"item not found" - can not remove item from finder

Question

Level 1

19 points

"item not found" - can not remove item from finder

I created a smart folder and placed it in the sidebar in Finder. Unfortunately I can not remember the actual process of creating and moving that smart folder anymore.

The problem is, that when I want to open/move or even select that folder, I get the message that the item can not be found. Hence I can not delete or move it.
I checked several locations on my hard drive but I cant find it - neither can Spotlight.

How do I get rid of this broken folder?

Thanks for help/input...
Markus

mac Mini 2009, Mac OS X (10.5.6), Big Screen :)

Posted on Mar 30, 2009 9:40 AM

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Answer 1

nerowolfe

Level 6

13,090 points

Mar 30, 2009 9:50 AM in response to Waenni 2

Waenni 2 wrote:
I created a smart folder and placed it in the sidebar in Finder. Unfortunately I can not remember the actual process of creating and moving that smart folder anymore.

The problem is, that when I want to open/move or even select that folder, I get the message that the item can not be found. Hence I can not delete or move it.
I checked several locations on my hard drive but I cant find it - neither can Spotlight.

How do I get rid of this broken folder?

Thanks for help/input...
Markus

Most sidebar items can be "poofed" by simply dragging them to the left, onto the desktop.

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Answer 2

Mar 30, 2009 9:54 AM in response to Waenni 2

You should find it at /Users/YOU/Library/Saved Searches/
After deleting it from there, restart the Finder via  altesc

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Answer 3

Waenni 2 Author

Level 1

19 points

Mar 30, 2009 9:54 AM in response to nerowolfe

yea, well, the problem is, that I can not touch, click, select or do anything with this item without the message popping up ("...can not be found")...

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Answer 4

Mar 30, 2009 10:03 AM in response to Waenni 2

Waenni 2 wrote:
yea, well, the problem is, that I can not touch, click, select or do anything with this item without the message popping up ("...can not be found")...

Does this concern the item in the sidebar as well as the one I gave you the path to?

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Answer 5

Waenni 2 Author

Level 1

19 points

Mar 30, 2009 10:12 AM in response to Björn Herrmann

nope, I am not finding this item in any location on the HD.
I searched manually (and one of the locations is the one you suggested - but trust me, I went a lot deeper than that...) and of course using spotlight.

I guess, the error message "... can not be found" is true.

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Answer 6

Mar 30, 2009 10:32 AM in response to Waenni 2

You should be able to remove it from the sidebar by clicking the mouse button, but do NOT release the mouse button! Press it and hold it down, then drag the item off the sidebar. Alternatively, you can right click (or Control click) the item and select "Remove from Sidebar" from the drop down menu.
Francine

Francine
Schwieder

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Answer 7

Mar 30, 2009 10:36 AM in response to Waenni 2

Then I'd suggest to delete the corresponding preferences file next:
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sidebarlists.plist

Björn

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Answer 8

Waenni 2 Author

Level 1

19 points

Apr 2, 2009 6:13 PM in response to Francine Schwieder

Simple 🙂
Do NOT NOT NOT release mouse button....

Here we are and we thought we tried everything....

Thank you!

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