cloning utility to clone your system from the external drive to the new internal drive.
If you need to change your short name this should help: Macworld | Changing the short username in Leopard.

I restarted my mac and many apps and files disappeared. It's like it booted to a state several months ago. My CS 5 apps are not in the dock or applications folder. Has this ever happened before and what can I do?

It's like it booted to a state it was in several months ago. My CS 5 apps are not in the dock or applications folder. Has this ever happened before and what can I do?
The files on my desktop are not the ones that were there when I shut down. It's like it's gone back in time.
My display's power supply got fried (I think) in a power outage so I bought a new one. However, every time I restart the display usually stays black. I have found I need to keep rebooting until it kicks in and starts working. I unplug everything, wait a while (a few minutes to overnight) and try booting again.
This last time the display finally came on but I'm faced with this problem. I used to use time machine, but I deleted everything and disabled it a couple months ago or more so I'm at aloss as to why the mac is booting into the state it was in sevearl months ago.
What could I have done to cause this? Has this ever happened to anyone else and is there a solution?
Note: I did a search for a file I knew was created today. I found it and it showed that it was a file I had saved on the desktop this morning--even though that file's icon is not appearing on the desktop now.
I did a search for photoshop and saw my CS5 version listed.
However, I did a couple more searches and these files no longer appear in the search. I don't know if they're there or not. This is bizarre!
I'm on a Mac Pro, 10.6.2.

Thanks for the obvious question. I mean it. The very same thought came to me this morning and, sure enough, I had booted into another drive--my old one that, of course, had the old desktop, etc.
It didn't dawn on me that this was the case since I hadn't set it as a boot drive but I guess in the course of all the restarts I did, it got switched.
I'm back to normal again.

My Address Book application is GONE - question mark on it on taskbar

Hi. I'm a relatively new Mac user. My Address Book app is gone completely from my Applications folder and it has a question mark on it when I click on the icon in the taskbar. All of my contacts appear to be intact in Mail - they show up when I type addresses in emails, and I can still see the photos I assigned to contacts when these contacts send me email. But the app itself is gone from the Applications folder and I can't seem to find it no matter where I search. I've searched for Address Book under every user profile on this machine.
I should note that I have 4-year-old daughter who uses this mac on occasion and who seems to have a special gift for the sorts of mouse-clicks and command-typing that evaporate or otherwise misfile important applications.
How do I reinstall just Address Book? It seems to be the only App missing. The Leopard disk seemed to be suggesting that a complete reinstall would be necessary which seems a bit much for just the one app.

You can use a program called "Pacifist" to install individual applications from the Leopard DVD (Available here: http://www.charlessoft.com/)

Missing files, user folder, application folder and system folder

I am using a MacBook Pro 2011 model with OS X 10.9.4.
Since I bought the machine several years ago, I have had only a few small problems with it. Yesterday I wanted to reduce the size of a video, so I downloaded a video compressor/converter software, and left the computer on and the program compressing my video whilst I went off to work. When I returned home, the compressing program had a pop-up saying ''Could not complete compression, system full'' or something along those lines.... After trying to play the movie without success, I decided that I would restart my computer, as it had been on all day.
When the computer restarted, it came up with the grey loading bar, which usually comes up when I have done a software update. It disappeared quite soon and several minutes later, my user profile appeared. I logged in as normal, and then tried to open my browser. An error message popped up stating"Can't open user profile directory, because you lack sufficient privileges. You might want to contact the administrator of this machine". I then tried to open other programs and they all came up with similar messages and did not open. Skype stated "Can't create a lock file at Users/Lauren/Library...etc".
I then went to Finder to look at my applications and they were ALL GONE! Then I went to a folder I have with all my files called "My files", and although the primary folders were visible, "SCHOOL,WORK, HOLIDAYS PICS, etc", these folders were empty. I then checked my User folder, and my systems folder and these were empty too. However, the Desktop and Documents folders still contain the documents that were previously there, and my background images remained the same.
I tried to open Word, and although it is also missing from the applications folder, and it opened, also allowing me to open a document which I know is located within the 'empty' folders. I have a feeling that my documents and files are still on my computer, but I don't know how to access them!
Please if someone could shed light on the situation! All my work files and personal files are on this computer and I would be devastated to loose them!
Let me know if you need any more ino or screen shots!
Kind regards,
Lauren

OS X- Gray progress bar appears under Apple logo during startup
You need to start by doing the following:
Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks without erasing drive
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks
OS X Mavericks- Reinstall OS X
OS X Mountain Lion- Reinstall OS X
OS X Lion- Reinstall Mac OS X
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet
if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Applications folder GONE

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