Friend was putting Mail shortcut back into the dock (she has laptop), instead dropped it into "Places". Now it is not in the Applications folder. I don't know how to get it back where it belongs. She knows NOTHING about running her computer. I've accidentally dropped things in "Places" but have removed them. The Mail app will not be moved from there, apparently. Any help will be appreciated.
laptop running Snow Leopard
Sorry to hear you are having these issues; a file or app going missing or ending up in the wrong place is always frustrating. I’m sure we can help get this sorted out for you. There were a couple of things I wanted to clarify, though:
1. When you are referring to the Mail application ending up in “Places”, I’m a little unclear as to exactly where you are referring. Are you referring to a part or subset of the Dock, somewhere in the sidebar of the Finder window, etc? The names of these areas may have changed between OS versions, so I just want to be sure we are talking about the same thing.
2. If you right click or Control-click on the Mail icon in Places, does it give you any options? If so, what are they?
3. If you search for the Mail application in Spotlight, does it turn up anything?
Let us know, and we’ll see if we can’t find the trick to sorting it out.
Hi Brenden,
To clarify: When I click on the Macintosh HD icon, there is a list of stuff to the left on that window.....Devices, Places, Search For. The Mail program mistakenly got dropped in the places list (my cousin just won't use a mouse with her laptop. I'm not sure if you call that the Finder window :-).
Mousing over the icon does nothing; right-clicking it opens Mail, as does left-clicking it.
Doing a search for Mail in Spotlight says that its path is Applications but there is a blank spot where it should reside in Applications.
Thanks for responding; I really appreciate it.
Ah, ok, that does make it more clear. That "Places" area in the Finder window sidebar has changed names several times (IIRC, originally it was Locations, then it changed to Places, and now it's listed as Favorites). It is a bit unusual that you are not seeing a contextual pop-up menu when you right click on it in that Places section; you may want to specifically try the Control-click method, just in case the right click setting isn't enabled. You may also want to take a look at the Sidebar settings (Finder menu > Preferences > Sidebar) to see what options it is showing.
Also, when you say that there is a "blank spot" in Applications, do you mean that it's simply not there, or that there is actually an empty spot taking its place? If you change the view to List View and sort by name, is there anything around the "M" section? Since you said that your friend was originally trying to add the Mail icon back to the Dock, you can also try dragging the icon from Places directly to the Dock and see if it will add it.
Cheers
Hi Brenden, Sorry for the delay in replying--just worked 3 12-hour days (5:45-6pm), grueling for me.
The blank spot: an actual empty space that took the Mail program's place. Dragging the icon from Places to the dock DOES put it there as a short cut. Is the control-click done by hitting the control key and then left clicking on it? I will drag out her computer tomorrow and check the rest of the things you so kindly mentioned. It's about 7:30 PM here. I am very tired, ache, and need to shower off the crap from work. Thank you so much for your interest so far. Bye for now.
See if you can find the file using this program. If you go Finder/View/Show Path Bar, it will show you where it is located.
How to restore Mail program to Applications--it's in "Places" now
