How do I manage Finder windows in Lion?

Finder windows are disappearing. How do I control them ?

There seems to be some quirks with finder when assigned to all desktops. Right click the finder icon on the dock and select options > assign to none. If this option isn't present, add a second desktop in mission control and it will appear.
Regards,
Captfred

Similar Messages

How can I set a default view option for all finder windows in Lion?

I am talking about the icon size and grid spacing.

Open up a Finder window, CMD+J, set it up as desired, and click on Use as Defaults. Do note that will only apply to windows that you've not opened before. If you want to apply that to all previously opened windows, you need to remove all the .DS_Store files which store that data for each previously opened folder. To do that, launch the Terminal app (in /Applications/Utilities/), copy & paste this command into the window that pops up, and hit the return key:
sudo find / -name ".DS_Store" -exec rm {} \;
At the Password: prompt, carefully enter your admin password, since nothing shows up on the screen, and hit the return key. When the default prompt, usually the $ sign, pops up, quit the Terminal app, restart, and open a Finder window, set it up the way you want, and click on Use as Defaults. All subsequently opened or created folders should retain that view.

How do I get Finder windows to display free space on hard drive?

In Snow Leopard if you opened a Finder window, at the bottom it would show how much free space your hard drive had left. Lion by default does not do this. Is there a way where I can turn that option on so i can view space availible when opening Finder windows?

Stop blaming yourself. You're not an idiot and it's never the user's fault. It's always the designer's fault. Read "The Design of Everyday Things' by Donald Norman. It's a gerat book about how everyday things can be just difficult to use. He's been also a former Apple employee. Great reading!

How to change Default Finder Windows Size?

Hi all:
New Finder windows show Macintosh HD and there is no problem in keeping the size or view options every time I open a new window (command + N).
I can change "New Finder windows show" to another folder and works just as well.
But when I open a folder in a new window (double click on an icon folder) the size of the window is very small and different from the window displayed by using command + N.
Finder saves and applies default view options to all windows without a problem, but not the default size or in other words:
default windows size is different from new finder windows size.
In Snow Leopard I could change default size of all windows holding down the Shift key while dragging and changing the size but in Mountain Lion it does not work.
I have also deleted all files .DS_Store but neither works.
I searched a lot but can not find a solution to this problem.
Thanks.

As far as New Finder Windows (command+N) are concerned, there's no problem.
All other folder's Finder Windows I have not modified manually are displayed with the default size shown in the attached image. That is the window size that I want to modify.
Thanks.

How do I get Finder windows to hold their settings?

Reading in other discussions, I see some folks are having problems with desktop icons moving around. My desktop icons are fine and stay put, but my Finder windows continually rearrange themselves to whatever random design Lion wants to give them.
They will not retain size, toolbar on / off, arrange by / sort by, icon size or grid spacing etc. For a while I thought I had the problem sorted by leaving the main User window open when I shut down at night, but this 'solution' didn't hold either.
I have worked my way through the View options, tried resetting defaults etc etc, but either there's nothing I can do about it (bug?) or I am missing something simple.
Any thoughts would be appreciated. TIA

I have this problem too, and it's maddening. My latest effort fo fix it has been to make .DS_Store read only using the Terminal. This will work for directories that you never alter; I did it to my home directory. If you do it to directories that change, the results will be undefined, because the Finder will be unable to write changes to the .DS_Store file reflecting the position of the new files.
To do this, open Terminal in /Applications/Utilities, and then type:
cd "/Path/to/directory/to/fix"
Replace the path with the folder you need to fix. If you're not sure what it is, you can just type "cd " (without the quotes, but note the space after the letters 'cd') and then drag the folder you want to fix onto the Terminal window. Then press return.
Now, type:
chmod 444 .DS_Store
Make sure you include the period at the beginning of the .DS_Store name. Press return. This will effectively lock the .DS_Store file and prevent the Finder from screwing it up. Your icon positions and window settings will be fixed in place until you make the .DS_Store file writable again. To do that, repeat Step 1 above, and change Step 2 as follows:
chmod 644 .DS_Store
That will return the .DS_Store file to its original state and undo the changes you made.
I have tested this only on my home directory, which never changes. Doing this to directories to which files are added and removed will result in undefined behavior. It will not damage your computer or your files, but Finder windows for that directory will not behave in a predictable fashion.

How do I hide Finder windows of Network Shares at login?

I am using an Intel Mac mini CD to connect to Samba sharepoints on a PowerMac 2x2 that runs OS X Server Tiger. I have added the sharepoints to the login items so that at login my user is automatically connected to the sharepoints and has access to those sharepoints relevant to his needs.
My problem is, every login results in 5 separate Finder windows opening, one for each sharepoint. These then have to be manually closed, which defeats my argument to users that Macs give higher productivity than Windows.
I have tried ticking "hide" in the prefs, but this has absolutely no effect whatsoever, probably because I would have to hide Finder at login and that seems not to be possible (I doubt if it would work anyway since I can't get "Hide" to work for any app, but that's not this issue).
How do I have the sharepoints connect without opening any Finder windows? They need to be visible in a Finder sidebar when manually opened, and on the desktop, but they must not open automatically.
TIA

That was very helpful, thanks. In actual fact I could remove the delay line completely because the Apple Script did not run until after all the sharepoints had loaded.
This was probably because the sharepoints were entered into the login items first and appear above the Apple Script which is the last entry in the login list. I expect the login items are being treated by OS X as a sequential list - Job 1 is started and completed, then Job 2 is started and completed and so on until Job 'n' has finished, then the list stops.
For me, this means Jobs 1 - 5 are "Mount Sharepoint" jobs, with Job 6 being "Run the Apple Script". Since the Finder windows have already finished opening, I do not need a delay to close them.
Many thanks for showing me Apple Script isn't so difficult to use! I really appreciate that. I really must read that book I bought on it a year ago!
It would be nice to know how not to have Finder open the windows in the first place though.
Thanks again.

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?

How to keep default Finder window size and location from Mac server

Working in an office of three people. Mac mini server (not sure of the OS; I think it's Snow Leopard). We each use iMacs with Mavericks. I have my default new Finder window set to open "customers" folder, which resides on the server, in a specific orientation. If either of my co-workers opens "customers" and resizes that window on their machines, it retains that size & location when I open it again on my machine (as I'm sure it does to them after I "fix" my own window).
Is there any way to change this so that one's own machine will remember the window prefs? I mean, we're not opening on the server itself, so in my mind it should not retain the last open position, right?
I know I could set my default folder to Home, then go to customers from the sidebar, but that almost defeats the purpose of the default folder.
thanks in advance!!

Hey Macdaddy,
This happens all the time with our server at work. The server window never opens in the same place twice, and it can be annoying.
There are third-party window management tools out there, but what I did was use a macro program called Keyboard Maestro (since I already owned it).
Among the many things Keyboard Maestro can do is manipulate a window. I created a macro that moves it to a specific point (in my case, the upper left corner of the screen) and then resizes it to a specific width and height in pixels. I then assigned the macro a keyboard shortcut.
Now, when I mount the server, I can use the keyboard shortcut and the window is right where I want it.
There are other programs that just move windows, and I tried a couple. But Keyboard Maestro is more elegant in my opinion, and it does a whole lot more if you choose to go that route.
Hope this helps.
Andy

How to auto close finder window after drag and drop?

In Tiger, I would file away items on my desktop my dragging them to the hard drive and then digging down to the appropriate folder. The finder window would then close automatically after dropping the file. Is there a setting in Snow Leopard that will enable similar functionality? Whenever I complete a drag and drop now the finder window just stays open, which isn't a huge issue, but I'd still like to change it. Thanks!

Here is the test code:
     lo_nd_table_data_source = wd_context->get_child_node( name = wd_this->wdctx_table_data_source ).
      lo_nd_table_data_source->get_static_attributes_table( IMPORTING table = lt_table_data_source ).
      "Read Dummy Table
      lo_nd_table_data_source->get_static_attributes_table( IMPORTING table = it_table_data_source ).
    CONCATENATE ls_airline_info-carrid ls_airline_info-connid ls_airline_info-fldate INTO ls_table_data_source-row_key.
      ls_table_data_source-parent_row_key = ls_airline_info-carrid.
      ls_table_data_source-is_leaf   = abap_false.
      ls_table_data_source-expanded = abap_true.
        SELECT * FROM sflight INTO CORRESPONDING FIELDS OF TABLE it_table_data_source.
     LOOP AT it_table_data_source INTO wa_table_data_source WHERE carrid = ls_airline_info-carrid
                                                            and   connid = ls_airline_info-connid
                                                            and   fldate = ls_airline_info-fldate.
      ls_table_data_source-connid    = ls_airline_info-connid.
      ls_table_data_source-fldate    = ls_airline_info-fldate.
      ls_table_data_source-PRICE     = wa_table_data_source-PRICE.
      ls_table_data_source-CURRENCY = wa_table_data_source-CURRENCY.
      "Select all data to the new dummy table structure.
      "Move one row of the table to ls_table_data_cource correspondingle.
      APPEND ls_table_data_source TO lt_table_data_source.
      DELETE ADJACENT DUPLICATES FROM lt_table_data_source.
   ENDLOOP.
      lo_nd_table_data_source->invalidate( ). "Clear the table data
      lo_nd_table_data_source->bind_table( lt_table_data_source ). "Refresh new data
Thanks,
Kiran

How do I make Finder windows always open in new windows?

Subject says it all - there used to be a preference for this in Finder's preferences, but it was apparently removed from Mavericks. I'm getting tired of having to right-click to open each new folder, and I adamantly refuse to allow a Finder window to represent anything more than one folder.

The default behaviour in Mavericks is to open folders in a new tab in an existing window, however this can be changed.
Unfortunately, it's not that simple. There's a very long topic on this change in Mavericks. Currently, there are only two ways to get Mavericks to do what the OP is looking for. That is, to have nested folders open in their own folder window instead of taking over the same open window when you double click it.
1) Hold down the option key while double clicking the folder.
2). If you hide all of the extraneous stuff (top and side bars) by pressing Command+Option+T, then nested folders will automatically open in their own folder window without having to hold any modifier key down. But the bars must be hidden on every subfolder in order for that work. Any folder with either the top bar, side bar or both showing will always open the nested folder in the same folder window instead of spawning its own.

How do I make Finder windows narrower (in Lion)?

One new feature of 10.7 Lion is that the minimum possible Findow window width seems to have increased (to around 300 pixels it seems, from about 150 in 10.6). Does anyone know how to decrease the window width? 300 pixels is too wide for the 13 inch MacBook.
I phoned Apple and they said "it can't be done" ..... I just do not believe that, there has to be a way. (I am not a Terminal guru, so I need walking through this if a route via the Terminal -- inevitable -- is required.)

Is anyone from Apple listening?
This is a user-to-user forum. The people you wish to address are most likely not reading this forum.
I would encourage you to file a bug or feature enhancement with Apple at either:
BugReporter
<http://bugreporter.apple.com>
Free ADC (Apple Developer Connection) account needed for BugReporter.
Anyone can get a free account at:
<http://developer.apple.com/programs/register/>
And/Or
Mac OS X Feedback
<http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html>

How do you manage Pages templates in Lion?

Apple have removed access to the User/Library folder under Lion. How can Pages templates be managed, deleted, renamed etc? Apple should either bring back access to the library folder or update Page, so that a user can manage templates within the Pages Application.

Finder>Go hold the option key >>Library
make the change in Terminal:
chflags nohidden ~/Library

Two Hard Drives on my computer - one totally full the other totally empty - how do I manage this - windows 8

Hi I have two hard drives on my computer running Windows 8. One is called OS (C:) and has 10.2GB free of 186GB, the other is Data (D:) and has 258GB of 258GB free.
I have just tried to update to Windows 8.1 and have had an error message saying there is not enough space on the OS drive to update as it needs 20GB.
What do I do about this? how do I get to use the 258GB of free space on the Data drive?
I'd be grateful for an answer!

Hi,
In addition to the above information,
If your operating system is Windows 2008 and higher(Server) or Windows Vista and higher(Client).
Then you can use the native tool Disk Management to solve your requirement.
For opening Disk Management, Right click -> Computer -> Select Manage -> As result Computer Management console opens -> In the left pane under storage select Disk Management.
In the Disk Management, for extending your C: drive,
- Since your partition layout as, C: drive | D: drive.
- After shrinking D: drive, the layout will be C: drive | D: drive | Unallocated space.
- Since the unallocated space is not contiguous, when you right-click C: drive the "Extend Volume" option will be greyed out.
- So to solve your requirement, you have to backup the data on D: drive -> Delete D: drive -> right-click on the c drive and select "Extend Volume" -> enter the size you want to add
- Finally you can create a new D: drive from the remaining unallocated space and restore the backup data.
Checkout the below thread on similar discussion,
how
to increase space in c drive
Regards,
Gopi
JiJi Technologies

How do I set Finder windows to fit

in Finder I prefer to use Column view. Previously I could auto-size the columns by double-clicking the two small verticle lines at the bottom of the column separators. Now in v10.7.3, this action only reduces the column width to a predetermined size that shows only portions of file names. I've also tried using control-Click on the same place and this does open a box with 3 options:
          Right size this column
          Right size all columns individually
          Right size all columns equally
My choice is the 2nd, to right size all columns individually, and it seems to work. So the rub? As you move focus to a different folder, all settings are forgotten. Worse, sometimes repeating the command doesn't appear to do anything.
Any way to set up Finder to automatically "Right Size" a column width by default?

Interesting. I did not know you could do that. I had to try it, of course. I found that the double-click method correctly sizes the columns. I am using 10.7.3. So, presumably, there is a way to reset things so that it works properly on your computer as well.
Standard things to try to narrow things down: See if the unwanted behavior persists...
in a different account, e.g., Guest
after starting in Safe Mode.
charlie

How can I stop Finder windows from moving when I drag files into them?

I have searched but can't seem to find an answer.
Thank you.

HI Dave,
Go to ~/Library/Preferences and move the com.apple.finder.plist file to the Trash.
~ (Tilde) character represents your Home Folder.
Restart your Mac.
Hopefully that will help.
Carolyn

How do I manage Finder windows in Lion?

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