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Finder "Save As" dialog shows some folders in expanded view every time

When saving a file the Finder window shows a list of folders in a particular location. My list of folder (and files) always shows some of the folders expanded (as in showing the contents of that folder). It shows the same folders expanded every time - even if I close them. This happens even after a reboot and CTRL+ALT+ESC. It's not a big problem but the expanded folders have a lot of items in them which makes the list quite long. It would be better if they were not in expanded view.


Is there a way to reset this behaviour of the Finder ?

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jul 3, 2022 2:47 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 3, 2022 10:16 AM

You may try deleting the parent folder's .DS_Store file;


But here is a simpler suggestion (I think): instead of List View, try Column View. It is far easier to navigate, and the problem of open subfolders becomes moot.

By the way, you can at any time switch between Icon View (Command-1), List View (Command-2) and Column View (Command-3) right from the keyboard.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 3, 2022 10:16 AM in response to BTBROAD

You may try deleting the parent folder's .DS_Store file;


But here is a simpler suggestion (I think): instead of List View, try Column View. It is far easier to navigate, and the problem of open subfolders becomes moot.

By the way, you can at any time switch between Icon View (Command-1), List View (Command-2) and Column View (Command-3) right from the keyboard.

Jul 4, 2022 7:25 PM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Hi Luis,

Using Terminal to delete the .DS_Store file appears to have solved the problem.


For reference on how to do that, I used joevt's comment at https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/how-to-make-ds_store-files-visible.2283708/


The A flag of the ls command will include invisible files like .DS_Store in the listing.

ls -lA


The rm command can remove a file.

rm .DS_Store


Any change you make in the Finder window (such as adjusting the column width) will create a new .DS_Store file if it doesn't exist.


Thanks everyone for your comments.

Finder "Save As" dialog shows some folders in expanded view every time

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