? button in my finder window

Theirs a ? on the left side of my search box (Look in the pic) in all my finder windows, when i click it an error message comes up saying "This item could not be found"
This is really bugging me, is there a way to get rid of it or should it do something or what?

Mattysoft,
Try holding the  (Command) key + clicking and dragging it off the window. It should disappear in a poof of smoke. What it is is a shortcut to another file located on your mac. It has somehow been moved or removed and the Alias doesn't know where it has gone to.
Hope that helps,
Weston

Similar Messages

Open a finder window with NSMenuItem button

Hi there fellow Developers,
In my application I'm trying to open a finder window from inside my app through a NSMenuItem button. The finder window cannot be blank or the standard one that is opened once you click on the finder icon. It must be the one I chose to open. I looked around for examples or at least some sample code, but I couldn't find any. How can I carry out this process?
Thanks,
Tom M.

Hi Shai,
Following are the details
VC Server Version 700.15.0.1.
We are using version 7.0.
Regards
Joga

How to make the finder window expand to full height AND width of my screen, but not "full screen mode".

The new green button on the finder window makes the screen go into full screen takeover mode - alt clicking this makes it 100% height of the screen.
How can I make this 100% width and height (just like it used to be in Mavericks)?
I have 2 x 27" monitors, so the "full screen takeover" mode is not right as I only want the finder window to be on one monitor whilst I work on another.
Any ideas?! Thank you!

Was about to post the same question.
Ever since I upgraded to Yosemite (about a month ago), this odd behavior has irked me.
Could it be that it only plagues those of us running dual displays? And therefore nobody else cares?

A weird question on opening a new finder window

this is not a big deal, but it really bugs me. when you have a finder window open and do apple-N to get a new one, it puts the new one right on top of the one already open. this is totally stupid. 99% of the time when i open a new window it's because i want to drag a file from one location to another, in which case i have to first move the new window. is there some way you can have it put new windows someplace else other than right on top of the current one?
and please, please, please dear apple, give us tabs in finder windows like in safari. i keep expecting it to happen in each new system upgrade, and it keeps never happening.

...when you have a finder window open and do apple-N to get a new one, it puts the new one right on top of the one already open... is there some way you can have it put new windows someplace else other than right on top of the current one?
In addition to the excellent suggestions regarding the Sidebar offered earlier, you might consider creating an AppleScript and adding it to your Finder window's toolbar. Once added to the toolbar, the script would serve as a button, which, when clicked on, would open a fully viewable new Finder window positioned above and slightly to the left of the existing Finder window. The existing Finder window would be repositioned if necessary and set to a size matching the dimensions of the new window.
The example scripts below were created with the assumption that your Home folder's Finder window opens when you press ⌘N. These scripts can be modified so that another window is opened instead by replacing the word "home" where it appears in the script with "desktop" or "documents" or "applications" etc. To open the "Computer" window use the command *make new Finder window* exclusively. Paths to non system-level folders, or user-created folders, can be specified by using an *open "Macintosh HD:path:to:folder"* command.
Copy and then paste either block of code below into your AppleScript Script Editor (Applications > AppleScript > Script Editor). From the Script Editor's File menu choose Save As > File Format: application, and leave the Options unchecked.
To add the button to your Finder window's toolbar, simply open any Finder window and drag the saved AppleScript icon to a convenient location on the toolbar. Let go of your mouse when you see the round green "+" indicator.
+This script might work best with a monitor set to a minimum 1024 x 768 screen resolution:+
*tell application "Finder"*
activate
*make new Finder window to (path to home folder)*
*set the bounds of window 1 to {70, 59, 955, 399}*
*set the bounds of window 2 to {100, 403, 985, 743}*
*activate window 2*
*end tell*
+This version would be more suitable for a monitor set to 800 x 600 screen resolution:+
*tell application "Finder"*
activate
*make new Finder window to (path to home folder)*
*set the bounds of window 1 to {85, 47, 715, 317}*
*set the bounds of window 2 to {115, 320, 745, 595}*
*activate window 2*
*end tell*
Good luck.

Blurry/pixelated icons at random in Finder windows 02 (Not Solving Yet)

Since the problem in the old topic (http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2132399&start=0&tstart=0), I have started new one.
the Problem is:
"I'm seeing a lot of blurry icons in the Finder, though, seemingly at random. I'll open a window and about half the icons will be essentially large versions of the 16x16 icon, rather than sharp icons at the appropriate size. Changing the icon size via the new slider just enlarges the blurry icon, it doesn't increase the resolution." (Eric Westby)
This is really the most disappointing non response issue I have ever seen by Apple. I hope from Apple to address this issue.
Thanks.

Problem. I am experiencing problems with suddenly blurred custom Finder icons as well.
Trigger. So far as I can tell, this happened when Software Update ran on my computer this afternoon. If I recall correctly, it updated to the latest XCode and iTunes versions pushed out this week. When it was finished, it gave me the message, "Blah blah blah your installation has finished" with an Okay button. The Finder window with my film library was open and in full view with nice, not-blurry icons. I clicked Okay to dismiss Software Update and the instant I did that it quit the Finder, must have been to rebuild something that was edited during the installation. All the open windows went away, the Finder restarted and its windows reopened. Wouldn't you know it, every single icon I had edited in the last day or three, +but none of the others+, was a pixellated blob.
Details. This is a single folder with rips of my DVD collection made using Handbrake, one folder per film, for a total of about 400 folders.
For each folder, I locate an image of the theater poster using Google's image search and create an icon using that image. The process I use is to open the image in Preview, ensure it is 800 px tall or less, then Select All > Copy to the Clipboard. Then I go to the Finder and do a Get Info > Tab > Paste for the folder.
Screenshot
My screenshot shows the sort of blurry pixellation I am getting, as seen on the icon for "Grand Central Murder (1942)" and "Graduate, The (1967) Nichols". All the rest look sharp and nice, they way they usually all do.
Guesses. The only thing I can think of is that as you paste custom icons, the Finder is just dropping that information in a cache somewhere. It will write it out properly if it gets the time, but if the system is always telling it "not now, I'm busy" it will put it off as a low priority task. If something else then tells the Finder to restart, all those changes are lost because the cache gets hosed down when the Finder reboots. It's only a guess, but it's the best I've got.

After installing Mavericks I can no longer save a new word document or pdf by typing the name of the destination folder in the Finder window. The save button greys out. Solutions anyone?

After installing Mavericks I can no longer save a new word document or pdf by typing the name of the destination folder in the Finder window. The save button greys out. Solutions anyone?

Please follow these directions to delete the Mail "sandbox" folders. In OS X 10.9 there are two sandboxes, while in 10.8 there is only one. If you're running a version older than 10.8, this comment isn't applicable.
Back up all data.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail
Right-click or control-click the highlighted line and select
Services ▹ Reveal
from the contextual menu.* A Finder window should open with a folder named "com.apple.mail" selected. If it does, move the selected folder—not just its contents—to the Desktop. Leave the Finder window open for now.
Log out and log back in. Launch Mail and test. If the problem is resolved, you may have to recreate some of your Mail settings. You can then delete the folder you moved and close the Finder window.
This action will delete any custom Mail stationery that you have created. If you want to preserve it, ask for instructions.
If you still have the problem, quit Mail again and put the folder back where it was, overwriting the one that may have been created in its place. Repeat with this line:
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.MailServiceAgent
Caution: If you change any of the contents of the sandbox, but leave the folder itself in place, Mail may crash or not launch at all. Deleting the whole sandbox will cause it to be rebuilt automatically.
*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. In the Finder, select
Go ▹ Go to Folder...
from the menu bar and paste into the box that opens by pressing command-V. You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Where is the button in the top right of a finder window that minimizes sidebar

In 10.8, where is the button at the top right of a finder window that minimizes the sidebar & toolbar.

"View > Hide Toolbar" will toggle both - Toolbar and Sidebar at once,
"View > Hide Sidebar" will only hide the sidebar.

Zooming a Finder Window (Clicking Button)

I am trying to zoom a window in the Finder but I can't make this script work. Basically I have a folder that I open up and I want to resize the window to fit the contents (just like hitting the Green button on a window in the Finder).
I get an error saying: "System Events got an error: NSReceiverEvaluationScriptError: 4".
Here is my script so far:
+tell application "System Events"+
+tell process "Finder"+
+tell window 1+
+click button 2+
+end tell+
+end tell+
+end tell+
Can anyone see just what I am missing?
Am I going about this the wrong way? Been spending hours Googling for an answer to something that seems so simple.

Windows are numbered in the order that they are layered, with number 1 being the frontmost, 2 being the next one back, etc. When you click on an item in column view, you get a new column, not a new window. I am guessing that you have the Finder preference set to open folders in a new window, in which case double-clicking on a folder will open it in a new window. In that case the new (front) window will be number 1, and the previous front window will be number 2, although both will have the same name, which may be where the confusion is coming from. The name of a Finder window (whatever the number) is the currently selected folder, or in the case of files or multiple selections, the containing folder, so there can be several windows with the same name if they are targeted at the same folder.

Buttons in the Finder toolbar are there, but empty when window is active

When I am viewing a Finder window, and it is the foremost window, the buttons in the toolbar are empty:
When I click on another Finder window and the previously mentioned window goes into the background, I can see them:
Another interesting artifact of this issue is anywhere in menus there should be an arrow indicating a submenu, those arrows do not display. Also, in Preview, for example, the buttons are all empty.
An interesting correlation is that iPhoto also started giving me issues with thumbnails being black around this same time (2 days ago).
I believe the only thing that changed on my system was I installed drupal with homebrew.
Any help is appreciated, as the strangeness (and lack of usability) of these display issues concerns me.

The only way I found to fix this was to boot to the repair partition and reinstall OSX. All my settings and programs were retained.

Finder Window Buttons Missing

I seem to have a problem which I just can't figure out. I don't see any previous comments on this. I am using OS X .4.9. Not long after my update I noticed that the buttons at the top of every Finder window had disappeared. That includes the Next, Previous, and all the view buttons. I am also missing the eject buttons next to drives in the side bar. Sometimes the drives in the sidebar disappear.
I have trashed the preferences for the Finder. I have repaired permissions. I have rebuilt the directory with Disk Warrior. I reinstalled 10.4.9 with the combo installer. I replaced preferences with my backup. Every time I try one of these I get everything back but eventually they disappear again.
Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Thanks MJ,
I actually thought of that as well. I didn't do a safe boot but I did look in my login items and I removed one that I did not recognize. The others were ones I have had for a long time so I didn't think they would be causing any problems. No menubar hacks of any kind.
Thanks for the reply. I will try the safe boot just to see what happens. The biggest problem is that is keeps clearing up after I change something, then things start disappearing later.
I should also mention that it seems to only affect my regular work account which is not an administrative account. When I have logged into my administrative account I have not seen this happen but I may not have been in it long enough. It's hard to tell when it happens over time rather than a constant immediate problem. So I have only been working with the Library files in that one account.
MRM

Hide/Show Finder Window "Bars" Button?

Snow leopard had a really useful feature associated with Finder windows that allowed all of the various bars (Tool, Side, Path, Status) to be activated/deactivated at one time. Lion took this away (but allowed those features to be active/inactve independently, which while useful does require more work.
What I would like to be able to do is somehow add that brilliant one-click option back. I think I can do this with Applescript or Automator, but am not sure if it is possible to add the script to the Actions menu (or better yet a button on the title bar, wishfully thought).
Anybody have a solution?
Thanks.

Regards,
Colin R.

An applescript to change the background color for all finder windows

I'll start off by telling you what I am trying to achieve, then show you what I've tried.
I have a macbook with several HDD's attached. what I want is for each of those hdd to have a specific finder window background color. so no matter where I am in that hdd the background color will always be the same. so for instance if I set the background color of hdd 2 to blue then as long as I see a blue background I know that I'm within hdd 2.
I've tried setting up an applescript to do this but can only get it to change the open finder window, and none of the subfolders have their backgrounds changed.
here is what I have so far:
tell application "Finder"
tell the icon view options of the front Finder window
set the background color to {52942, 54484, 31097}
end tell
end tell
so how do I get this to apply to all subfolders without opening each one and running the script.
thanks in advance for any and all help with this

According to this article:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=AppleScript/2.1/en/as2039.html
it seems that the various options can only be set while the window is open and in icon view.
Rather than manually opening the window of every single folder on the hard drive, it should be possible to write a script to open every folder in sequence, make sure it is in icon view, change its background, then close its window. I have never been any good at the "actions within actions" procedure needed for folders within folders, so maybe someone else with the necessary knowledge and experience might be able to assist in this regard. Such a script would probably take a few minutes to complete while it ran through "every folder of every folder", but it sure would be quicker to have the process automated than to do it by hand - computers are really good at repetitive tasks (as long as the instructions are accurate, of course!).
On the other hand, you might like to try the following:
open a few windows in icon view, choose Show View Options in the View menu (I'm in System 10.4), click the radio button All Windows, click the Color radio button under Background, then choose your color. It might achieve what you are trying to do.

Set sidebar width of (Finder window 1) to 0 - (no longer working for me)

on script_title()
Filename : finderwindowprops.scpt (Script Debugger)
Author : Bill Hernandez
Version : 1.0.0
Updated : Thursday, December 14, 2006 ( 6:01 PM )
end script_title
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on script_notes( )
Setting the sidebar width for finder windows is not working consistently,
nor correctly for me. I had written several scripts to standardize the
display of windows on screen several months ago, and they have quit working
during the last couple of versions of the OS, not sure what has happened ?
end script_notes
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on run
tell me
set this_folder to (path to current user folder)
SetupWindow(this_folder)
if (ChooseTest() = 1) then
TestOne(this_folder)
else
TestTwo(this_folder)
end if
set str to ""
set str to str & "The Sidebar Width Should be Zero" & return & return
set str to str & "It had worked well several months ago when I was doing some "
set str to str & "window stacking, but it seems to be broken for me..." & return & return
set str to str & "iMacG5 running OSX 10.4.8" & return & return
ShowMsg(str, 10)
end tell
end run
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on SetupWindow(whichFolder)
tell application "Finder"
activate
set counter to 1
try
open whichFolder
select Finder window 1
on error
set win to make new Finder window
end try
set bounds of (Finder window counter) to {20, 60, 700, 700}
set current view of (Finder window counter) to icon view
set toolbar visible of (Finder window counter) to true
set sidebar width of (Finder window counter) to 300
set w_props to get properties of Finder window 1
set str to ""
set str to str & "The Sidebar Width Should be 300" & return & return
set str to str & "Sidebar Width : " & ((sidebar width) of w_props)
my ShowMsg(str, 0)
end tell
end SetupWindow
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on TestOne(whichFolder)
tell application "Finder"
activate
set counter to 1
try
open whichFolder
select Finder window 1
on error
set win to make new Finder window
end try
set bounds of (Finder window counter) to {20, 60, 600, 600}
set current view of (Finder window counter) to list view
set toolbar visible of (Finder window counter) to true
set sidebar width of (Finder window counter) to 0
set w_props to get properties of Finder window 1
set str to ""
set str to str & "The Sidebar Width Should be Zero" & return & return
set str to str & "Sidebar Width : " & ((sidebar width) of w_props)
my ShowMsg(str, 0)
end tell
end TestOne
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on TestTwo(whichFolder)
tell application "Finder"
activate
set w_props to {}
set w_props to w_props & {sidebar width:0}
set w_props to w_props & {current view:list view}
set w_props to w_props & {toolbar visible:true}
set w_props to w_props & {statusbar visible:true}
set w_props to w_props & {bounds:{20, 60, 400, 600}}
try
open whichFolder
select Finder window 1
on error
set win to make new Finder window
end try
set w_ref to Finder window 1
set properties of w_ref to w_props
set w_props to get properties of Finder window 1
set str to ""
set str to str & "The Sidebar Width Should be Zero" & return & return
set str to str & "Sidebar Width : " & ((sidebar width) of w_props)
my ShowMsg(str, 0)
end tell
end TestTwo
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on ChooseTest()
tell application "Finder"
activate
set s to ""
set s to s & "The sidebar width is inconsistent no matter which method I use." & return & return
set s to s & "Sometimes there is a sidebar, sometimes there is none, particularly "
set s to s & "with a window that already exists." & return & return
set s to s & "Method one seems to work better, but does not always hide the sidebar." & return & return
set s to s & "Please select a choice..."
set b1 to "TestOne"
set b2 to "TestTwo"
set aReturn to display dialog s buttons {b1, b2} default button {b2}
if (button returned of aReturn = b1) then
return 1
else
return 2
end if
end tell
end Choose
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on ShowMsg(s, howLong)
tell application "Finder"
activate
if (howLong = 0) then
set theTIme to 3
else
set theTIme to howLong
end if
set b1 to "OK"
display dialog s buttons {b1} default button {b1} giving up after theTIme
end tell
end ShowMsg
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------

This is a re-post since I learned how to format the output a little nicer...
on script_title()
   Filename : finderwindowprops.scpt (Script Debugger)
   Author : Bill Hernandez
   Version : 1.0.0
   Updated : Thursday, December 14, 2006 ( 6:01 PM )
end script_title
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on script_notes()
   Setting the sidebar width for finder windows is not working consistently,
   nor correctly for me. I had written several scripts to standardize the
   display of windows on screen several months ago, and they have quit working
   during the last couple of versions of the OS, not sure what has happened ?
end script_notes
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on run
   tell me
      set this_folder to (path to current user folder)
      SetupWindow(this_folder)
      if (ChooseTest() = 1) then
         TestOne(this_folder)
      else
         TestTwo(this_folder)
      end if
      set str to ""
      set str to str & "The Sidebar Width Should be Zero" & return & return
      set str to str & "It had worked well several months ago when I was doing some "
      set str to str & "window stacking, but it seems to be broken for me..." & return & return
      set str to str & "iMacG5 running OSX 10.4.8" & return & return
      ShowMsg(str, 10)
   end tell
end run
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on SetupWindow(whichFolder)
   tell application "Finder"
      activate
      set counter to 1
      try
         open whichFolder
         select Finder window 1
      on error
         set win to make new Finder window
      end try
      set bounds of (Finder window counter) to {20, 60, 700, 700}
      set current view of (Finder window counter) to icon view
      set toolbar visible of (Finder window counter) to true
      set sidebar width of (Finder window counter) to 300
      set w_props to get properties of Finder window 1
      set str to ""
      set str to str & "The Sidebar Width Should be 300" & return & return
      set str to str & "Sidebar Width : " & ((sidebar width) of w_props)
      my ShowMsg(str, 0)
   end tell
end SetupWindow
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on TestOne(whichFolder)
   tell application "Finder"
      activate
      set counter to 1
      try
         open whichFolder
         select Finder window 1
      on error
         set win to make new Finder window
      end try
      set bounds of (Finder window counter) to {20, 60, 600, 600}
      set current view of (Finder window counter) to list view
      set toolbar visible of (Finder window counter) to true
      set sidebar width of (Finder window counter) to 0
      set w_props to get properties of Finder window 1
      set str to ""
      set str to str & "The Sidebar Width Should be Zero" & return & return
      set str to str & "Sidebar Width : " & ((sidebar width) of w_props)
      my ShowMsg(str, 0)
   end tell
end TestOne
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on TestTwo(whichFolder)
   tell application "Finder"
      activate
      set w_props to {}
      set w_props to w_props & {sidebar width:0}
      set w_props to w_props & {current view:list view}
      set w_props to w_props & {toolbar visible:true}
      set w_props to w_props & {statusbar visible:true}
      set w_props to w_props & {bounds:{20, 60, 400, 600}}
      try
         open whichFolder
         select Finder window 1
      on error
         set win to make new Finder window
      end try
      set w_ref to Finder window 1
      set properties of w_ref to w_props
      set w_props to get properties of Finder window 1
      set str to ""
      set str to str & "The Sidebar Width Should be Zero" & return & return
      set str to str & "Sidebar Width : " & ((sidebar width) of w_props)
      my ShowMsg(str, 0)
   end tell
end TestTwo
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on ChooseTest()
   tell application "Finder"
      activate
      set s to ""
      set s to s & "The sidebar width is inconsistent no matter which method I use." & return & return
      set s to s & "Sometimes there is a sidebar, sometimes there is none, particularly "
      set s to s & "with a window that already exists." & return & return
      set s to s & "Method one seems to work better, but does not always hide the sidebar." & return & return
      set s to s & "Please select a choice..."
      set b1 to "TestOne"
      set b2 to "TestTwo"
      set aReturn to display dialog s buttons {b1, b2} default button {b2}
      if (button returned of aReturn = b1) then
         return 1
      else
         return 2
      end if
   end tell
end ChooseTest
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------
on ShowMsg(s, howLong)
   tell application "Finder"
      activate
      if (howLong = 0) then
         set theTIme to 3
      else
         set theTIme to howLong
      end if
      set b1 to "OK"
      display dialog s buttons {b1} default button {b1} giving up after theTIme
   end tell
end ShowMsg
-- ---------+---------+---------+---------+---------

Zoom level when opening a pdf in Preview from a Finder "find" window

I do a Finder search, and the search window shows a bunch of pdf files. If I double click on one, it opens in Preview with the Finder search term highlighted in the pdf text-very nice. But the zoom level of the pdf is very high, like 300%. So I always need to zoom back out to 100% to see the context of the found term. Is there a way to change this default behavior?
Another point is that once I open one of the pdf's, it vanishes from the Finder window. Although this might make sense in some ways, because, after all, I've already had a look at the file, it's often not the behavior I want. In particular, it's hard to know what the next pdf is that I was going to open, when the one I just looked at is no longer in the list. I should also point out that not all pdf's vanish in this way, but most do. I can't see any pattern.

Hi,
You mentioned that "JavaScript in the PDF can hide toolbar buttons."
According to the Javascript docs for Acrobat 7 the App.HideToolbarButton function only runs at AppInit. Which means that I would have to have the javascript in a file. How can I do that from within the document? Is there another way to to do set this from our web application?
Rob

Cover Flow doesn't alway work in finder windows...

Hi,
I have several folders full of photos, most of them are .jpegs. When I open a folder in a finder window I have my standard views displayed at the top:(Icons/List / In columns / Cover Flow). When I click the cover flow button sometimes it will show my photos properly and other times it just shows a blank sheet with .jpeg written on it.
Any ideas why sometimes it work correctly and other times it doesn't??
Thanks,
Gary

I've noticed this occasionally myself, and discovered that there are actually two different problems. One, which is fixable, is that occasionally I run into folders where I get generic jpeg icons in all views, and recently figured out there is something peculiar about those files. In this case all views, all the time, fail to show a thumbnail. The fix is to select all the errant files, and only the errant files, in the folder, bring up the inspector (Command-Option-i), select the wee little multiple files icon at the top, and press Delete. Presto changeo the Finder will now draw the thumbs in Icon and Coverflow views.
The second problem is more perplexing: it seems as if Finder has simply gotten tired of drawing icons. When this happens I've always simply relaunched Finder by holding the Option key, click and hold on the Finder icon in the Dock, and then select Relaunch from the fly-out window. All windows close, the Desktop "blinks" and when you renavigate to the folder Finder draws the icons. Reminds me of an old-time radio with a loose connection that can be brought back to functionality by a quick sharp blow to the chassis...
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

? button in my finder window

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for