Q: Finder is slow or not responding

Run this test and post its results here.

http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

Try opening the Go menu with the Option (Alt) key pressed - Library - Preferences and locate the file called ‘com.apple.finder.plist’. Move it to the trash and restart your computer.

When the Finder becomes unresponsive, note the exact time: hour, minute, second.  

These instructions must be carried out as an administrator. If you have only one user account, you are the administrator.

Launch the Console application in any one of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad and start typing the name.

The title of the Console window should be All Messages. If it isn't, select

          SYSTEM LOG QUERIES ▹ All Messages

from the log list on the left. If you don't see that list, select

          View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

Each message in the log begins with the date and time when it was entered. Scroll back to the time you noted above.

Select the messages entered from then until the end of the episode, or until they start to repeat, whichever comes first.

Copy the messages to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C. Paste into a reply to this message by pressing command-V.

The log contains a vast amount of information, almost all of it useless for solving any particular problem. When posting a log extract, be selective. A few dozen lines are almost always more than enough.

Please don't indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

Please don't post screenshots of log messages—post the text.

Some private information, such as your name, may appear in the log. Anonymize before posting.

When you post the log extract, you might see an error message on the web page: "You have included content in your post that is not permitted," or "The message contains invalid characters." That's a bug in the forum software. Please post the text on Pastebin, then post a link here to the page you created.

If you have an account on Pastebin, please don't select Private from the Paste Exposure menu on the page, because then no one but you will be able to see it.

I am not the OP, but I am having a similar issue in El Capitan and see some telling messages in the log Linc mentioned. Starting today, I frequently get no response when clicking on a Finder item, and it does not become selected. Also, portions of the windows like the left sidebar items are sometimes missing. I can move and switch windows, but I am unable to select any files until I relaunch Finder. It then inevitably happens again shortly after. Here are the messages from the log corresponding to when I click:

8/29/16 4:12:24.067 PM Finder[1242]: -[OverlayCache isPathInGdrive:]: unrecognized selector sent to instance 0x7fac5be2a0f0
8/29/16 4:12:24.069 PM Finder[1242]: (
  0   CoreFoundation                      0x00007fff9259125c __exceptionPreprocess + 172
  1   libobjc.A.dylib                     0x00007fff8a4d8e75 objc_exception_throw + 43
  2   CoreFoundation                      0x00007fff9259412d -[NSObject(NSObject) doesNotRecognizeSelector:] + 205
  3   CoreFoundation                      0x00007fff924ef272 ___forwarding___ + 1010
  4   CoreFoundation                      0x00007fff924eedf8 _CF_forwarding_prep_0 + 120
  5   FinderExt                           0x0000000117488fd4 -[NSTextFieldCell(IconOverlayHandlers) IconOverlayHandlers_drawIconWithFrame:] + 212
  6   Finder                              0x000000010fdbbfcc Finder + 1073100
  7   Finder                              0x000000010fdbbf29 Finder + 1072937
  8   Finder                              0x000000010fdbb407 Finder + 1070087
  9   Finder                              0x000000010fdbad5f Finder + 1068383
  10  Finder                              0x000000010fdbac27 Finder + 1068071
  11  AppKit                              0x00007fff90f00468 -[NSControl drawRect:] + 341
  12  Finder                              0x000000010fcff54c Finder + 300364
  13  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef304f -[NSView _drawRect:clip:] + 3748
  14  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef18c4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayAllDirtyWithLockFocus:visRect:] + 1799
  15  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef1ca0 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayAllDirtyWithLockFocus:visRect:] + 2787
  16  AppKit                              0x00007fff90eef706 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 841
  17  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  18  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  19  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  20  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  21  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  22  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  23  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  24  AppKit                              0x00007fff910d11e2 -[NSBrowser _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 80
  25  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  26  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  27  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  28  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ef0bc4 -[NSView _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 6151
  29  AppKit                              0x00007fff90eeeeb1 -[NSThemeFrame _recursiveDisplayRectIfNeededIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:topView:] + 314
  30  AppKit                              0x00007fff90eebe9f -[NSView _displayRectIgnoringOpacity:isVisibleRect:rectIsVisibleRectForView:] + 2828
  31  AppKit                              0x00007fff90ecb2da -[NSView displayIfNeeded] + 1680
  32  AppKit                              0x00007fff90f3074e _handleWindowNeedsDisplayOrLayoutOrUpdateConstraints + 884
  33  AppKit                              0x00007fff91506061 __83-[NSWindow _postWindowNeedsDisplayOrLayoutOrUpdateConstraintsUnlessPostingDisabled]_block_invoke1331 + 46
  34  CoreFoundation                      0x00007fff924c1d67 __CFRUNLOOP_IS_CALLING_OUT_TO_AN_OBSERVER_CALLBACK_FUNCTION__ + 23
  35  CoreFoundation                      0x00007fff924c1cd7 __CFRunLoopDoObservers + 391
  36  CoreFoundation                      0x00007fff924b33b8 __CFRunLoopRun + 776
  37  CoreFoundation                      0x00007fff924b2e75 CFRunLoopRunSpecific + 309
  38  HIToolbox                           0x00007fff8edbca0d RunCurrentEventLoopInMode + 226
  39  HIToolbox                           0x00007fff8edbc685 ReceiveNextEventCommon + 173
  40  HIToolbox                           0x00007fff8edbc5bc _BlockUntilNextEventMatchingListInModeWithFilter + 65
  41  AppKit                              0x00007fff90d9424e _DPSNextEvent + 1434
  42  AppKit                              0x00007fff90d9389b -[NSApplication nextEventMatchingMask:untilDate:inMode:dequeue:] + 122
  43  AppKit                              0x00007fff90d8799c -[NSApplication run] + 553
  44  AppKit                              0x00007fff90d72783 NSApplicationMain + 940
  45  Finder                              0x000000010fcbc730 Finder + 26416
  46  libdyld.dylib                       0x00007fff979c05fd start + 1
  47  ???                                 0x0000000000000001 0x0 + 1
)

Hi Gogme Web,

I had the same problem on 5 recent Macbook PRO. I solved the problem deactivating Google Drive syncronization and removing Google Drive App from the system.

Do you use Google Drive on your iMac?

Let me know.

Matt, that worked for me so far. I disabled google drive sync, relaunched Finder, and haven't seen any hangs since I did that today.

Thank you

You're welcome CL-PSL,

So, after 24h and 6 problems solved, we can say that the definitive procedure is to de-activate Google Drive Sync and to re-start Finder process.

In specific:

1- Disable Google Drive sync and close Google drive application: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2375081

2- Restart your Mac.

Still no issues for me after disabling it.

Also, here are the English instructions to disable the synchronization. Matt's came through in Italian for me.

Something to note for the English version, Google says, "On a Mac, the icon is in the menu bar at the top right of your desktop screen." This is not necessarily true depending on how many extra menu items you have installed. It can be found somewhere among your Finder menu item icons (where you have your clock, name, etc.) Since Google explicitly said "at the top right", it took me a minute to find it. The Italian version explains it better.

Yay, sorry for the bad link.

The same "How to..." in english language @ the following link: https://support.google.com/drive/answer/2375081?hl=en