Reset Finder

Hi,
I was just wondering if there was any way to reset Finder, so all previous preferences are removed, and it reverts to how it was when the system was first installed? I want to do this because quite a few strange this happen, such as when I copy a large amount of things to the clipboard, Finder no longer takes keyboard input, and the Applications folder always opens in List View.
Thank you very much,
Regards, George
Message was edited by: planemaniac

The Finder preferences are in ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist. You can also relaunch the FInder from the Force Quit item in the Apple menu.

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If you activated Find My Phone before it was lost or stolen, you can track it only if Wi-Fi is enabled on the device. What you cannot do is track your device using a serial number or other identifying number. You cannot expect Apple or anyone else to find your device for you. You cannot recover your loss unless you insure your device for such loss. It is not covered by your warranty.
If your iPhone, iPod, iPod Touch, or iPad is lost or stolen what do you do? There are things you should have done in advance - before you lost it or it was stolen - and some things to do after the fact. Here are some suggestions:
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Reset Finder show view options in Snow Leopard 10.6

Hello, I have been playing around Snow Leopard 10.6 and I am still unable to fully reset my finder view options to one style through all of my system, not just the top folders...
I have tried tricks that used to work with leopard like holding the option key to enable reset to defaults while in view options, but that trick doesn't seem to work anymore.
I have upgraded from 10.5 so maybe my upgrade is not ok...
Thanks for the help.

OS X saves appearance information in hidden .DS_Store files. Any folder with "personal preferences" set contains such a file. Deleting the file resets the folder to default view (...and deletes any file comment, by the way).
To show hidden files and delete .DS_Store files manually, paste the following in Terminal, hit Enter, and then restart Finder (alt+rightclick on Finder's Dock icon > "Relaunch"):
{quote}defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles ON{quote}
Undo (Restart Finder again):
{quote}defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles OFF{quote}
Another way would be this. Terminal, *Use at your own risk*:
{quote}sudo find /path/to/folder -name ".DS_Store" -depth -exec rm {} \;{quote}
This command will ask for your password, and then find and delete (and not "move to trash") any file named ".DS_Store" in the given directory (path and subfolders). It will ask only once, and it will delete immediately whatever (filename) you type after -name. For your user folder the command would be:
{quote}sudo find /Users/yourusername -name ".DS_Store" -depth -exec rm {} \;{quote}

Reseting Finder Preferences?

Hi Mac Community! =D
I have the problem that I want to reset the finder preferences and I used to do it by deleting the finder.plist file because that way I kill the annoying SBBOD as well, but this time, each time I delete the finder.plist the finder preferences remain the same (and also the annoying SBBOD).
Any help?
Thanks!
Mart


baltwo wrote:
Thanks for the feedback. Good computing.
Hey mate, I've deleted all the com.apple.[something].plist files and it seems that solved the SBBOD problem and the finder preferences now seems to get restored each time I delete the finder.plist file. Also, running these commands:
mkdir ~/.Trash
If you get a message stating that the folder exists, run the following:
sudo chown $UID ~/.Trash
chmod u+rwx ~/.Trash
seems to fixed the SBBOD and the finder preferences thing as well. I was having problems with trashing files and that command solved the problem and somehow, the system is now more stable. I'm not getting the SBBOD, indeed.
Well, just that update
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When I try to empty trash, progress bar stops, and I have to reset finder

This has been happening for about a week or so. Regardless of what the files are, I am unable to delete them. Whether I do a standard empty trash, or a secure empty trash, I end up with the same progress bar that stops during the process. I've let it sit for several minutes and over an hour, leaving me the only option of doing a force restart of finder.
Currently I am unable to delete anything, putting a serious hold on my workflow.
It appears that many people are having all kinds of trash issues with Snow Leopard. I'm assuming Apple is working on a fix, but I'm not sure when that's coming out. Until then, if there is some kind of work-around, I'd love to know about it.
Any guesstimates on when Apple will release the next OS update?
Cheers.
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Start with http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html Do note that AFAIK, there aren't any trash issues with Snow Leopard, just the normal handful of common issues, usually fixed by the steps in the linked article.

Automator - how reset Finder Items?

I want to to defrag a big file, so I have thought to copy the file in an external disk, than rename the file in external disk and copy to directory in which there is the file to defrag.
Than revert to the original name the file in the external disk.
In this way I have a copy of the file in external disk and the original file and the file copied in HD.
I do that to avoid failure of external Hard Disk that could have the result to destroy the original file if this happen during the copy from external to internal HD.
I have made a workflow that do this:
1) Get Specified Finder Items (pictures/file)
2) Copy Finder Items (to DK1)
3) Rename Finder Items (DK1/file to DK1/filecopy)
4) Copy Finder Items (to pictures)
5) Get Specified Finder Item (DK1/filecopy)
6) Rename Finder Items (DK1/filecopy to DK1/file)
The problem is that in the 5 step the item passed to the 6 step are two (pictures/filecopy and DK1/filecopy).
I want only DK1/filecopy.
I have seen that Item passed to various step are:
1) Get Specified Finder Items (pictures/file) >>passed picture/file
2) Copy Finder Items (to DK1) >>passed DK1/file
3) Rename Finder Items (DK1/file to DK1/filecopy) >>passed DK1/filecopied
4) Copy Finder Items (to pictures) >>passed pictures/filecopied
5) Get Specified Finder Item (DK1/filecopy) >>passed two pictures/filecopied and DK1/filecopied
6) Rename Finder Items (DK1/filecopy to DK1/file) >> in error
I have have tried to make two workflow one with the step from 1 to 4 and another with the step 5 and 6.
If they run separately all is ok, but if they run in a single workflow (that is made with the step from 1 to 4 and the 5 step that recall the second workflow) happen the same thing that I have described before.

Stanley Horwitz wrote:
I have been working with Macs since 1986 and in the IT industry full time since about the same time and I honestly have no clue what you are attempting to do. What does "defrag a file" mean and why do you want to do that?
I want to copy a file to an external device, so system, copying file, write this without fragmentation, and then copy to original location.
In this way the result is to have the file unfragmented.
If you want to defrag your disk, by far the easiest and quickest way to do that is to take another disk drive that's as big or bigger in capacity as the disk you want to defrag, then format that disk, then simply use your favorite disk cloning tool to copy the contents of the disk you want to defrag to the other disk. The copying process to a newly formatted disk will write the data in an optimum manner onto the disk without any fragmentation on the destination disk. You can then, if you so desire, reverse the process and clone the cloned drive back to the original drive and you will end up with two defragmented disks with the same data on them. The biggest benefit to this strategy is that you get a complete backup of the contents of the disk.
OK, but I only want defrag 1 file, not all the disk.
If You see, I want the same manner that You suggest for the entire disk, applied only to 1 file.
There are also several utilities that will do disk defragmentation such as TechTool Pro and Disk Warrior. I think though that in all but the most extreme cases, it is a wast of time to use those utilities to defragment a disk. In fact, in most cases that I have seen on home Macs, the benefits of defragmentation are minimal at best, which is why I suggest simply doing a backup of the disk to another disk, because the big benefit there is that you have a fresh backup which is far more important in most cases than defragmenting a disk.
OK, I don't want defrag utilities, because I am not confident in the process.
For backup I use regularly Time Machine on two external disks.
All the matter is only to know if there is a manner to tell Automator wich is the file to use during the workflow.
Thanks.

Who do I reset finder preferences?

My 5 yo has done something to my mac such that he appearance of icons, dock, etc is all screwed up. The only thing that I can liken it to is a bizarre setting in photobooth, which is now applied to the desktop. (A picture is worth a thousand words).
I have tried checking finder prefs, appearance, screensaver, displays. All to no avail. Is there a finder preference file that I can delete?
Other accounts are not affected. I know the ultimate solution would be to delete the account and start over, but I would rather not.
thanks

There is a Finder preference file in Users/~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist.

Resetting finder to rename files

I share a network with 4 other designers. Sometimes we cannot rename folders or move folders others have opened unless all of us relaunch our finders. It seems unnecessary. Is there something else in the preferences that would take care of this issue?

No, you need to find a system where you would know if another user is working on a file. You should not be working on the same file at the same time.
Even something as simple as leaving a file in a folder saying xx is checked out by yy.

Finder doesn't like showing one of my external hard disks

I have seen a few threads about on the internet relating to this but no permanent solution.
I recently bought an iomega 500gb MiniMax drive for use with my MacBook, it was working fine and showing in finder for a day or so and then stopped automatically showing up in finder unless I tweak about with it through the following method (HD is called FatBoy):
sudo chflags nohidden /Volumes/FatBoy/
then I have to reset finder using an apple script:
tell application "Finder" to quit
delay 1
tell application "Finder" to launch
Even then it won't stay there permanently... I am also wondering if the @ symbol below is important as it doesn't show up for other correctly behaving external hard disks...?
ls -l /Volumes/
total 12
drwxr-xr-x@ 13 ndrew staff 510 3 Jan 15:46 FatBoy
Also if this doesn't work I have to remount the disk inside Disk Utility - but this only works after the above steps.
Thanks in advance

Apple has had bug reports on the invisiblity plague for at least two years now. However, since it has actually gotten worse in Leopard than it was in Tiger I rather doubt they have a solution. Obviously, given the bug reports, they are working on it.
The "@" just means the item in question has extended attributes. In my case ALL the volumes have an @, perhaps because they all have custom icons.
Francine
Francine
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Finder issues and Get Info refusing to show the number of files on items on the main hard drive.

I am having finder issues. Mostly on the main hard drive. It takes ages to find things and I get the spinning wheel every time I open a folder.
So I moved all of my files to a external drive. When I had finished transfering I hit get info on the files on the external drive and on the same folder on the main drive. To ensure that it has copied over all the files. Because it was acting up and not copying all the files.
Get Info refuses to show the number of files within the folders on the main hard drive. It hasppily tells me everything on any of the external drives.
I have reset, the imac. I have re indexed 3 times. I have deleted the finder plist files. I have reset finder using terminal commands. I have moved nearly everything off the main hard drive. But nothing is working.
Can anyone offer any suggestions as to what could be causing my finder and get info issues.
Any help wpuld be appreciated.
Running Mountain Lion on a late 2009 Imac

Some of your user files (not system files) have incorrect permissions or are locked. This procedure will unlock those files and reset their ownership, permissions, and access controls to the default. If you've intentionally set special values for those attributes, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it, but you do need to follow the instructions below.
Back up all data.
Step 1
If you have more than one user, and the one in question is not an administrator, then go to Step 2.
Enter the following command in the Terminal window in the same way as before (triple-click, copy, and paste):
sudo find ~ $TMPDIR.. -exec chflags nouchg,nouappnd,noschg,nosappnd {} + -exec chown $UID {} + -exec chmod +rw {} + -exec chmod -N {} + -type d -exec chmod +x {} + 2>&-
This time you'll be prompted for your login password, which won't be displayed when you type it. Type carefully and then press return. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The command may take several minutes to run, depending on how many files you have. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign ($) to appear, then quit Terminal.
Step 2 (optional)
Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1, if you prefer not to take it, or if it doesn't solve the problem.
Start up in Recovery mode. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open. In that window, type this:
res
Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
resetpassword
Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.
Select your startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if not already selected.
Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button
Select
 ▹ Restart
from the menu bar.

Unable to change any file or document name in Finder

Can someone help me with following problem.
Using Finder I am not able to change any folder or document name.
Thus creating a "new folder" I even can not change that name!
Thank you,
Dorothee

Move com.apple.finder.plist file from /Users/username/Library/Preferences/ to the Desktop, OPTION-click and hold the Finder's Dock icon, and select Relaunch. Note that this requires resetting Finder preferences. See if this fixes the issue.

Search not working in Finder

When using Finder search, Spotlight just sits and returns no results. However, if I use Spotlight directly, i.e. from the blue icon in the upper right corner, then Spotlight does return results -- has anyone else run into this problem? I'm somewhat dependent on using Spotlight through Finder. Thanks!

Not sure if re-indexing Spotlight could help fix that issue; but if you
do attempt doing so, repair disk permissions first. I'd suggest to go
and start in SafeBoot to see if that could check and repair some of
the system, then use disk utility's 'repair disk permissions' first; &
quit Disk Utility. And then restarting normally before proceeding.
Re-Indexing Spotlight - MacWorld - Mac 911:
http://www.macworld.com/article/44599/2005/05/reindexspot.html
There may be a way using some of the optional tools in OnyX to
reset things such as Help and other system items; so if you have
OnyX already, it may be worth a look to see what options exist.
I don't recall if the Tiger version of OnyX has a way to reset Find.
But you can make Spotlight re-index or something, from within OnyX.
Sometimes I just use Find from beneath the File menu in Finder,
and miss some of the way it used to work in older OS X versions.
Spotlight and indexing the drive's files reminds me of OS 8 or 9.
Good luck & happy computing!

ACC slows down Mac OS X Finder (10.8.4)

I'm an iOS programmer. Knows Mac OS SDK well.
I downloaded and subscribed Adobe Creative Cloud.
From then, curious problem appeared on my Finder of Mac OS X.
If ACC is running background (when ACC is on my menu bar), my Finder slows down or Even cannot access to ANY or some directories.
At first, it has been observed only in accessing Library folder, but today my Desktop folder was not accessed. Continuous spinning waiting sign....!
So I quit ACC and reset Finder, then Everything restores.
IF I don't quit ACC and reset Finder, then Nothing restores.
Do you understand this? If not, I will show screen capture video.
I hoped your new update caught this problem, but it seems not included.
Be alert to Mac OS X user's voice... I have Windows laptop but it doesn't slow down File Explorer.
Thank you.

version of ACC is 1.1.0.213
Today I executed ACC agent again, and the Finder failed to reach Library folder.
But after quitting and relaunching of ACC agent, Finder didn't fail to reach to any folder.
I wil turn it on and will see if those error occurs again.
Sincerely,
Hison Kahng
2013. 8. 14., 오전 10:52, David__B <[email protected]> 작성:
Re: ACC slows down Mac OS X Finder (10.8.4)
created by David__B in Adobe Creative Cloud - View the full discussion
Hi YerimENTClinic,
Are you still seeing the behavior?
What version of Creative Cloud app are you using? (From the Preferences > Account tab)
Does signing out of Creative Cloud, closing it, relaunching and signing in make any difference?
Thanks,
-Dave
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Lost "Shared" in Finder after upgrade of 10.5.2

I have 2 Window computers that are networked as well as my MacBook Pro.
Prior to my 10.5.2 upgrade I could see and access those other machines and their files.
Since the upgrade the "shared" folder does not display in the Finder sidebar.
I have checked Finder preferences and all the appropriate boxes are checked.
Any suggestions out there?
Also, after doing a Archive and Install, is it OK to delete the "Previous System" folders that are created?
Thanks in Advance

Hi, I found Terminal commands within this section of the forum, on page 3 or 4. I don't give them out because I am not familiar, nor comfortable working this deep in the system. You can reset Finder, New Finder window, and try commands.
Ray

Finder Window Sizes and View Options

In an earlier message under Mac OS X Panther it was recommended that I post a new message in the AppleScript forum.
I'm looking for a way to automate the repetitive task of resizing Finder windows and resetting view options. For example resetting a hundred folders to the same window size and screen position with the same view options. This requires manually adjusting each window one by one.
A solution could be an AppleScript that would automate this task.
The following is the earlier message:
http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=1283081#1283081
I mistakenly deleted all the preference files for the Finder window options on my 17 inch PowerBook (.DS_Store Files).
This has returned all Finder windows to default settings for window sizes and view options.
I use custom widow sizes for all my folders that nicely fit the 17 inch screen on my PowerBook, leaving enough desktop space on the right for the hard drive icons and the Dock that I always keep vertical on the right.
I have a 12 inch PowerBook as well. And it has it's own custom window size that fits it's much smaller screen. It has always been a complaint of mine to have to manually reset windows whenever I needed to transfer folders with Bluetooth file exchange.
Resetting Finder window sizes and view option has always been a time consuming problem. Now to have to do it over again for hundreds of windows is a huge task that is way to manual.
The Finder is customizable. There must be a way to set the options for one window and be able to use those adjustments for other windows without having to re adjust each setting manually.
There was an application called Finder Window Manager. Maybe someone knows of another application that can do this of task or another way around this issue.
Photoscene
Powerbook G4 17 inch Mac OS X (10.4.3) Tiger/Panther

Photoscene,
I think if you repost this to the AppleScript link, someone there will have a solution for you (in the form of an applescript that you can run)...
http://discussions.apple.com/forum.jspa?forumID=724
Give it a shot (I'm not clever enough to give you a good script yet, but someone there will be!)
Bob

Reset Finder

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