Lemastre

Q: I put 31 items from my desktop into a folder a few weeks ago, and today the folder contains only aliases for all those items.  But the aliases produce only messages that the objects can't be found.  Where are they?

I put 31 items from my desktop into a folder a few weeks ago, and today the folder contains only aliases for all those items.  But the aliases produce only messages that the items can't be found.  Where are they, and how do I get them back?  (I have a MacBook Pro and OS 10.10.5)

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Nov 26, 2015 2:21 PM

Close

Q: I put 31 items from my desktop into a folder a few weeks ago, and today the folder contains only aliases for all those items.  ... more

  • All replies
  • Helpful answers

  • by leroydouglas,

    leroydouglas leroydouglas Nov 26, 2015 3:06 PM in response to Lemastre
    Level 7 (23,378 points)
    Notebooks
    Nov 26, 2015 3:06 PM in response to Lemastre

    Use TimeMachine or try Local Snapshots to restore lost items.

     

    About Time Machine local snapshots - Apple Support

  • by Lemastre,

    Lemastre Lemastre Nov 26, 2015 3:40 PM in response to leroydouglas
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Nov 26, 2015 3:40 PM in response to leroydouglas

    Thanks for your prompt reply.  I'd never heard of Time Machine, but it sounds like a good idea if the computer's going to destroy some files now and again.  However, I have no external drive, so Time Machine appears to be unavailable.  But I have some hard drive open, so maybe it could use that space.  I'm resigned to losing the files I had, but at least I'd like to know why they were converted to aliases.  I've been collecting files in folders for years, and they've always survived totally intact.  I have some right now that work just fine, although not as many as 31 in one folder.  I have an older MacBook that does have a folder containing an even larger number of files, and they're always in good shape, so I suspect that the 31 files suffered some anomalous mistreatment.

  • by John Lockwood,

    John Lockwood John Lockwood Nov 27, 2015 5:45 AM in response to Lemastre
    Level 6 (9,309 points)
    Servers Enterprise
    Nov 27, 2015 5:45 AM in response to Lemastre

    When you 'drag' a file or files or folder in the Finder it can do one of three different things -

     

    1. It can make a copy in the destination location
    2. It can make an alias aka. shortcut in the destination location
    3. It can move the files to the destination location in which case they will no longer be in the original location

     

    The Finder will normally change the mouse cursor to a different one to indicate which of the above it is going to do, for example if it is copying the file the mouse cursor will change to include a green + symbol, if it is going to make an alias/shortcut it will change to have a curved arrow symbol.

     

    In this case the Finder has clearly made aliases of the files and not copied them as you originally wanted.

     

    Command key while draggingMove the dragged item to another volume or location. The pointer changes while you drag the item.
    Option key while draggingCopy the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.
    Command-Option while draggingMake an alias of the dragged item. The pointer changes while you drag the item.