Finder always opens in icon view...

...despite my having set column view in preferences. Can this be fixed?

Cheapster - this sounds very similar, if not identical, to the problem I was having until recently. Having got loads of advice (none of which worked) I gave up. Then one day I was doing some routine maintenance using Onynx and ever since then it's opened up in list view like I'd been trying to get it to do. Not sure what exactly fixed it but I suggest you run all of the cleaning scripts (except for cookies unless you want to lose these as well.
You can find Onynx here: www.titanium.free.fr
Then set the Finder view to the way you want it and see if it now stays that way.
Hope this helps

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"always open in icon view" is ALWAYS on.I've

I've just reinstalled leopard on my imac as i felt it had built up with rubbish and was slowing things down, anyway.....
When i now open my Macintosh HD, it always appears in icon view. I click show view options, deselect "always open in icon view" which then changes to "always open in column view"(which is what i want) and close the view options. Then once i restart my mac, its changed back to open in icon view.
Now, i've researched the fact and i see that people have had the same trouble but all the things they suggest don't work for me.
I've trashed DS_Store files, finder preferences, and its still not working for me.
its just annoying to have to keep changing the view i want ALL the time. Its not exactly asking for the world, and it does as it should on my macbook, so i know its possible, i just want it to work on my imac!
Does anyone have any ideas of what to try?

Welcome to the Most...Annoying...Finder...Bug...Ever. Trashing .DS_Store files doesn't fix this because the Leopard Finder doesn't rely on these files any more for the view style. For the technically-minded, here is a breakdown of the binary format of the .DS_Store file.
Where this bug gets really annoying is if you have multiple folders inside a higher level folder and you open the top-most folder in a certain view style, every folder below that one that you open will open in the same view as the top-most folder AND if you then close that folder and open...say the Macintosh HD icon, it switches that to the view of the folder that you just closed -seemingly at random!
Then there's this little gem -see if you have this one. Create a folder on your desktop. Create some folders inside the one you just created -they can be empty for this excercise. Now open one of them and leave it open. Now, go back the top level folder and delete, 'Opt-Delete', the folder that you just opened. The folder will be moved to the Trash and...wait for it...the window of the folder that you just moved to the Trash now displays the contents of the window that it was deleted from! That's right. Two folders open at the same time displaying the same contents. That's not supposed to happen.
Then there's the bit where the files on the desktop refuse to be placed in a different location from the one where they were originally created or they arrange themselves on the right hand side of the Desktop in name order. If you move them and reboot or logout and login again, the files are right back where the were first created. It is even stranger in that if you delete a file or folder from the Desktop then reboot or logout and login again, then recreate the file in a different location on the Desktop, but with the exact same name, on the next reboot or logout and login, the file is right back where the original one was deleted from. Very strange.
Somewhere I read a post that said if you turned on the invisible files setting for the Finder and then turned it off again that the problem disappeared. I tried that with no positive results. So the mystery continues.

View always opens in Icon view, not Column view

Hello,
I open Finder and it always opens in Icon view. I set it to open to Column and close Finder. When I reopen Finder, it opens in Icon again. I've tried trashing the Finder plist, repaired permissions, but nothing. Is there anything I can do to keep it opening the same way? It's pretty frustrating.
Thanks.

Hi Danielmak,
This Terminal command is not specifically related to Column View I'm afraid...
I don't fully understand what it does, but what I can tell you is that the script - for me & a few others - got rid of the common problem where the Finder-window only for the Macintosh HD (i.e. double-clicking on the Mac HD icon) always re-set back to Icon-View after a re-start, despite changing the window to List View and un-checking 'Always Open in Icon View' in View Options (Cmd+J).
I'm not sure I fully understand your problem, but..... You can have separate Finder-windows in different view-types (icon/list/column etc), BUT, the view-type does not automatically change between different types as you drill down into the folders in that particular window.
If you want a particular view-type & window-size to stick for each drive or folder on the desktop, you have to make your changes at the first level, then close the window... When you double-click again on that same drive, the view-type (don't forget to un-check the 'Always open in icon view' in View Options) & window position should be the same. If you drill down into the folders in that hard drive, & THEN make changes to view-type & window size, they will not stick (i.e. the next time you double-click on the HD icon, it will re-open in the originally-set position & view-type.)
Hope that helps. Apologies if I've misunderstood the question.
All the best,
Jason

Finder: "Always open in column view"

Hi all, please, what is purpose of the check box "Always open in ... view" in Finder's folder view settings? When I uncheck it, to avoid the item in the Favorites list to open with the last used type of view, it always gets checked back. Is that expected or is that a bug?

I believe column view is not an available feature in Search function; possibly because it already shows you the individual files (rather than folders with their contents opening in another column). I prefer column view myself, but have never been able to set it in the search function.

Homefolder always opens in List-view

In Finder I had selected: Open a new window should open the Homefolder.
Configured the Homefolder (with cmd + J) to Symbol-view with big Icons and other Details.
But ever I open it new with command + N it is in List view…
If I open it from Mc HD / User / Homefolder the view is correct.
Could it be, that this happens, because I selected in the Settings you can reach with cmd + J the List-view as default?
If so, how to cancel this default?

Hi Danielmak,
This Terminal command is not specifically related to Column View I'm afraid...
I don't fully understand what it does, but what I can tell you is that the script - for me & a few others - got rid of the common problem where the Finder-window only for the Macintosh HD (i.e. double-clicking on the Mac HD icon) always re-set back to Icon-View after a re-start, despite changing the window to List View and un-checking 'Always Open in Icon View' in View Options (Cmd+J).
I'm not sure I fully understand your problem, but..... You can have separate Finder-windows in different view-types (icon/list/column etc), BUT, the view-type does not automatically change between different types as you drill down into the folders in that particular window.
If you want a particular view-type & window-size to stick for each drive or folder on the desktop, you have to make your changes at the first level, then close the window... When you double-click again on that same drive, the view-type (don't forget to un-check the 'Always open in icon view' in View Options) & window position should be the same. If you drill down into the folders in that hard drive, & THEN make changes to view-type & window size, they will not stick (i.e. the next time you double-click on the HD icon, it will re-open in the originally-set position & view-type.)
Hope that helps. Apologies if I've misunderstood the question.
All the best,
Jason

"Always open in column view" does not hold

"Always open in column view" does not hold the preference when applied to my hard drive.
I select Macintosh HD and choose the column view. I go to View > Open View Options and check "Always open in column view". Then if I click on a different folder and go back to Macintosh HD, column view is retained... that is until I restart the computer.
After a restart, when I click on Macintosh HD I am back to icon view. Again I go to View > Open View Options, and somehow the preference has changed to "Always open in icon view". If I switch back to column view, the preference is retained again until I restart, then it's back to icon view.
Other folder and external drives open in column view after a restart, it is just Macintosh HD that always reverts to icon view.
Sent a bug report to Apple, but any ideas how to fix this?
Message was edited by: Bazzography

V.K. wrote:
install ONYX and use it to delete all .DS_Store files on your drive. every folder has one and they store the folder view settings. you seem to have some corrupt ones. also reset your finder preferences. delete the file homedirectory/library/preferences/com.apple.finder.plist. then control-option-click on finder in the dock and choose "relaunch".
try setting default views after that.
Did both suggestions and it appears to be working as expected now. Many thanks for the quick (and very useful) reply VK!

IDisk - how to always open in LIST VIEW?

I can't seem to find a way to always open in list view for my iDisk folder, the only option is to always open in icon view. Should I be looking somewhere other than view options?

Hi Meherally. Thanks for the tip, but my problem isn't related to the process for setting default viewing options. Perhaps some clarification will help.
"Next, select 'view options' from 'view' menu. As you say, the window will have "always show in icon view" but note if the box next to is checked or unchecked. If checked, uncheck it."
This box is always unchecked. The problem is that when I change views in the finder window (from icon, to list or coverflow, or whatever, the "view options"menu always says "always open in icon view". It does not change according to whatever view I am using. this only happens in iDisk. All other folders and disks open just the way I have set them.
In my office I have an iMac G5 running Leopard that works perfectly (in other words, I can set my iDisk view default to always open in whatever view I please), but my new MacBook Pro running Snow Leopard appears to have a bug that prevents this option with iDisk only. The checkbox always says "Always open in icon view" no matter what view I switch to in the finder window. As mentioned above, the iDisk is the only problem. It always opens in icon view and the checkbox does not change with the current window view. All other folders and disks on the MacBook open jsut the way I want. But I'm getting irritated with iDiks always opening in icon view.
Thanks!
I've not come across anyone else reporting this problem on any other forum.

Why do the folders on my external sparse drive only open in icon view?

Even though I select list view, the next time I open a folder it is always in icon view. The "view option" in the View pulldown menu only shows a box for Always open in icon view and the "Use as Defaults" box is greyed out. This problem does not exist on my iMac internal drive, only on the external drive on which I have created a sparse image for security purposes.

I followed exactly what you advised, and it all worked. I did convert the files first that were .AVI ---> .MP4 (the audio and video came out beautifully when viewed). I organized my files around a bit, and then I went into Itunes---> Preferences---> Advanced---> Changed where I want to grab my movies from. It keep all my previous music, tv, movies, podcasts files that I had in ITunes, and just "added" the new content without disrupting anything in my Itunes at all. I LOVED IT...so simple in the end.
The files did take a while to convert, but I only had to do the ones that I had that were labeled ".AVI". The program, HAND BRAKE, allowed me to set up a "batch" and I had them converting during the afternoon and into the evening.
All in all....THANK YOU/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstatic__ _/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/ migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-a vail.png/___sbsstatic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstat ic___/migration-images/migration-img-not-avail.png/___sbsstatic___/migration-ima ges/migration-img-not-avail.png
Since whenever I open my Itunes, all the movies display well, and so my APPLE TV can now view all my "content" in Itunes. I thought I was going to have to return that APPLE TV since I couldn't figure a way around it, and all in all, it wasn't all that bad of a process to convert and then change file location in preferences.
MANY THANKS and HAVE A GREAT WEEK

Always open in "column view"

I would like the finder to always open in column view, but whenever I make a search using spotlight, it opens in icon view and column view is greyed out in the
finder>view menu

I believe column view is not an available feature in Search function; possibly because it already shows you the individual files (rather than folders with their contents opening in another column). I prefer column view myself, but have never been able to set it in the search function.

Finder window opens with inconsistent view

Since I upgraded to Yosemite, Finder windows open with inconsistent size, position and view. After a power on a Finder window generally opens as a small, centrally-located window in Icon view even though preferences is set to always open in column view; sometimes the small window is in column view. Rarely, the first new window opens in the same size, position and view as the last one was before power off then the next one - opened using Command-N - opens as a small, central window in Icon view. In all previous versions of Mac OS, new Finder windows opened in the same size, position and view as the window I closed last on screen, even after a power off/on. Once I reset the window size, position and view to my preference, new windows generally open correctly.
Is there some setting I can change so new windows always retain the size, position and view as the last one closed?

Do a backup.
Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J. When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder. Select Library. Then go to Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist. Move the .plist to your desktop.
Re-launch Finder by restarting the computer and test. If it works okay, delete the plist from the desktop.
If the same, return the .plist to where you got it from, overwriting the newer one.
Thanks to leonie for some information contained in this.

Finder always opens new windows

Finder always opens new windows for me. It didn't used to do this (its been doing it at least since I was using 10.5.6), and "Preferences > Always open folders in a new window" is not checked. Any ideas?

JRokeach,
Sorry if this sounds to simple, I'm hoping that it is, but in a finder window do you have the toolbar showing? Because if you don't it will open all the folders in there own windows. To fix there is a little button in the top right that hides the toolbar, also if you goto view hide toolbar it will do the same.
If that isn't the case try removing the com.apple.finder.plist found in Macintosh HD -> Users -> YOUR USER -> Library -> Preferences, and trashing it.
Hope that helps,
Weston

I can't get "Always open in list view" to stick.

No matter how many times I click "Always open in list view" for the folder, it continues to open up in icon view. Help please.
I used to think that I had this problem because I was working mainly off an external drive. But, this folder is on my internal drive. Only thing that I think might affect it is that I am using Dropbox and this is one of the folders that is synced using that service.

Is there a Dock Icon that was created for your Printer? If so, open it and look at the list to be printed and delete the extras.
If not, you did not get that far, so no 15 copies for you!

Always open in column view doesn't work

Hello,
Every time I click on my hard disk, the window opens in icon view. So I open the view options, and I click on "Always open in column view".
But every time I reboot, it comes right back to icon view!
What a pain!
Thanks,
Chris.

The information about how a window displays is stored in the invisible .DS_Store file. You can use the Terminal to remove it and hope the new one works correctly when you set the window to way you like. Also, when you set it as you want, have you gone to the View menu, selected "Show View Options" and checked the Always Open box at the top? If you haven't done that, it is likely reverting to some other state (the necessity for doing this is new in Leopard--and I for one don't like it). Or just hit Command-3 to quickly flip into Column view.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

Finder does not show icons view (it only shows list, column

Since I updated my macbook pro retina late 2013 to yosemite, I cannot see any finder folder window in icon view. It only shows list, column and cover flow view. Not something important, but if there is something wrong, I want to know!
+also since i bought it last December, there is this download bar (which shows the download procedure) on the downloads folder at the dock, stuck there forever. It looks like I am still downloading something, but opening the folder everything is done. It goes away after 2-3 restarts.
can anyone answer if this is a software issue or a hardware?
thank you in advance

These files are EPS files not image files. They have a TIF or PICT preview inside the file, I believe in the resource or data fork of the file. The file extension is EPS, and I cannot change that, just type the letters. The actual extension, the 4 digit one, that is invisible is the one that is important. In the case of EPS the actual extension is EPSF or EPSI.
Just to try the fix I changed the name and it did try to make a preview, but it came up with nothing. It was blank in column view. The OS still reads it as an EPS regardless of the change in file extension.
Anyone have some answer that involves a command line, I think that is really going to be the only thing that solves this one.
Power Mac G5 1.6GHz Single Mac OS X (10.4.2)
Power Mac G5 1.6GHz Single Mac OS X (10.4.2)
Power Mac G5 1.6GHz Single Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Finder always opens new window

Hello everybody,
maybe this is just a simple one but since the last Update to 10.5.5 I have the problem that my finder aways opens a new window when I hit a folder. I have already checked the preferences and the option "always open folders in new window" is definetly turned off.
Same happens if I use the key kombination APPLE+DOWN ARROW. Since now this has opened the folder in the same window but this has changed, too.
Can somebody help me?
Thanks and bye.

This works fine for me on 10.5.5.
To narrow things down, create a new user and log in as that user. See if the problem happens for that user too. If it doesn't then it is something specific to your account, not the OS. If it doesn't happen for the other user, log in as the user that is misbehaving and navigate to ~/Library/Preferences/ and drag com.apple.finder.plist to the trash. Then Control-Option-Click on the Finder icon in the Dock and select Relaunch. When the Finder comes back up, does the problem still occur?

Finder always opens in icon view...

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