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Finder is not responding Catalina

Finder will randomly become unresponsive. Force Quit/Relaunch does not resolve the issue. One symptom, on my MPB, is an inability to open new finder windows by clicking the icon on the dock. Also, can't get there with command-tab. (I have always been able to shift from app-to-app with "command-tab", which will work now with any open app EXCEPT Finder).


I get the attached error when trying to get to the Finder from any other app in any of these methods. "You can't open the application "Finder.app" because it is not responding."


MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013); MacOS Catalina Version 10.15.3 (19D76)

Posted on Apr 5, 2020 2:51 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 5, 2020 3:05 PM

To trouble shoot further you can:


Try a SafeBoot https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Takes noticeable longer to get to the login screen, does a 5-15 minute disk repair before it fully boots up, and certain system caches get cleared and rebuilt, including dynamic loader cache, etc. Login and test. Reboot and test will take a little longer as caches get rebuilt.

This test will tell you if third party interference; extensions etc are not loaded in safe boot mode.


Test issue in another user (or guest user) account  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204443

This will tell you if it a universal issue or isolated to your user/admin account. 



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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 5, 2020 3:05 PM in response to CloGram

To trouble shoot further you can:


Try a SafeBoot https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Takes noticeable longer to get to the login screen, does a 5-15 minute disk repair before it fully boots up, and certain system caches get cleared and rebuilt, including dynamic loader cache, etc. Login and test. Reboot and test will take a little longer as caches get rebuilt.

This test will tell you if third party interference; extensions etc are not loaded in safe boot mode.


Test issue in another user (or guest user) account  https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204443

This will tell you if it a universal issue or isolated to your user/admin account. 



Apr 8, 2020 5:27 PM in response to leroydouglas

I did the SafeBoot as suggested, and haven't had the issue for the last 24 hours since the reboot. So it seems to be fixed.


In case anyone is following this to troubleshoot, too, I should add that the issue itself had been intermittent, so I can't say with certainty that it's gone away, but if it happens again, I'll just do the SafeBoot again... hoping that it'll be needed infrequently, if it comes to that. And IF it occurs again fairly soon, I'll also post again for the benefit of others.

For this reason, leroydouglas, I won't click "This solved my question," until later, if I find it's fixed "for good," but please know I really appreciate your reply, and am happy that it worked!

Finder is not responding Catalina

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