"Name" portion of my Finder windows too long

Could this work without deleting the .DS_Store files?

I'm a bit reluctant to use a command I don't fully comprehend.

hold the option key while draging the window smaller at the bottom right of the window. Not the side of the window, but the bottom right corner of the window. This will resize the whole thing and move the left and right side simultaniously. This worked for me. I think I set the column width first, but can't remember. Haven't had to do it again since.

I have the same problem. Very annoying bug.

This has been driving everyone in our office crazy for months!

Have just sent a report to Apple and suggest everyone do the same - choose "Bug Report" from the Feedback Type dropdown here: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Cheers

Spoke to level 2 support at Apple about this one, they were very honest that it's a bug and that there is nothing we can do until the engineers feel like it's important enough to address. They told me I could find some temp solutions around the web, and I have. Have a short cut now that resets window so it's all readable without too many steps. This is the second most annoying thing wrong with Mavs, first being slow and sometimes not working network performance using SMB.

If you are constantly having to organize loads of files, you might want to try Path Finder as a Finder replacement for now. I was using it a lot before 10.9, but tabs in Finder made Finder that much more useful. But now, Finder has become all this extra work every time it decides to rearrange the name column. Good Luck with this one guys...

Thanks for the update,

..they were very honest that it's a bug and that there is nothing we can do until the engineers feel like it's important enough to address.

If anyone's interested in making it something they feel is important enough to address, choose "Bug Report" from the Feedback Type dropdown: http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Just did... thank you

Michael-

Mavericks introduced several bugs into the Finder. One of them is that in List View, the Finder frequently loses track of the column widths, and makes the Name column so wide that the other columns aren't visible unless one scrolls the window horizontally.

The following Applescript resets the column widths to something sensible. It uses a couple kludges to work around some *other* Finder bugs that Mavericks introduced.

-- Reset the width of the Finder's Name column to something sensible.

tell application "Finder"

set thisFolder to target of front Finder window

set the current view of front Finder window to list view

-- In previous versions of OS X, the next line would tell the Finder to set the width -- to exactly 300. In Mavericks, the Finder uses it as a *minimum* width.

set width of column id name column of list view options of Finder window 1 to 300 --

The following kludge is necessary to get the changes to "take". I got it from -- Dr. Drang at www.leancrew.com/all-this/2013/10/quick-switch-to-big-finder-icons

close front Finder window open thisFolder

end tell

When I open finder, I find my column for name arbitrarily pushed all the way out like this:

I can adjust the columns manually and bring it not even close to the longest name:

Then close and reopen and the column is pushed back over and sometimes off the screen:

Maybe there is someone in this forum who has the technical skill to resolve this issue beyond the usual, "re-install" I see so over suggested. I am currently using the better touch tool solution discussed in various places with a keyboard short cut and it's been a huge help. But I would like control over my columns again.

I agree Alexius12, I hope the list view bug is fixed soon.

I have tried every single proposed solution listed in this thread to solve the enigmatic "extremely long name column" bug in Mavericks and none of them have worked for me...

Tried re-installing Mavericks
Upgraded to 10.9.4

Tried the AppleScripts w/ BetterTouchTool
Tried the Option key with finder columns

Setting defaults, adding columns, etc
...and everything else listed all the way back to the start of this thread. The only thing that sort of worked was filling the windows with all the columns I don't want to see in order to force everything left, but this really clutters up my screen with data I don't want to see.

None of it works. Sure, some things may work for some people but I just, once again, started with a fresh new Mavericks 10.9.4 and tried all these things all over again and, nope, nothing. I can have a Finder window open, change the column size to something close to the actual file names (what a concept), set defaults, revert to defaults, all combinations... then close the window or tab, re-open it, and it's all back to ridiculously long name column sizes, over and over.

Is it really that hard to fix? I'm surprised the employees at Apple haven't become more frustrated with this. As a consumer who uses Mavericks 40-80 hours a week easy, I would love to see the following options:

1. AUTO-FIT COLUMNS in Finder (it's so basic)

2. TAG DOTS in their own column (not integrated in the far right of the name column!)

I would think those two things would really help with the overly long name columns, as well as make the name and tag columns more useful. Wish I was a programmer because I would love to fix this issue and share the solution with all others who are frustrated. OS-X is amazing, we just want it to get more amazing.

So far, the best solution I have found is using something called XtraFinder and adjusting the "Automatically adjust width of Name Column" parameter under the Features tab.

I finally broke down and wiped out both my MacBook Air and iMac, manually restoring data, and installing apps fresh. The re-install was straight to 10.9.4 and did not require any updates except the recent iTunes update. Fresh install and Finder columns are acting normally again, auto adjusting the columns to the total size of the window and opening up being able to view all the columns. BUT, I see that I still need to adjust the columns in folders from external drives and shares that were last viewed with the previous installation. Once I adjust, the adjustment is sticking and the columns work normally. Before I jump to too many conclusions, I'm going to spend the week and see if my frustration levels go back down to normal Mac levels from the current Windows levels. =) will report back. If it's a good week, you guys might want to consider doing a fresh install. In my case, I had gone from 10.7 to 10.8 and then to 10.9 on both machines. In the past, that would never had been an issue and maybe it won't be in the future but i would say the most issues occurred from 10.8 to 10.9. So while 10.9 might be wonderful on it's own, the upgrade process was not kind to me and I have not enjoyed using it with my laundry list of issues. With this experience in mind, I won't be rushing into 10.10 and when I do, I will be doing a fresh install and manually move my data, just like a windows upgrade. Doing that once a year is not so exciting.

Has anyone to tried Yosemite yet? Is this fixed in it?

I can't believe how hard it is for Apple to just get this right.

http://www.apple.com/osx/

It's supposed to be the most advanced operating system in the world. "...what makes a Mac a Mac". Easy to use, so everything works just the way you expected it to.

Well... Something as simple as adjusting the finder name column cannot be done? It makes sorting and finding files a slow process and cumbersome. Very inefficient.