Question Mark Upper Left Hand Corner

Question

Level 1

65 points

Question Mark Upper Left Hand Corner

What does a big question mark mean in the upper left hand corner of finder window? Appears on all my finder windows. I click on it and it says "The Item Can't Be Found." Very odd. I do use a lot of different external drives for backups, etc etc. Not sure it if is trying to reference one of those or what........??

MBP, Couple of iMacs, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Oct 4, 2010 4:53 AM

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Answer 1

macjack

Level 10

111,168 points

Oct 4, 2010 4:59 AM in response to robertd

It means you have an orphaned alias, one that has lost the path to the original file either because the original was deleted or moved. Drag the "?" off the toolbar and "poof" it.

-mj

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Answer 2

robertd Author

Level 1

65 points

Oct 6, 2010 5:26 PM in response to macjack

It won't allow me to drag the question mark off the finder window........

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Answer 3

haku64

Level 1

10 points

Oct 6, 2010 5:42 PM in response to robertd

Try holding CMD(Apple)-Key - click it and hold and move it out of the finder window...

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Answer 4

Barney-15E

Level 10

112,584 points

Oct 6, 2010 5:45 PM in response to robertd

I think MacJack is thinking it is in the Finder window. However, do you mean it is on the toolbar of a Finder window? If so, haku64 has the right method of removing it. But, if it is a tool you want to repair, right-click on the Toolbar and select Customize Toolbar… Either drag back the standard toolbar, or replace the malfunctioning item with a new one. You can then just drag the ? one out of the toolbar.

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Answer 5

robertd Author

Level 1

65 points

Oct 6, 2010 5:47 PM in response to Barney-15E

That button combination worked great. Thanks. It has been there forever and has been a curiosity.

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Answer 6

Oct 13, 2010 11:05 AM in response to robertd

Thanks for the help on this, I was wondering what caused it and how to rid my mac of it as I found it to be annoying.

Cheers

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