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Random Folders Generating on my Desktop (Macbook Air)

For quite some time now, empty folders have been randomly appearing on my Desktop. Every time I delete some of them, even more come to take their place so that the Finder application eventually freezes up and disallows me from accessing any of my documents or folders.

The folders are usually named numbers such as 1, 2, 3, etc., but also come in 2-digit combinations of numbers and letters such as 5d, a7, af, 25, c8, and etc.

How can I fix this issue so that my desktop can properly function again?

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jun 26, 2021 9:09 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 30, 2021 12:04 PM

Hello!

I was able to boot up my laptop in safe mode successfully and remove the random folders - however, the moment I logged back on without safe mode, the folders began generating on my desktop once again.

How should I continue to eradicate the issue?


Thanks,

Starkiller

3 replies

Jun 27, 2021 10:57 AM in response to TheStarkiller

Hello, TheStarkiller. Thank you for posting to the Apple Support Communities. We understand the issue that you have been noticing when using your Mac and we can certainly help with this. 


From what we understand, you are seeing new folders automatically created and saved to your desktop. We have several suggestions to help isolate this issue and rule out what could be causing this to happen. 


To get started, we would first suggest that you start your Mac in safe mode. Using safe mode is an easy way to isolate out any software that may be generating these folders. While your Mac is in safe mode, please attempt to remove the folders and check to see if the same issue happens. The following Apple Support article explains how to use safe mode with your Mac: 


Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support


If you notice the same issue in safe mode, we can help you more. To continue, can you tell us if you started to notice this happening after new software was installed or downloaded to your Mac? 


We would also want to help you make sure that the latest system software has been installed to your Mac. The following article explains how you can update macOS for your Mac: 


Update macOS on Mac - Apple Support


We hope that this information helps you and we look forward to your reply. 

Have a great day! 

Random Folders Generating on my Desktop (Macbook Air)

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