how to stop lion re-arranging my desktop upon startup

Not sure if this will help the desktop re-arranging issue, but it sorted out my finder re-arranging issue. If it dose not help, maybe it will point some one in the right direction. There seems to be two levels to the new "Change the item arrangement" icon, on the top of finder.

Obviously by clicking on the button, you can change how your view options are arranged. There is however sub options for Kind, Application or Label.

To get these sub options. first click on the "Change the item arrangement" button and select either Kind, Application or Label. Then hold down the "Option" key, and click on the "Change the item arrangement" button. You will be presented with a shorter list that is the sub options.

Name

Kind

Date Last opened

Date added

Date Modified

Date Created

Size

I found that the sub option was always set to "Date Last opened", which meant everything kept moving around when I was using Kind,Application or Label, and made those features unusable for me.

Below is a complete list if you viewing options.

Name

Kind

Name

Kind

Date Last opened

Date added

Date Modified

Date Created

Size

Application

Name

Kind

Date Last opened

Date added

Date Modified

Date Created

Size

Date Last opened

Date added

Date Modified

Date Created

Size

Label

Name

Kind

Date Last opened

Date added

Date Modified

Date Created

Size

None

Does any one know what or how to edit Finders default behavior so I can set the sub option from "Last opened" to something more useful", as apposed to having to reset it every time I'm in a new folder.

this is also happening to me

as I posted in another thread, in my case saving a file via the Save/Save-as dialog box from some apps seems to trigger the messing up of the manually sorted icons in my home folder.

also - deleting the com.apple.desktop.plist preference file didn't fix the problem in my case

This bug is well known under SnowLeopard -- see these two threads:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/13061140

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2131820

Note also that the bug was NEVER solved under 10.6 (and probably will never be). Our hopes were that Lion would address this major productivity hog. It now looks like more of the same insanity.

The only known workaround thus far: a screenshot of your folder contents, so that you waste less time restoring things in their proper place. Pitiful.

Hmmm! Never saw the issue w./10.6. You don't need a screenshot, just set things up the way you want them and backup the .DS_Store file. When the problem comes back, restore it, and relaunch the Finder.

If you want to report this issue to Apple's engineering, send a bug report or an enhancement request via its Bug Reporter system. To do this, register as an Apple Developer—it's free and available for all Mac users and gets you a look at some development software. Since you already have an Apple username/ID, use that. Once a member, go to Apple BugReporter and file your bug report or enhancement request. You'll get a response and a follow-up number; thus, starting a dialog with engineering.

Just posted this in another discussion on the same issue:

Just bought and downloaded Desktop Saver for Icon Positions from the app store. It's the only thing I've found that will save the position of my icons (all 60 of them as I have a 30" monitor). Imagine restarting your computer, or restarting your dock or finder, only to find your icons all over the place. It doesn't respect the Finder view options (mine are snap to grid) as I like to keep certain files/folders in certain columns.

Once you "Save Profile (1,2 or 3)", you can quit the app. When the icons rearrange themselves for no other reason than lazy programming, simply launch the app and click "Restore Profile" (using the same number as the saved profile). Stack Items will pile all your icons onto each other in one stack and give you a clean desktop, but you can restore your icons back by using the respective "Restore Profile #". BTW, I have no affiliation with this company and a friend turned me onto this app as he was ready to downgrade to SL as it was driving him and me batty. And at $0.99, it's a small price to pay to keep your sanity!

Hi Thomas,

I have a similar issue, but not my desktop, just every folder I open, Lion re-arranges. I have it set to none and have tried almost all settings, but I can't organize any of the folders. Is there a .plist file for folder organization?

THanks,

Bryan

Nice post UnkyMoose. I keep losing icon placement on desktop, too, but not in a consistent way that I can figure out. In trying the settings you pointed out and comparing to another machine on which I am not having a problem, I discovered yet some additional settings or at least another way to access the submenus you pointed out. In Finder, select whichever choice under "FAVORITES" in left column. Then click "Action" in top menu (beside Quick Look) and the last two choices on the drop down are "Arrange by" and "Show View Options" (in all but "All My Files" which has also a "Show Search Criteria" choice.) It seems that accessing these menu items here, look very carefully, might be the right spot to lock in the choice in the particular portion of the Finder. What do you think? I just found it so have not tested, just wanted to point it out in hopes it may help.

jamesformoakland park. That seems to help me set the behavior more permanently so thanks. It also works for "Devices" and not only "Favorites".

Again not sure if this will help, as I am not having the problem, but if you right click on the desktop. Under the "sort by", you have the options that set how the icons on the desktop are arraigned. If set to "Date Modified", you might find that the new, time capsule like thing for files, that they introduces in lion, might be doing a bunch of autosaving on shutdown, hence items been rearranged on start up.

Has any one else noticed how glitchy the new finder in lion is. I.e if you are in column view, with arrainge by kind. and you press the right arrow to move into a folder you end up selecting the "Kind" label a the top. Also if you click on the "Action" button and then "Show View Options". Some times "Sort by" is gray and unusable as it should be and other times it is gray when you can actually us it. The only way you know it by tying to click on it.

Should clarify: This is not happening on my desktop but on my hard disk. I have 15 folders there, ordered as I want them to be. Every time I reopen, they are rearranged. And the content of every folder is reset in list. I want some in list, some in icon view. Sheesh! Didn't this show up in all the beta testing? What gives????

No. the / indicates the root-level folder. However, you should relaunch the Finder. OPTION-click on its Dock icon and select Relaunch. Then, open the root-level folder and see if things work like you want them to do.

Ok, for someone who has no idea how to do what you've just suggested, do you know if Apple are planning to fix all the bugs in Lion any time soon? This is more akin to what i was used to years ago before i converted. Have to say, this is the first time i've been dissappointed with Apple. I run 3 business's and was due to order 9 more Macbook Pro's for the guys - but not now!! OS Lion has cost me a small fortune replacing programs that no longer work without PowerPC ( for which we got no warning). My accounts software on which all my invoicing is done, which Apple sold me, no longer works so i am having to work that from an old macbook which isn't ideal. Apple's response ... "go back to Snow Leopard then". Doesn't inspire confidence.

Sorry, rant over!

Well, I'll just update everyone here with my icon moving issue that I mentioned previously. It was not the desktop but the folders that I was having issues with. I would open a folder and try to arrange the icons and they would just move to where Lion wanted them. Mainly, on my USB or Firewire attached external disks. I've played around with them a bit, and found that in my case it wasn't a DS_Store file. I have to select in the options "arrange by none". However that alone did not stop the re-arranging. I then select (I use folder icon views, not lists) "Clean up by Name". After that I am able to arrange the folder/icons as I want and so far they have been staying like that. Not perfect, but it does seem to work so far. I'm on my third re-install for various reasons, so hopefully this will be the last go around.

OS Lion has cost me a small fortune replacing programs that no longer work without PowerPC ( for which we got no warning).

Most people here have known that Lion would not support PowerPC apps for many months. Where and when it was announced I'm not sure, but it's been all over just about every news outlet for some time. Very little research would have been needed to find out, and you MUST ALWAYS do that kind of research when upgrading machines that are running business-critical tasks. Every system upgrade ever, whether Mac OS or Windows or Linux, has broken some older software. That is the nature of things.

My accounts software on which all my invoicing is done, which Apple sold me, no longer works

Apple does not produce accounting software. You may have bought it in an Apple Store or from the online Apple Store, but that does not mean Apple made the software. Though even if it did, that's no guarantee. Old software eventually ceases to be supported. Change is the only constant in this business.

Apple's response ... "go back to Snow Leopard then".

Do not confuse the advice you see here with a response from Apple. The people on these forums are not Apple employees and do not speak for Apple. We're all just users like you.

Thomas A Reed wrote:

OS Lion has cost me a small fortune replacing programs that no longer work without PowerPC ( for which we got no warning).

Most people here have known that Lion would not support PowerPC apps for many months. Where and when it was announced I'm not sure, but it's been all over just about every news outlet for some time. Very little research would have been needed to find out, and you MUST ALWAYS do that kind of research when upgrading machines that are running business-critical tasks. Every system upgrade ever, whether Mac OS or Windows or Linux, has broken some older software. That is the nature of things.

My accounts software on which all my invoicing is done, which Apple sold me, no longer works

Apple does not produce accounting software. You may have bought it in an Apple Store or from the online Apple Store, but that does not mean Apple made the software. Though even if it did, that's no guarantee. Old software eventually ceases to be supported. Change is the only constant in this business.

Apple's response ... "go back to Snow Leopard then".

Do not confuse the advice you see here with a response from Apple. The people on these forums are not Apple employees and do not speak for Apple. We're all just users like you.

Thanks for the response. Always helps to read the txt before commenting. Didn't say 'Apple made the software' said 'Apple sold me' the software - which they did, as the best accounting software available for Apple!

Your comment about most people knowing 'here' that PowerPC wouldn't work, it maybe the case that most people 'here' did in fact know - i didn't!! Then again i haven't been 'here' before. I did however do a search on google when i had the problems to find that rather a lot of other users were having the same problems and certainly didn't know anything about the PowerPC point. Infact, if you read some of the forums here, there are people giving out poor advice like on Office for Mac. Some say that you'll need to upgrade to office 2008 if you've got Lion, truth is, if your 2004 Office now doesn't work, which it won't, you have to buy Office 2011. So that's £20 for Lion and £110 for Office 2011. Nothing wrong with the old one!! Except it doesn't now work.

Finally your comment about "...Do not confuse the advice you see here with a response from Apple. The people on these forums are not Apple employees and do not speak for Apple. We're all just users like you." The advice 'to go back to Leopard then' actually came direct from AppleCare. They advised me to backup on TimeMachine then they would talk me through wiping the computer and re-installing Snow Leopard then restoring from TimeMachine. I questioned whether or not I would be able to restore data that had been saved whilst using Lion and was told ' in that case use your previously saved time machine data'. Didn't give me much confidence hence i'm now using an old macbook for my accounts package. It's all well and true saying upgrades have broken older software but this software isn't that old. Familiarising one self with new software and transfering data to new software is not always easy when there's so many other things needing doing.

In summary, it would have been nice if Apple would have maybe made a clear warning to average users like me as to what was not going to work under Lion. I don't expect to have to research a product that is being marketed to the masses, I just expect it to work. When i bought a track pad, which is awesome, it said on the package i needed Snow Leopard, i was warned! Incidentally, when i discovered i couldn't use the some of the programs i spoke to the local store who look after my business account. The guy, who was very helpful, said HE didn't know about the PowerPC issues. That's VERY POOR !!

ddd