vegarduy

Q: Finder suddenly quits, unable to soft restart and/or update

Hi,

 

I have a MacBook Pro Retina 2012, 2.6 i7, 16GbRAM, 1600MHz running El Capitan 10.11.1

 

The problem is that the finder app occasionally quits, and is impossible to restart. I notice predominantly due to the sudden disappearance of all icons on the desktop, and no menu bar. The dock still works, and I can use spotlight to start any app I want, but not finder. If I try to launch finder through spotlight, I get an error saying something like "The Finder application is no longer running".

 

I'm also unable to do any updates due to the fact that the machine is only hard-restartable, i.e. I can't shut it down or restart it from any menu - I have to do a long key press on the power button and then start the machine again. The update software asks me to do restarts to complete updates, but nothing happens when I do the hard restart.

 

I've also tried to find anything about this in the logs as suggested in other posts, but after entering "finder" into the filter-box, nothing remains in the list.

 

Looking forward to fix this problem, and not having to restart manually 10 times a day....

MacBook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Jun 8, 2016 1:06 PM

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Q: Finder suddenly quits, unable to soft restart and/or update

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  • by alex_oz,

    alex_oz alex_oz Jun 9, 2016 8:27 AM in response to vegarduy
    Community Specialists
    Jun 9, 2016 8:27 AM in response to vegarduy

    Hello, vegarduy!

     

    I know I rely on my Mac to work properly at all times and understand the need to be able to update. I would suggest trying a reboot to Safe Mode to see if you might be able to get the update installed as well as see if the Finder issue is happening there as well. Check out this article here: Try safe mode if your Mac doesn‘t finish starting up Even though the Mac is starting up, Safe mode will help eliminate startup issues that could cause these situations you're having.

    Starting up in safe mode

    Follow these steps to start up into safe mode.

    1. Start or restart your Mac. 
    2. Immediately after you hear the startup sound, press and hold the Shift key.
    3. Release the Shift key when you see the Apple logo appear on the screen.

    After the Apple logo appears, it might take longer than usual to reach the login screen or your desktop. This is because your Mac performs a directory check of your startup disk as part of safe mode.

    To leave safe mode, restart your computer without pressing any keys during startup.

    If you don't hear a startup chime after pressing the power key, see what to do if your Mac won't turn on.

    If you're using FileVault

    If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault, you can still hold down the Shift key immediately after powering on your Mac to start up in safe mode. You might be prompted to log in twice as part of this process – first to unlock the startup disk, and a second time to log into the Finder. You can let go of the Shift key after you see the first login screen.

     

    If those steps don't help, check and see if the issue happens with a Test user by following this article: How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac. The Test user will let you see if the issue is user specific or system wide.

     

    Cheers!