Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

osx lion - desktop icons rearranged on right of screen after reboot

Since upgrading to OSC Lion...


Every few reboots me desktop icons end up all alligned in columns along the right side of the screen.


I rearrange them the way I want them. For a few reboots they are fine.


Then bam, on the next reboot they are all aligned on the right side of the screen again.


I thoght this was a bug that might have been fixed in 10.7.1, but no, it just happened again.


Any ideas how to get my icons to stay put?

macbook pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Aug 18, 2011 10:01 AM

Reply
50 replies

Aug 20, 2011 10:19 AM in response to garytoriello

Same problem here since upgrading to Lion (and now 10.7.1).

It's extremely annoying, and makes work difficult. On the desktop I have some 50 icons arranged the way I like them. It's impossible manually moving these back to where I want them every day. It also happens in some folders.


The problem exists on my iMac i7 (27" mid 2010) but NOT on my Macbook Pro (13" mid 2009).

Aug 25, 2011 6:27 AM in response to garytoriello

I have the same issue. I tried the following but it is still happening.


I logged out, logged into another account, and removed the following files via the commandline and sudo:


<user>/Desktop/.DS_Store

<user>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

<user>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist.lockfile

<user>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist

<user>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.desktop.plist.lockfile


I can't think of any other file that would be relevent.

Sep 8, 2011 2:07 PM in response to garytoriello

This is still a problem and takes way too much time to fix every few days. I cannot beleive this was not addressed in 10.7.1.


I guess you could create an applescript to do this but that is not the time waster.... Restoring the location and knowing it will only last a few days is #!&#@

Sep 9, 2011 12:06 PM in response to Doctor Pangloss

No permanent fixes until Apple sees enough angry customers to do something about it. IMHO I will bet it has to do with the obnoxious "restore windows..." option at shut down. Something is trashing the .Ds_Store files. Not every time, but enough it is a huuuuuuge time waster.

Sep 14, 2011 9:34 AM in response to Doctor Pangloss

Doctor Pangloss wrote:


Don't know why this worked for me but you can try right clicking the desktop and choosing Sort By...Snap ToGrid. Now right click again Sort By and this time choose None.


Not sure why but I regained control of icon placement after rotating through this drill.


I tried your suggestion Friday and the icons have remained where I put them. I shutdown each night so there have been plenty of opportunities for them to realign themselves. Let's hope that's the fix.


Thanks,

osx lion - desktop icons rearranged on right of screen after reboot

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.