Finder opens with no sidebar sometimes

i am finding that sometimes i get a Finder Pane with a sidebar (and all the icons i added there to make my life easy) and /sometimes/ i don't get a sidebar. i would like to always get a sidebar but i can't figure out why it sometimes opens without one.
this is really inconvenient since i do 90% of my accessing of files from a sidebar in Finder or from the desktop and if i open a finder window with no sidebar i have to go back to the desktop to get where i am going.
is this due to it being the first instance of a Finder window and all other instances open with a sidebar? is this due to my going to a pulldown menu item for File > Go To Folder? is there some setting here that i am missing?
TIA

Show sidebar is a "global" Finder preference in that f you have it set, all windows should open with a sidebar. Now, you can open a disk image and the mounted disk may not have a sidebar, so there is somehow a way to set it such that the sidebar doesn't show.
I'm not at my Mac, so I can't really play around.
You mentioned having to g back to the Desktop, but you should just be able to use the Show Sidebar command in the View menu.
If it happened all the time, I would suggest deleting the com.apple.finder.plist file from your user/Library/Preferences folder. I don't think that will do any good, but it won hurt besides having to reset all your Finder prefs.

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Cannot create new folders on desktop. Cannot drag new items onto desktop. Desktop in Finder opens with Terminal. Not sure if this has anything to do with upgrading to Mavericks but I need help if anyone has ideas. Thank you.

I can no longer create new folders on my desktop. The option to do that is now light gray on the drop down menu and can't be selected.
I cannot drag new items onto desktop any longer either.
The Desktop in Finder opens with Terminal.
Folders and items on Desktop open and work normally.
Not sure if this has anything to do with upgrading to Mavericks but I need help if anyone has ideas.
Thank you.

Take these steps if the cursor changes from an arrow to a white "prohibited" symbol when you try to move an icon on the Desktop.
Sometimes the problem may be solved just by logging out or rebooting. Try that first, if you haven't already done it. Otherwise, continue.
Select the icon of your home folder (a house) in the sidebar of a Finder window and open it. The Desktop folder is one of the subfolders. Select it and open the Info window. In the General section of the window, the Kind will be either Folder or something else, such as Anything.
If the Kind is Folder, uncheck the box marked Locked. Close the Info window and test.
If the Kind is not Folder, make sure the Locked box is not checked and that you have Read & Write privileges in the Sharing & Permissions section. Then close the Info window and do as follows.
Back up all data.
Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:
xattr -d com.apple.FinderInfo Desktop
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). You should get a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”). Quit Terminal.
Relaunch the Finder.
If the problem is now resolved, and if you use iPhoto, continue.
Quit iPhoto if it's running. Launch it while holding down the option key. It will prompt you to select a library. Choose the one you want to use (not the Desktop folder.)

Clearing the Finder "Open With" contextual menu ?

After the install I now have duplicates of all the stuff I used to have in the open with menu.
Like VLC and then under it VLC (version number).
How do I clear it?

As seen here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305627
*Mac OS X: Clearing the Finder "Open With" contextual menu*
Ever wondered how to "clear" the Finder's Open With... contextual menu choices of any extraneous or older applications? (This is the menu that appears when you control-click or "right-click" a document icon.)
If your Open With... menu is filled with too many choices to easily scroll through, you can remove the less-commonly used choices. These steps will clear the list except for the most current applications that can open your document.
From the Finder Go menu, choose Home.
Open the Library folder in the Home window.
Open the Preferences folder.
Find com.apple.LaunchServices.plist.
Rename "com.apple.LaunchServices", such as to "com.apple.LaunchServices.old", or move it to the Trash.
The next time you use the Open With.... contextual menu in the Finder, only current applications will be listed. Some items may return if the application that controls them adds itself back to the list.

Clean up Finder "Open With" contextual menu in Yosemite

How do I clean up the Finder "Open With" contextual menu in Yosemite? I have several duplicate and obsolete entries in mine. There are several articles out there that show how to do this for previous versions of Mac OS X, but the instructions don't line up with what I see in Yosemite.
Also, the entries I have in the menu are from a version of Windows through a version of VMware Fusion, both of which versions I haven't used in a long while. I did a clean install of Yosemite this morning (on an erased disk) so I'm curious how the menu was populated. Did it somehow get inherited through the iCloud Keychain?
Thanks for any help!

As seen here: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=305627
*Mac OS X: Clearing the Finder "Open With" contextual menu*
Ever wondered how to "clear" the Finder's Open With... contextual menu choices of any extraneous or older applications? (This is the menu that appears when you control-click or "right-click" a document icon.)
If your Open With... menu is filled with too many choices to easily scroll through, you can remove the less-commonly used choices. These steps will clear the list except for the most current applications that can open your document.
From the Finder Go menu, choose Home.
Open the Library folder in the Home window.
Open the Preferences folder.
Find com.apple.LaunchServices.plist.
Rename "com.apple.LaunchServices", such as to "com.apple.LaunchServices.old", or move it to the Trash.
The next time you use the Open With.... contextual menu in the Finder, only current applications will be listed. Some items may return if the application that controls them adds itself back to the list.

Finder Open With Lists Some Applications Twice

My finder>open with menu lists some applications twice.
A minor annoyance I'd like to fix.
Example: If I choose a JPG file and go to "open with" the following programs are listed twice: Firefox, QuickTime, RealPlayer & Safari. Some other programs are listed once.
There are NOT two versions of these programs on my computer, but there is the System folder from my old Mac.
Is there a way to fix this little problem?
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The mac finder will pick up applications anywhere on your hard drive when you do the "open with".
If you aren't using your old System Folder you could create a .zip archive of it and remove the original Folder.
I'd be open to hearing other approaches, but this will work.

TA24770 Clear Finder "Open With" menu with VMware Fusion 5

Hi.
I had same problem of duplicate Apps showing on Finder "Open With" contextual menu.
After following instructions on this link http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24770?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US all Mac applications where OK, but could not see VMware Fusion Virtual Machine applications in Finder contextual menu.
So follow these steps:
Shut down virtual machine.
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Go to Default Applications.
Click "Restore Applications".
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Mac OS X 10.8.3
VMware Fusion 5.0.3

Great, post tip, thanks!

Weird Finder 'Open With' menu problem

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Simon,
Resetting Launch Services, by Dr. Smoke should be helpful.
;~)

How to edit a Finder "Open With" entry

How do I edit an "Open With" entry on the context menu in Finder? I have an application which updated recently and has added a rather long version number to the application name in the "Open With" entry for the app. I have run a command line which was given to me in these forums to update file-type associations and remove old apps from the list but the version number on this app seems to be resisting efforts to be cleaned up. I am guessing there is something in a PList somewhere but I don't know where.
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Use an encrypted disk image or a third-party method. Placing the password in the keychain will automatically unlock the image when your Mac OS X account is active.
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Edit Finder Open With Menu

I just went to open an image from the Finder and noticed the Open With Context Menu was loaded with duplicate entries of the various applications that can open an image. Is there a way to edit this so only the current version of each application shows instead of every version installed via updates?
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rebuild your launch services database.
run the following terminal command
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Versions/A/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Versions/A/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

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Photoscene

Photoscene-
I'm not sure this addresses your exact situation or not, but the following link:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20031215144430486#comments
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Alan
cube Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Contextual menu in finder "open with" has multiple entries of same apps

When I use the contextual menu (right click) on documents, the menu point "open with..." shows multiple entries of the same programs. For example when right clicking a PDF, there appears 5 times neoOffice, 2 times Preview, 6 times ... any other application that you could use to open the document. This occurs on all user accounts, only that the multiplicity of listings of the apps is different. So it can't be a preferences problem on my account. What else could be the cause?
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Thanks.

if I quit all running applications, it will be pretty hard to put anything in the Trash!
Are you being literal? Like quitting the Finder too? Or what bespeaks you?
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Finder Open With Menu

I'm trying to clean up a Parallels installation, I got tired of it locking up my system when shutting down the VM, any way it added a host of Windows Applications to the Open With Menu in Finder.
I've tried following a few older suggestions such as deleteing the com.apple.LaunchServices.plist from ~/LIbrary/Preferences folder, however this trick doesn't appear to have any affect on finder 10.5
So Im at a loss on how to clean this up...
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Thank yoiu

rebuild your launch services database.
run the following terminal command
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Finder "Open With" question & help

I should probably know this by now but recently I've noticed that when I use Finder to select a file and right click (ctrl click) on this file I have like 2 and 3 entries for every applcation that is available to open that file.
What is the proper proceedure for "rebuilding" whatever database ot table controls what apps are available? Will tools like Xupport & Yasu clean this out and rebuild it? What is it that I want to rebuild?
TIA,
Peter

You relly don't have to "rebuild" anything. The "Open With" menu will show you a list of all the applications on your system that can open the file. What you want to do (I think) is set the default application for that particular file type. To do this select "Get Info" instead of "Open with". The click the "flippy triangle" next to "Open With" in the "Get Info" window and choose the application you want to use as the default. Then click on the "Change All" button.

Finder Open With ...

I have Parallels installed and an XP VM. Parallels has decided that all .sql files should be opened with an MS application and starts the XP VM. If I explicitly change the Open With app in the More Info window it sticks but if I select the Change All option the default reverts back to the Parallels Open With. I have Default Apps in System Preferences and it indicates that my selection should be the default app for .sql files but when I create a new .sql file the Parallels default app is assigned. Is there and exit that Parallels might be using to override the Finder/Open default? Where would such an exit be identified to the system?

Right click one of these files and select Get Info.
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Finder opens with no sidebar sometimes

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