Question mark in all folders

I have a grey question mark in the toolbar of all my folders, even the empty ones, since recently?
At least never noticed it before.
Clicking on it results in the message "The item can't be found" or something similar in dutch.
What item can't be found? (in an empty folder)
I do have a problem with a file created by FileMaker Pro which in an AppleScript can't be found, although the file is there and the file path is correct.
A similar question was posted here recently, but the answer was not very satisfactory.
Anyone with an explanation?

CT wrote:
This article is old but still valid, I believe.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA20551
Ancient, actually but still valid if the OP was talking about the Dock...
*in the toolbar of all my folders, even the empty ones.*
-mj

Similar Messages

My MacBook has question marks on all folders and won't run ANY program. Help!

A week ago I was editing some photographs in Photoshop CS 5 extended. My computer has been running slow for a while so I thought that I would finish these files and then clear it of some photos since I know I've recently uploaded several gbs onto it.
The next day it was frozen. I had to shut it down and restart. It came on and now every folder has a question mark on it and none of the programs will open. They just bounce up and down and then the menu bar says Application not responding.
I have no idea what I need to do. I was going to update to Lion but I'm unsure if that's what I should do or if it needs some TLC from the apple store.
Help?

A professional will image your drive and attempt a bit by bit file recovery method directly from the drive itself.
You see when you delete something, it's not quite erased yet, but the space the file took is available to be overwritten, so it's only a matter of time before that occurs and the file is really gone.
So they will recover what they can, and then restore your machine and it's software and return the recovered files.
The TimeMachine is certainly going to assist, good thing you got it.
The trick is to hire someone and quit using the computer until they rescue you, show you in person how to rescue yourself .
Good Luck

TS3423 17" macbook pro won't start blue file with question mark is all that appears on the screen

My old macbook pro will not start up. Worked fine yesterday, today all I gat is the startup sound and a blank blue screen. After a while the screen shows a file folder icon with a question mark in it. Any ideas

Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by:
Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. 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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD:
Boot From 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.
Reinstall Snow Leopard Without Erasing The drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. 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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing The 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 the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

Help! Has anyone ever seen a strange question mark in their folders?

please help, for some reason there is a strange question mark on the top bar of every folder that i open, to the left of the search box. It's quite large and slightly darker than the folder window color around the edge, and when I click it it pops up a new window that says item cannot be found. It has never been there before, what is it and where did it come from, is this a virus? S.O.S.
powerbook G4 17" Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Control-click on it and choose Remove Item from the menu which appears. The Finder toolbar allows files and folders to be dropped into it; when the Finder can't find one of these, it displays the question mark icon. It is not a virus.
(12205)

TS1440 Air won't boot (flashing folder question mark); tried all the steps

I've read and tried all of the fixes in ts1440 and ts2570 and hit blocks in all cases. Anybody got any more ideas before I schlep my Air to an Apple store?
MacBook Air, 10 months old, running Mountain Lion
It restarts to a flashing folder with question mark.
If I hold down the <option> key, it gives me the option of booting off the internet (takes forever) and then I can use the Disk Utility, etc. The DU Verify Disk says there is no problem with my drive. However, the Startup Disk tool doesn't list the computer hardrive (or anything else) to boot off of.
In the utility I tried the option to reinstall Mountain Lion but it gives me an error message, saying I should call Applecare.
I plug in my Time Machine backup USB disk drive but the utility has the Continue button grayed out for the option Restore from TM.
I've tried rebooting with option-command-P-R to reset the PVRAM, and rebooting holding down the shift key (safe mode).
I don't have physical copies of the OS, I think its all from the cloud/AppStore. I've got a couple other Macs around (mini, macbook) but I don't think I have a compatible cable (without buying a doggle). I always use wifi with the Air.
Thanks for any suggestions.

It restarts to a flashing folder with question mark.
If I hold
down the <option> key, it gives me the option of booting off the
internet (takes forever) and then I can use the Disk Utility, etc.
The
DU Verify Disk says there is no problem with my drive.
However, the
Startup Disk tool doesn't list the computer hard drive (or anything else)
to boot off of.
Since you have TimeMachine you can opt to use Internet Recovery to erase/format the entire drive and restore from that.
1 partition, option: GUID, format: OS X extended journaled in Disk Utility.
If it doesn't work to restore, then take it into Apple as you have a one year warranty, Buy AppleCare.
Also a solo TimeMachine drive isn't the best,
Most commonly used backup methods

Oh S_it, my intel iMac 2008 wont boot, flashing question mark is all I get.

Bought a friends' intel duo iMac 2008 which was working just find until a couple of day's ago and now when I try to boot it up all I get is a flashing question mark. I unplugged all components, including the electric cord and that worked the first time but now nothing. I don't have the startup or recovery disks. Must I have these...what's a girl to do? HELP!!!
Imac 2008 Mac OS X (10.5.4) previously owned, 2G

You don't need those discs, unless you need to test for Hardware, or reinstall the original operating system.
But you should get them anyway. Any software they installed on your machine, you should have the discs for as they are not their's to give away copies because of licensing restrictions.
The first step to try is zapping the PRAM:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
Then attempting a data recovery if there is no backup*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html#RECOVER
If there is a backup, initially try to repair the directory*:
http://www.macmaps.com/directoryfaq.html
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

Why the question mark on all open windows while in the Finder?

I am running OS X version 10.10 on an iMac and a MBP with Retina display. While in the finder every open window has a large question mark displayed. Why is this? What might be the he problem? What can be done to correct the issue?
Thanks in advance!

Where is it displayed? Post an image here:
To post screen shot do this:
Press COMMAND-SHIFT-4 which will change the cursor to crosshairs.
Hold down the mouse button and use the crosshairs to select the part of the screen you wish to capture.
Release the button and the image will be saved to your Desktop.
Click on the Camera icon in the toolbar of the forum message editor.
Drag the image onto the Choose File button and click on the Insert button.
No guarantee anyone will see it given how the forum has been, but if it is then a picture is worth a thousand words.

Flashing folder with question mark - tried all options on website

My mom has a brand new MacbookAir which came installed with the OS Lion. This folder suddenly started apperaring. I did an internet reboot. When I look at the Disk Utility, all I can find is the OS Base Recovery System. I don't know how I can refix the problem, so my mom doesn't lose any data, and it works like how it used to. Thanks!

Try booting while holding down the Option key. That should prompt the Startup Manager window where you can select the startup disk.
We have no way of knowing exactly what options you are referring to unless you tell us.
If using the Option key doesn't work, try reinstalling OS X using Lion Recovery
No need to erase the disk, just reinstall OS X.

Ouicktime Q has question mark on all web pages, I uae Firefox as a brouser

I have purchased and installef QT key, restarted computer several times since purchasing key, when I open Quicktime I can see the registration code.
Nevertheless any pages I go to that apparently has some quicktime running, there is just this giant Q with a ? in the middle. So, now what do I do?

Quicktime with a ? refers to Flash video, which Quicktime does not play.
These are the downloads and the settings you need in order to view/hear pretty much everything that the net can throw at you: The setup described below has proved repeatedly successful on both PPC and Intel macs, but nothing in life carries a guarantee!
Assuming you already run OS 10.4.9 or above and have Quicktime 7.2, and are using Safari 2 or 3, download and install (or re-install even if you already had them) the latest versions, suitable for your flavor of Mac, of:
RealPlayer 10 for Mac from http://forms.real.com/real/player/blackjack.html?platform2=Mac%20OS%20X&product= RealPlayer%2010&proc=g3&lang=&show_list=0&src=macjack
Flip4Mac WMV Player from http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/wmcomponents.mspx (Windows Media Player for the Mac is no longer supported, even by Microsoft)
Perian from http://perian.org/
Adobe FlashPlayer from http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1ProdVersion=ShockwaveFlash
In Quicktime Preferences, under advanced, UNcheck Enable Flash, and under Mime settings/Miscellananeous only check Quicktime HTML (QHTM).
In Macintosh HD/Library/Quicktime/ delete any files relating to DivX (Perian already has them).
Important: Now repair permissions and restart.
The world should now be your oyster!
You should also have the free VLC Player from http://www.videolan.org/ in your armory, as this plays almost anything that DVD Player might not.

Problem importing and including the subfolders without getting question marks

i am trying to import a folder of vacation pictures. it has 5000 pictures and there are many subfolders. It imports them where i want but it gives me question marks on all the subfolders. And the subfolders are empty even though it tells me how many pictures are in the folder. I right clicked the question marked folders and point to where they are and it just says they are already there and do i want to merge the folders. In importing i told it to include the subfolders. I have tried this twice and each time the same results. Very frustrating to have to scroll through thousands of pictures. what am i doing wrong.

try sync your folders and make sure you are not moving anything externally:
Synchronize folders
When you synchronize folders, you have the option of adding files that have been added to the folder but not imported into the catalog, removing files that have been deleted, and scanning for metadata updates. The photo files in the folder and all subfolders can be synchronized. You can determine which folders, subfolders, and files are imported.
In the Folders panel, select the folder you want to synchronize.
Choose Library > Synchronize Folder.
In the Synchronize Folder dialog box, do any of the following:
To import photos that appear in the folders but have not been imported in the catalog, select Import New Photos. If you select Show Import Dialog Before Importing, you can specify which folders and photos are imported.
To remove photos that have been deleted from the folder but not from the catalog, select Remove Missing Photos From Catalog. If this option is dimmed, no files are missing. (You can choose Show Missing Photos to display the photos in Grid view.)
To scan for any metadata changes made to the files in another application, choose Scan For Metadata Updates.
Click Synchronize.
If the Import Photos dialog box opens, specify the folders and files you want to import, and then click Import.
also:
Make sure that the option "Library" -> "Show Photos in Subfolders" is enabled. If it is not enabled, an activated folder will only show the photos that are directly in that folder.
-janelle

Question Marks

In case it helps anyone, I had question marks on all of the applications everywhere! Lauchpad and in the dock. This was only on one login, mine was fine but this was on my partners login.
In Finder (as the only thing I had was finder) it said I didn't have permission to see the APPs so I airdropped Settings and changed the permission in Settings to Admin on this 'bad' side and rebooted. I had done this on my 'good' side but it hadn't worked.
Still question marks so I went into airdrop the Disk Utilities and first verified and repaired the Mac HD. Anything I could repair or verify i did.
Once I had done this I airdropped all the applications and so far, touch wood it has worked.
Hope it helped as I didn't find any solutions on the web at all, not that had everything as a question mark.
Yes I am very pleased that I worked this out..... hope it was the right thing to do.

Hi Mike
The trouble is that the icons disappeared to ? only and when you went into applications the had a 'no entry' symbol so I couldn't drag them from applications as it kept saying I didn't have permission and even when I gave that user Admin rights I still couldn;t see them hence airdropping from another computer.
J

Blue Question mark where pics are suppose to be

Why do I get a blue question mark where all the pictures are suppose to be? I want to look at the different apps in the app store but I can't see them...

Was this always that way. And is this on 10.7.5 or other?

Folder with Question Mark, to Apple Icon, to Kernel Screen at Startup.

At startup Folder with Question Mark, Followed all steps to resolve it to no avail, I try to re-install Snow Leopard and Apple Icon with Grey screen appears, then Kernel screen.
I cannot get past the Kernel screen. No options to click anything, like system preferences or anything. I have a Macbook, with Snow Leopard. Any help would be much appreciated.
I tried Pram Reset and everything.

Hey, thanks for the quick reply Mende.
I tried that, it goes to the apple icon, however after about 10 seconds of the apple it goes straight to the Kernel screen. It doesn't give me the options of opening anything. Infact it doesn't even have a mouse curser.
If I hold "option" it gives me the option of choosing only the "Leopard DVD" but that's it and then it goes to the Kernel Screen
Again, thanks for the taking the time to help me out.

QT logo with Question Mark and Blank screen sound ok on training videos

I suddenly had all sort of problems (before 10.4.9) with QT logo and Question Marks throughout all browsers and also suddenly unable to continue training programs using files such as "avibasicmono.htm" and "introbasicmono.htm" .
finally think I have solved the QT logo by replacing Flash 9.0 with the old 8.022.
I could now also see current issues of magazines again on a site www.picturebusiness.uk.com (weird naming).
however I am not able to see the training videos at all but I hear the AVI files
Macosx 10.4.9 Quicktime 7.1.3 (removed 7.1.5 to try that option did not work)
will stay with what works until I hear more...

www.picturebusiness.uk.com uses Flash Media.
Tell us more info about the AVI's. Are they found at that Site?
Give us a link.

Help with FLASHING QUESTION mark when starting the mac

Hi All,
My mac just froze,i had to do force shut down,when i restarted it i had the flashing question mark.Did all the instruction that are given in the site:restarting with the installation CD and then using the *disc utility*-BUT i could not find the hard drive that i need to do the "repair disc " on.So i did what the document said and i reset the PRAM-still my hard drive does not show up in the disc utility.I also tried to reset the SMC but again -same result.
please please try and help me,is my HD doomed? is there anything else i should try?

I have the exact same problem.
Today, when I turned my macbook on, it was so slow, that I decided to restart it. When I turned it on again, I got the folder with a questionmark in it on the display. Tried to put the installer CD in, but it couldn't find the HDD. Ran the Disk Utility, which said: "Invalid node structure" and "Invalid record count".
I think the HDD is "destroyed", because it makes strange sounds. But how? And why?
The Macbook isn't even a year old.
Any help?

Question mark in all folders

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