Q: desktop folders slow to open

If Step 1 doesn't complete in a reasonable time, go to Step 2.

Please open the Finder preferences window and select the General tab. What is selected in the menu labeled New Finder windows show?

Rebuild the Spotlight index. If you try to search now from the magnifying-glass icon in the top right corner of the display, there will be an indication that indexing is in progress.

Back up all data.

Triple-click anywhere in the line below on this page to select it:

~/Library/Caches/com.apple.finder

Right-click or control-click the line and select

Services ▹ Reveal in Finder (or just Reveal)

from the contextual menu.* A folder may open with an item selected. If it does, move the selected item to the Trash, thenrelaunch the Finder and empty the Trash. Test. If there's no improvement, repeat with this line:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

Move the selected item to the Desktop, leaving the window open. Log out, log back in, and test. If there's no change, put the item you moved back where it was, overwriting the one that may have been created in its place, and log out again. Otherwise, delete the item you moved.

*If you don't see the contextual menu item, copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combinationcommand-C. In the Finder, select

Go ▹ Go to Folder...

from the menu bar, paste into the box that opens (command-V). You won't see what you pasted because a line break is included. Press return.

Don't search. Please follow the instructions in my last comment.

Does that mean you still couldn't delete those files, or does it mean that you deleted them and there was no change?

Let's clarify something. You're getting a slow response when you select "All My Files." That's not a folder; it's a Spotlight search. When you open an actual folder, the response is normal. Is that correct? If it is, what about other Spotlight searches. Are they also slow?