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Hi all,
I've run into an issue I'm hoping one of you can help with. All the files on my desktop (as well as the Desktop folder itself) behave like hidden files in the UI but have no attribute that I'm aware of that should make them be hidden.
None of these files and directories begins with a period (.).
None of these files and directories have the 'hidden' flag.
What else causes this behaviour?
MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.1
Hi Scott, thanks for taking the time. I do have iCloud Drive enabled for those folders, and the symbolic link ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Desktop points to the Desktop folder in my home directory. My question was a little more technical than most I suppose, in that when I say 'hidden' I mean the literal interpretation within the context of an operating system and not what someone might say when they can't find something. I know where it is. I can't see any reason why it should be hidden. But in the Finder and desktop UI they appear translucent, or not at all, depending on whether I've set hidden files to visible in the UI, which is the same behavior as a hidden file. They don't start with a period, and they don't have the hidden flag, so why do they act like hidden files? I tried copying them to a new directory (just made ~/TEST) and the files maintain this behaviour, so something is making it happen, I just don't know what.
Hi Scott, thanks for taking the time. I do have iCloud Drive enabled for those folders, and the symbolic link ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Desktop points to the Desktop folder in my home directory. My question was a little more technical than most I suppose, in that when I say 'hidden' I mean the literal interpretation within the context of an operating system and not what someone might say when they can't find something. I know where it is. I can't see any reason why it should be hidden. But in the Finder and desktop UI they appear translucent, or not at all, depending on whether I've set hidden files to visible in the UI, which is the same behavior as a hidden file. They don't start with a period, and they don't have the hidden flag, so why do they act like hidden files? I tried copying them to a new directory (just made ~/TEST) and the files maintain this behaviour, so something is making it happen, I just don't know what.
I think you've misunderstood what I meant. I know where the files are. When I say 'hidden' I mean it in the technical sense, i.e. a file that starts with a period or has the hidden flag.
Note that Magnus.jpg (and a few others) doesn't have the hidden flag.
Magnus.jpg has the alpha channel on its icon reduced, like the folder above. This should not be the case. In addition, pressing ⌘+Shift+. makes it disappear along with the stuff that actually is hidden.
Hello,
I am wondering if you have iCloud Drive Desktop & Documents Folders enabled? If so, they aren't hidden they are just in a different location than your Home folder.
Use iCloud Drive to store documents on your Mac, iPhone, and iPad - Apple Support
"Store your Desktop and Documents folders in iCloud Drive
> System Preferences, click Apple ID 
, select iCloud in the sidebar, then click Options next to iCloud Drive.After you select Desktop & Documents Folders, your Desktop and Documents folders are moved into iCloud Drive. They also appear in the iCloud Drive section of the Finder sidebar."
I hope this helps.
Safe Mode does delete some files which may be what fixed the problem (usually temp & cache files). We used to have some Macs get a "blue screen" during login to the Desktop which Safe Mode does resolve (I believe it was even in the Apple documentation for Safe Mode at one time).
setesh225 wrote:
Might be a little bug there, maybe cosmic rays struck just the right place in RAM, maybe this is all a fever dream, who knows?
Seems to be a lot of this these days with macOS and Apple hardware. I really like to understand the underlying issues as well, but with Apple it is very difficult due to all the secrets. Sometimes you just need to be grateful for the win and not look the gift horse in the mouth. And hope all is well.
It's a long shot but boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see if the problem persists. Reboot normally and test again.
Since you have enabled iCloud Drive, Desktop and Documents make sure that this check box is checked in the Finder preferences:
Then you csn click on the iCloud Drive icon in the sidebar of any Finder window to get to those folders and files.
I can see that Apple employee(s) are on the board, and although I know this is primarily a community forum I feel like my question was a pretty simple one. If your answer is "I don't know, thought those were the only two" you can just say so you know. :)
Well I hadn't tried that yet, so thanks for the suggestion. In Safe Boot the problem was still present, but when I booted back into normal mode it stopped. No idea why, but my gut tells me it has something to do with how Apple hides the Desktop and Documents directories when iCloud Drive is enabled for them. Might be a little bug there, maybe cosmic rays struck just the right place in RAM, maybe this is all a fever dream, who knows?
Thanks friend! :)
Desktop files and folders hidden for seemingly no reason
