Mario van Vliet

Q: Where are the finder folders when I try to save a file?

When I try to safe a file (for instance in Mail, Word or whatever programm) I don't see my favorite folders/maps. So every time I want so save a file, I have to navigate my way through my computer. Very irritating.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Nov 9, 2015 5:34 AM

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Q: Where are the finder folders when I try to save a file?

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  • Helpful answers

  • by R C-R,

    R C-R R C-R Nov 9, 2015 6:10 AM in response to Mario van Vliet
    Level 6 (17,660 points)
    Nov 9, 2015 6:10 AM in response to Mario van Vliet

    The folder offered as a default location for saving or exporting a file depends on the application you are using at the time. Some apps maintain separate defaults for different things (like saving newly created files or ones exported to a different format). Some have preference settings for a default location; some don't. A few are 'lazy' & always default to a specific folder (like the user Documents or Pictures folders). Mail, Photos, & other apps that maintain their own libraries don't have a save function as such (since saving to the library is automatic) but typically support some kind of Save As or Export function. Some older Microsoft & Adobe apps & a few apps that are basically ports of Windows apps sometimes use their own save routines instead of those provided by Apple as part of the OS; the ones that do this may be completely unaware of any 'save' logic other than their own.

     

    IOW, there is no systemwide setting for this, if that is what you are looking for.

  • by Mario van Vliet,

    Mario van Vliet Mario van Vliet Nov 9, 2015 7:14 AM in response to R C-R
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 9, 2015 7:14 AM in response to R C-R

    Hello R C-R,

     

     

    Thanks for your reply. But I'm afraid my problem is slightly different.

    When I choose the finder, I get can use favorite folders/maps (see first image).

     

    screen 1.jpg

    But when I'm using a programm (Mail, Word, Excel, any) and I choose Save/Save as, all my favorite folders are gone (see screenshot 2). This problem started with installing El Capitano. Even worse, I cannot create new favorite folders. So there is no connection betweet the programms and the finder.

    screen 2.jpg

  • by R C-R,Helpful

    R C-R R C-R Nov 10, 2015 2:16 AM in response to Mario van Vliet
    Level 6 (17,660 points)
    Nov 10, 2015 2:16 AM in response to Mario van Vliet

    It is the same problem -- Finder is just an application, one that displays any folder you want in the favorites section of its sidebar. (To create new ones, just drag them into that section from the Finder window that contains them.)

     

    But since Finder has no save option, that has no impact at all on apps that do. Like I said, for that you have to rely on whatever the app is programmed to do.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,Solvedanswer

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Nov 10, 2015 2:16 AM in response to Mario van Vliet
    Level 6 (12,092 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 10, 2015 2:16 AM in response to Mario van Vliet

    You are righ that what you see is not normal and that the contents of the sidebar should essentially match what you see in the Finder.

    Not sure what happened, but it may be that one of the following helps you:

     

    1) Start your mac in Safe Mode (hold down the Shift key immediately after pressing the power button and until the Apple symbol appears). Your mac will take longer than usual to boot and will work slowly while in safe mode. That is expected.

    Restart normally.

     

    2) Run OnyX and let it clear alll the caches.

  • by R C-R,

    R C-R R C-R Nov 9, 2015 9:54 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 6 (17,660 points)
    Nov 9, 2015 9:54 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Luis Sequeira1 wrote:

    You are righ that what you see is not normal and that the contents of the sidebar should essentially match what you see in the Finder.

    That isn't quite true. Like I mentioned earlier, not all apps even use Apple's save API's, & many of them have application specific preferences that change the defaults presented in save & save as dialogs, which means you may need to navigate to some different place in the dialog to see the folders you want to target.

  • by Luis Sequeira1,

    Luis Sequeira1 Luis Sequeira1 Nov 9, 2015 11:54 PM in response to R C-R
    Level 6 (12,092 points)
    Mac OS X
    Nov 9, 2015 11:54 PM in response to R C-R

    The OP was talking about Mail and Safari. They do use the standard Apple API...

  • by Mario van Vliet,

    Mario van Vliet Mario van Vliet Nov 10, 2015 2:17 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 10, 2015 2:17 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

    Thank you, Luis. Restarting in the Safe Mode solved the problem!

  • by Mario van Vliet,

    Mario van Vliet Mario van Vliet Nov 10, 2015 2:18 AM in response to R C-R
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 10, 2015 2:18 AM in response to R C-R

    Hello R C-R,

     

    Thanks again. Problem is solved. Restarting in the safe mode was the solution.

     

    Greetings,

     

    Mario