zaib.r

Q: Finder Not Working

Hi everyone, I hope someone can help me out with this finder problem I am having.  It is not displaying any of my folders... Please see computer and problem details below.

 

Specs:

Product Name: Mac Book Air, 13 inch, Mid-2013

Processor: 1.7 GHz Intel Core i7

Memory:  8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Storage capacity: 499.42 GB

OS: OS X 10.9.2 (13C64)

Finder Version: 10.9.2

 

Problem:

When I open my Finder window, it doesn't not show me any folders or let me click on the screen and select anything.  It's as if the display area is messed up, when I open any other application, it takes on that applications background, and when I move it off the screen, it shows the dock...  Please see the image attached.  It works when I use other applications to open the Finder, like when selecting files to upload online.... 

Screen Shot 2016-03-14 at 8.33.19 PM.pngScreen Shot 2016-03-14 at 8.35.59 PM.png

Duration:

This problem started about 3 weeks ago, and at first, I would just relaunch the Finder and it would work, but now, its continually opens with this problem and the relaunching does not seem to solve it. 

 

What I've tried:

- Relaunching Finder

- Restarting computer

 

Any advice helps, thanks!

MacBook Air, OS X Mavericks (10.9.2)

Posted on Mar 14, 2016 5:44 PM

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Q: Finder Not Working

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Mar 15, 2016 7:51 AM in response to zaib.r
    Level 9 (69,813 points)
    iTunes
    Mar 15, 2016 7:51 AM in response to zaib.r

    Might be a corrupt .plist.

     

    Do a backup, preferably 2 backups on 2 separate drives.

     

    Go to Finder and select your user/home folder. With that Finder window as the front window, either select Finder/View/Show View options or go command - J.  When the View options opens, check ’Show Library Folder’. That should make your user library folder visible in your user/home folder.  Select Library. Then go to Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist.  Move the .plist to your desktop.

     

    Re-launch Finder by restarting the computer and test. If it works okay, delete the plist from the desktop.

     

    If the same, return the .plist to where you got it  from, overwriting the newer one.

     

    Thanks to leonie for some information contained in this.

  • by carramar30,Helpful

    carramar30 carramar30 Aug 18, 2016 4:12 PM in response to zaib.r
    Level 1 (88 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 18, 2016 4:12 PM in response to zaib.r

    The original post is a few months old but not clear if this was resolved. Just had the same issue on MacOS 10.9.5 and spent lots of time trying to figure it out, so posting this response if it helps anyone else out.

     

    Finally found it is a Google Drive problem with Mavericks - advice elsewhere is to either remove Google Drive or disable in Google Drive preferences the option "Show file sync status icons". Force Finder to relaunch or restart machine and should be fixed.

     

    A pretty nasty bug that still seems to remain in Google Drive - not sure if only affects Mavericks or other MacOS versions.

  • by MichelPM,

    MichelPM MichelPM Aug 19, 2016 4:41 AM in response to carramar30
    Level 6 (13,626 points)
    iPad
    Aug 19, 2016 4:41 AM in response to carramar30

    Good find!

    I was able to help a few users that I thought were having other graphics glitches and finder issues unrelated to this.

    Maybe you should post your solution here, in the Mavericks forums, as a brand new posting so others can find this more easliy.

    No one is going to really see your solution buried here inside another posting.

  • by Roger Wilmut1,

    Roger Wilmut1 Roger Wilmut1 Aug 19, 2016 4:52 AM in response to carramar30
    Level 9 (77,869 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 19, 2016 4:52 AM in response to carramar30

    carramar30 wrote:

    Finally found it is a Google Drive problem with Mavericks - advice elsewhere is to either remove Google Drive or disable in Google Drive preferences the option "Show file sync status icons". Force Finder to relaunch or restart machine and should be fixed.

     

    A pretty nasty bug that still seems to remain in Google Drive - not sure if only affects Mavericks or other MacOS versions.

    Thanks for that - I've had two or three minor occurences of this sort of thing apparently empty folders, or on one occasion part of an on-screen clock. I've modified the prefs as you suggest.

  • by carramar30,

    carramar30 carramar30 Aug 19, 2016 4:58 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1
    Level 1 (88 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 19, 2016 4:58 AM in response to Roger Wilmut1

    Roger

     

    After some frustrating searching, this is what led me to fix my problem ... and this is a few years old, but the symptom suddenly appeared yesterday ... and I have used Google Drive for years .... maybe they suddenly accidentally reintroduced the same bug ?

     

    https://www.maketecheasier.com/fix-google-drive-crashing-finder-in-mavericks/

     

    Chris.

  • by jon mooney,

    jon mooney jon mooney Aug 19, 2016 12:22 PM in response to carramar30
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Aug 19, 2016 12:22 PM in response to carramar30

    Thank you so much!!

     

    Spent the morning trying to troubleshoot this bug, Running 10.9.5 - my finder wouldn't open folders, screen redraws were all pixelated, went through hours of system resets.

     

    Almost was ready to give up and do full system reinstall which would have been a major headache and downtime at work.

     

    Turning off Google Drive solved all problems.

  • by laurent_m,

    laurent_m laurent_m Aug 21, 2016 3:23 PM in response to carramar30
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 21, 2016 3:23 PM in response to carramar30

    Thank you so much carramar30 !

    The same problem appeared last thursday. Your solution works on my imac running 10.9.5. I simply disabled the icons option on Google Drive, restarted the imac and everything is fine now.

    I posted a link to your post on a french forum: http://forums.macg.co/threads/problemes-de-fonctionnement-du-finder.1283820/

    Laurent

  • by HubCityGirl10,

    HubCityGirl10 HubCityGirl10 Aug 21, 2016 6:57 PM in response to carramar30
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 21, 2016 6:57 PM in response to carramar30

    Carramar30 - Thank you!  Your solution fixed my Finder! 

  • by jpughman,

    jpughman jpughman Aug 22, 2016 10:46 AM in response to carramar30
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 22, 2016 10:46 AM in response to carramar30

    Right on! Thanks for the very helpful post. Finder good again.

  • by andrehcampos,

    andrehcampos andrehcampos Aug 25, 2016 4:11 PM in response to carramar30
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 25, 2016 4:11 PM in response to carramar30

    Thank you for posting. Works to me.

  • by betsy_t,

    betsy_t betsy_t Aug 28, 2016 6:27 AM in response to carramar30
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 28, 2016 6:27 AM in response to carramar30

    Thank you very much, your solution worked. Cheers, Halo

  • by Mr. Easy,

    Mr. Easy Mr. Easy Aug 29, 2016 8:37 AM in response to carramar30
    Level 1 (59 points)
    Desktops
    Aug 29, 2016 8:37 AM in response to carramar30

    Maybe off topic, but if I backed up my external HD before learning how to remedy the problem, would this Google Drive bug also have been copied onto the external HD?  

  • by Eric Root,

    Eric Root Eric Root Aug 29, 2016 9:13 AM in response to Mr. Easy
    Level 9 (69,813 points)
    iTunes
    Aug 29, 2016 9:13 AM in response to Mr. Easy

    Probably, but you would then apply the fix posted above if you reinstalled.