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I sometimes can't access the Applications folder from the Finder sidebar.
The Applications folder is also faded out in 'Macintosh HD'.
The only way I can access it is by using the Cmd+Shift+A shortcut or by going into the 'Go' tab in Finder.
iMac, OS X Mountain Lion, mid-2011, quad-core i5 2.5Ghz, 16GB
Launch Disk Utility, repair permissions, restart, and try again.
Launch Disk Utility, repair permissions, restart, and try again.
Repaired permissions, restarted. Nothing happened.
PS: Sorry for the late reply.
Move the com.apple.finder.plist file out your hidden username/Library/Preferences/ onto the Desktop, restart, and see if that fixes things. If so, reset your Finder preferences and delete the moved file.
I just made a private video on YouTube explaining my issue better, for you to take a look:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQGSCCBdEF4
I moved the .plist file on the Desktop and I'm going to restart now. I'll let you know what happens.
I found 4 of those .plist files, 3 of them having some other characters after ".plist". Also, after moving that file on the Desktop, I can access the Applications folder through the 'Go' menu again, which I couldn't a few minutes ago.
Can't explain why you couldn't go there via the GO menu; however, restarting is needed to create a new one. If that fixed going directly to the /Apps folder, you've fixed the basic issue.
I realized that the huge thumbnail appears if the three-column view is selected, so I could access the folder from the Go menu, but just in the small thumbnails view and the list view. I still can't access it directly.
I don't use the sidebar or column view, only list view in my folders, so know nothing about thumbnails and such.
Anyway, that's not the issue. The issue is that I still can't access the Applications folder directly.
Launch the Terminal.app (in /Applications/Utilities, however you get there), copy & paste this into the window that pops up, hit the return key, and post the results:
ls -al / | grep Applications
These are the results:
drwxrwxr-x+ 95 root admin 3230 24 Aug 23:18 Applications
Those are the normal permissions, so I can't fathom what's precluding you from accessing the /Applications folder. Open the boot volume's folder, drag the Applications folder onto the Dock. Does a single-click open it up? If not, create a new admin user account, log into it, and see if the problem persists.
I can open it straight from the Dock:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/842/capturdeecran20120826la.png/
But you can't open it when double-clicking on the folder when looking at the boot volume window. Then, create the new admin user account log into ti, and see if you can do it there. If so, then post a list of the plist files in the hidden /Library/Preferences/ folder for that user. One or more of those are corrupt and conflicting with others.
I had the problem for a good long while. I traced my situation to I had copied a good number of apps into applications and finder had decided to crash at that time. So basically the folder was expecting the rest of the files. I redid the copy from a backup and it went through at behold the applications folder was ready willing and able to do what I wanted. Not sure if you're having the same problem. Good luck either way
Can't access the Applications folder
