Finder in OS X is the default application for browsing your Mac’s files, but it can sometimes be difficult to keep track of the directories through which you navigate, particularly when dealing with complicated nests of folders and files. Longtime Mac users know that there’s one way to see a persistent map of your current location in Finder—that is, by enabling the Path Bar—but there’s also another, hidden method that some users may prefer.
Jul 24, 2019 Enable the Finder Path Bar. First, for those unfamiliar with Finder, the easiest way to see your current location in your Mac’s file structure is to enable the Path Bar in Finder’s view options. To do so, simply open a Finder window and go to View Show Path Bar in the OS X menu bar. To manual mount to your Drobo device using your Mac or Windows computer, please use the below steps to perform the desired action. Mac Users: When connecting to a share on a Drobo device with Mac you can either connect to the share via AFP or SMB. In Finder click the Go option. Click the Connect to Server option. Jun 28, 2009 Mac OS X Tip – Type Or Edit Path In Finder. Sometimes I just want to type a path in Finder, or maybe paste it from somewhere. It can be painful slow to track the right folders 1 by 1. At any Finder window (or a Open/Save File dialog) you can simply use CMD + SHIFT + G and it will show a pop-up where you can type the address you desire.
Enable the Finder Path Bar
First, for those unfamiliar with Finder, the easiest way to see your current location in your Mac’s file structure is to enable the Path Bar in Finder’s view options. To do so, simply open a Finder window and go to View > Show Path Bar in the OS X menu bar. Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Option-Command-P to quickly enable or disable the Finder Path Bar. Old mac mini manual.
Once it’s enabled, you’ll see a new bar appear at the bottom of your Finder window, showing you the path of the currently active folder or directory. As you navigate through different folders, this path bar will update accordingly. For example, in our screenshot below, we’re currently looking at the “Articles” folder, which is inside the “TekRevue” folder, which is inside our general Dropbox folder on our external Thunderbolt drive called “Data.”
By becoming familiar with the path bar, you can quickly understand the relative locations of your various files and folders, as well as easily move files to a location higher up in the path chain. Again, for example, the Finder window in our screenshot has a text document called “Article Ideas” in the Articles subfolder. If we wanted to quickly move that file to the main Dropbox folder, we could simply drag and drop it on “Dropbox” in the path bar.
Although it’s disabled by default, we personally find great use in Finder’s path bar, and it’s one of the first things we enable when setting up a new Mac. But there’s another option for showing your current location in Finder that may be even better depending on your experience and needs.
Show the Path in the Finder Title Bar
By default, the “title” of any given Finder window is the name of the actively selected directory. In our example above, since we had navigated to Data > Dropbox > TekRevue > Articles, the title of our Finder window was “Articles.”
But there’s a hidden Terminal command that lets you display the full path in that title bar instead of simply the active folder (very similar to how Apple now treats website addresses in Safari). To enable it, launch Terminal and enter the following command (note: this command involves relaunching Finder, so while you won’t lose any data, all of your open Finder windows will be closed, so make sure you take note of your current Finder locations if you’re actively working on a file-focused project):
As mentioned in the note above, all of your current Finder windows will close and the app will relaunch. This time, however, you’ll see the full path of your current folder in the title bar of each Finder window.
While this is very similar to the path bar method above, it does have some advantages. First, some users may simply prefer having their Finder path at the top of the window, especially cross-platform users, as Windows File Explorer also displays the current path at the top of the window (when it’s configured to do so). This method also displays the path using an existing area in the Finder title bar, whereas the Path Bar method will consume a row of visible data at the bottom of the window when enabled, which might be a bigger deal if you’re stuck with a lower resolution display and need to fit as much Finder info on the screen as possible.
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More importantly, however, this method displays the full Unix path, including root directories like Volumes that are not displayed in the standard Finder path bar. This can come in handy when navigating unfamiliar directories or systems, or if you’re new to Unix-based operating systems. For example, if you wanted to build or modify a Terminal command based on the path in our first example above, you might logically enter /Data/Dropbox/TekRevue/Articles, because that’s what is shown in the Finder path bar. It’s only when you see the full path in the Finder title bar that you realize that you’ll need to specify the “Volumes” directory first.
Despite its usefulness, having the full path displayed in the Finder title bar can be a bit cluttered, especially for longer and more complicated paths. If you want to turn it off and revert to showing just the active directory in the Finder title bar, head back to Terminal and use this command instead:
Just as when you enabled the first Terminal command, all of your Finder windows will briefly quit and then Finder will relaunch, this time displaying only the active directory in the title bar.
Oh, the Finder. It’s been Apple’s default file browser on the Mac since it was called Macintosh, and users have been complaining about it ever since. We can’t fix the Finder for you: no one can but Apple. We’re betting that doesn’t happen any time soon.
Look it up with EveryMac.com's. Manual for pages for mac. Apple Macintosh Instruction Manuals (User Guides)As per reader requests, direct links to official Apple Macintosh instruction manuals in PDF format - hosted by Apple's own - are provided below as well as on the specs page for each G3 and newer Mac.Not sure which Mac you need to locate?
Having said that, we can point out a few ways to make Finder suck less, which honestly is about all you can ask for. Let’s get started.
See the Current File Path
By default, it’s hard to know the location of your current folder, which is more than a little confusing. But there are a few ways to make the current file path obvious The simplest: right-click the folder’s name and icon in the header window.
You’ll see the complete path to your current folder, in a dropdown menu.
Click any of these options to jump to a given folder.
If you’d rather the file path always be visible, instead of you having to click, you want the Path Bar. Click “View” in the menu bar, then click “View Path Bar.”
This will add a bar at the bottom of the window that shows you the full path of your current folder.
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You can double-click any folder here to instantly jump to it. This is very useful, but there’s one downside: it’s wasting vertical space.
If you’d rather not have that extra bar there, you can replace the folder name at the top of the Finder with a complete file path. To do this, open the Terminal, which you’ll find in Applications > Utilities. Next, run this command:
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true; killall Finder
Just like that, you’ll see a complete file path in the Finder’s header.
These options all gives you the same thing, so just find one that works for you!
Search the Current Folder, Not the Whole System
The search bar in the Finder searches the entire system by default, even though most users expect it to search only the current folder. Turns out you can set the Finder to behave: just click Finder > Preferences in the menu bar, then head to the Advanced tab.
At the bottom of the window you’ll see a dropdown labeled “When performing a search,” make sure it’s set to “Search the Current Folder.”
Use Tabs
For a long time, adding tabs to Finder meant installing a third party software, or replacing the Finder entirely with some other application. Not anymore: as of OS X Yosemite, you can press Command+T in the Finder to open a new tab right away.
RELATED:How to Add Tabs to Almost Any App in macOS Sierra
You can drag files from one tab to another easily, and you can “Pull” a tab away if you’re prefer separate instances. We’ve shown you how to add tabs to almost any Mac application, and the rules for the Finder work the same as for every other app, so check out that article for more details about how this works.
Make Certain Folders Open With Particular Styles
The Finder offers four “Views,” each suited to particular situations. You can see a list of them in the menu bar, under “View.”
There’s Icons, which arranges everything in the folder as a grid of icons.
There’s list, which shows the current folder in a simple list alongside the files’ properties.
Mac Finder Window Manual Enter Path 2
There’s columns, lets you browse the file heiarchy by scrolling to the right, and also shows details for the selected file, and is the correct view to use all the time always:
And there’s cover flow, which is horrible and needs to go away forever:
RELATED:How to Customize Folder Views in OS X Finder
There’s a chance you disagree with my completely accurate assessment above, and want particular folders to use particular views. Well, you can assign particular views to individual folders relatively simply. Check out the article and you can assign certain folders to open in the Icons or (shudder) Cover Flow views.
Quickly See or Hide Hidden Files
RELATED:How to Hide Files and View Hidden Files on Mac OS X
Viewing the various hidden files on your Mac system used to involve opening the Terminal, but these days all you need is a keyboard shortcut: Command+Shilft+Period. Just like that you can see all the hidden files on your Mac.
Sort Folders Above Files
If you’re coming from Windows, the Finder’s tendency to mix files and folders together in alphabetical order may be a touch confusing to you. Well, you can set Finder to sort folders above files, like Windows does, by clicking Finder > Preferences in the menu bar, then checking the “Advanced” tab.
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The option is labeled “Keep folders on top while sorting by name,” just check it and you’re good to go.
Sort Applications by Category
RELATED:How to Sort macOS Applications by Category in the Finder
Speaking of: if you’ve got a lot of things cluttering up your /Applications folder, you can sort your applications by category to make browsing just a little bit easier. Right-click your Applications folder, then click View > Show View Options in the menu bar, and you’ll find the option to arrange by category.
Customize the Sidebar
RELATED:How to Customize OS X’s Finder Sidebar
Finally, if you really want to make your Finder suck less, you need to dive in and customize the sidebar. If there are any icons there you don’t use regularly, remove them. If there are any folders you use frequently, add them.
To remove icons, head to Finder > Preferences in the menu bar, then click the Sidebar tab.
From here you can also re-add any default icons you’ve previously removed. Adding custom icons is simpler: just drag the folder to the sidebar and you’re done.
Photo Credit: raneko
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