DrDeath

Q: Finder windows position and settings no longer stored

Since the update to 10.11.4, the Finder not only has forgotten what position and display options I had set before the update, it also no longer stores them: when I reboot or just restart the Finder, all the adjustments I made a gone again.

 

I already tried deleting the .DS_Store files and the Finder preferences, but to no avail. I also couldn't find any good tips on the web, but won't rule out I missed a good solution. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), null

Posted on Mar 24, 2016 8:48 AM

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Q: Finder windows position and settings no longer stored

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  • by DrDeath,

    DrDeath DrDeath Mar 27, 2016 9:27 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 27, 2016 9:27 AM in response to Linc Davis

    I'm actually already a step ahead on this one: I have already tried to create a new user account with admin privileges and tested with that.

     

    No difference.

  • by Barney-15E,

    Barney-15E Barney-15E Mar 27, 2016 9:30 AM in response to DrDeath
    Level 9 (50,119 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 27, 2016 9:30 AM in response to DrDeath

    Well, that's just not the case: until I installed the 10.11.4 update, both window sizes and positions were saved. I'm absolutely sure about that. Now, it stores neither.

    Did you have some third-party software that did that?

    The old paradigm of a Folder equating to a Finder Window has been gone for some time. A Finder Window is just a display environment for the contents of whatever folder you have selected. The Finder window is just a "viewer" that displays the content of the current selection.

    You can set the View Options of a folder to "Always open in … view" and to browse in that view when you open a sub-folder, but the folder "opens" within the context of the current Finder "viewing" window.

     

    If you have a way to open a folder not from a current Finder window (like Spotlight), it should open in the last used configuration.

    As the ability to "Open in New Window" was dropped, you cannot get a window to open in its previous state since the Finder will use the current window for displaying the content. As soon as you open the folder in another Finder view window, the size and position will be lost, but it seems to retain the view style.

  • by DrDeath,

    DrDeath DrDeath Mar 27, 2016 10:08 AM in response to Barney-15E
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 27, 2016 10:08 AM in response to Barney-15E

    Barney-15E wrote:

     

    Did you have some third-party software that did that?

    No, unless some software messed around with that without my knowledge.

     

    The old paradigm of a Folder equating to a Finder Window has been gone for some time. A Finder Window is just a display environment for the contents of whatever folder you have selected. The Finder window is just a "viewer" that displays the content of the current selection.

    You can set the View Options of a folder to "Always open in … view" and to browse in that view when you open a sub-folder, but the folder "opens" within the context of the current Finder "viewing" window.

    I'm aware of that, although it is possible to get the Finder to behave more like the old spatial version by hiding the toolbar. That said, even in the now default explorer mode, it should (and always did) respect the "Always open in … view" settings when browsing a folder's content. For example, when I have a Finder window in icon view, and open a subfolder that I have set to always open in list view in that window, the window switches to list view. When I click the "back" arrow in the toolbar, it returns to icon view. It still does that, but – to stress this again – does not save any changes to the display settings beyond the next restart.

     

    If you have a way to open a folder not from a current Finder window (like Spotlight), it should open in the last used configuration.

    Again: it does not.

     

    As the ability to "Open in New Window" was dropped, …

    As mentioned, hiding the toolbar switches to spatial mode. Secondly, even in explorer mode you can open every folder in a new window by holding down command while double clicking or by selecting "Open in New Window" in the folder's context menu.

     

    As soon as you open the folder in another Finder view window, the size and position will be lost, but it seems to retain the view style.

    That's not the case (or at least it wasn't): size and position information for a subfolder were not overwritten when opening it in an already existing Finder window. Anyway, this isn't the problem here or what I'm talking about.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Mar 27, 2016 10:20 AM in response to DrDeath
    Level 10 (207,973 points)
    Applications
    Mar 27, 2016 10:20 AM in response to DrDeath

    First, to clarify one thing: Unless you disable the "resume" feature of OS X in the General preference pane, the Finder and all other apps should resume their previous window state when relaunched. I'm running 10.11.4 and that feature is working for me as expected.

     

    I'm taking it for granted that your description is accurate and that this discussion is not just about a misunderstanding. If I'm wrong about that, then we're wasting our time here.

     

    Is this your personal computer, or is it managed by someone else? Is there a preference pane named "Profiles" in System Preferences?

  • by DrDeath,

    DrDeath DrDeath Mar 27, 2016 10:40 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 27, 2016 10:40 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc Davis wrote:

     

    First, to clarify one thing: Unless you disable the "resume" feature of OS X in the General preference pane, the Finder and all other apps should resume their previous window state when relaunched. I'm running 10.11.4 and that feature is working for me as expected.

    Yes, you are correct: if I leave a window open when logging out with the "Resume" enabled, it reappears at exactly the same position and the same settings. Then I close it, open the same window again, and it's back to the old (wrong) settings. Hence: no difference.

     

    Is this your personal computer, or is it managed by someone else? Is there a preference pane named "Profiles" in System Preferences?

    Yes, this is my personal computer, and there is no such preference pane.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Mar 27, 2016 10:46 AM in response to DrDeath
    Level 10 (207,973 points)
    Applications
    Mar 27, 2016 10:46 AM in response to DrDeath

    I close it, open the same window again, and it's back to the old (wrong) settings.

    Please post before and after screenshots that show what you mean. Be careful not to include any private information.

    Start a reply to this message. Drag each image file into the editing window to upload it. You can also include text in the reply.

  • by DrDeath,

    DrDeath DrDeath Mar 27, 2016 11:13 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 27, 2016 11:13 AM in response to Linc Davis

    I have something better: a video.

     

    The on-screen text is German, but you'll get the drift. The display settings (icon size and background colour, but not position and size of the window) you'll see when I open the window the first time have been set already before the update. You'll see I can no longer change them.

     

    If I would log out with enabled "Resume" after the changes I do in the video, the window would appear at that position, in that size, with that settings. As soon as I close it, all these settings are discarded.

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis Mar 27, 2016 11:42 AM in response to DrDeath
    Level 10 (207,973 points)
    Applications
    Mar 27, 2016 11:42 AM in response to DrDeath

    That's because you don't have permission to write to the root folder. The same thing happens when I do it. However, it does not happen when I change the display settings of my Documents folder, for example, because I do have write permission for that folder.

  • by DrDeath,Helpful

    DrDeath DrDeath Mar 28, 2016 6:44 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Mac OS X
    Mar 28, 2016 6:44 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Linc Davis wrote:

     

    That's because you don't have permission to write to the root folder. The same thing happens when I do it. However, it does not happen when I change the display settings of my Documents folder, for example, because I do have write permission for that folder.

    Well, again, this was not the case before the update: I could also change the display settings for the root folder without problems before the recent update. Secondly, the same happens for every other folder below the root level, most prominently Applications and its subfolders – I think you'll forgive me when I won't upload another video for that.

     

    That said, you just gave me an idea: I just manually checked the permissions to these folders, and these were indeed messed up. I didn't mention I also had checked my drive with the Disk Utility, and that found nothing – so much for that. I have now changed the permissions manually (e.g. "Applications" should for sure have read/write access for admins – it hadn't), and now it works again.

     

    Problem solved.

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