Jimjam123
Level 1 (14 points)
Mac OS X

Q: Finder sidebar folder list disappears / empty

I notice that (with el capitan) my finder opens up with the sidebar empty, even though I have the standard folder list there, and a few favourites.

 

Is this a known bug, or does anyone know what may cause it?

Posted on Jun 13, 2016 5:59 AM

by thunderzzz,Solvedanswer
thunderzzz thunderzzz
Level 6 (8,379 points)
Notebooks
A:

Can you make screenshot? Navigate to Finder/preferences. Choose sidebar and check the list.

If it does not work:

Try opening the Go menu with the Option (Alt) key pressed - Library - Preferences and locate the file called ‘com.apple.finder.plist’. Move it to the trash and restart your computer. This should help.

Posted on Jun 13, 2016 6:05 AM

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Jimjam123

Q: Finder sidebar folder list disappears / empty

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  • Helpful answers

  • by dialabrain,

    dialabrain dialabrain Jun 13, 2016 6:05 AM in response to Jimjam123
    Level 5 (5,947 points)
    Mac App Store
    Jun 13, 2016 6:05 AM in response to Jimjam123

    Restart in Safe mode then restart normally.

    OS X El Capitan: Start up in safe mode

  • by thunderzzz,Solvedanswer

    thunderzzz thunderzzz Jun 13, 2016 6:05 AM in response to Jimjam123
    Level 6 (8,379 points)
    Notebooks
    Jun 13, 2016 6:05 AM in response to Jimjam123

    Can you make screenshot? Navigate to Finder/preferences. Choose sidebar and check the list.

    If it does not work:

    Try opening the Go menu with the Option (Alt) key pressed - Library - Preferences and locate the file called ‘com.apple.finder.plist’. Move it to the trash and restart your computer. This should help.

  • by Lexiepex,

    Lexiepex Lexiepex Jun 13, 2016 6:13 AM in response to Jimjam123
    Level 6 (10,477 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 13, 2016 6:13 AM in response to Jimjam123

    The easiest is this to reset Finder and everything:

    click the Apple icon (top left), select Forcequit, select "relaunch Finder".

    That should do it.

    If that does not work you can start SafeMode and restart.

  • by Jimjam123,

    Jimjam123 Jimjam123 Jun 13, 2016 6:22 AM in response to thunderzzz
    Level 1 (14 points)
    Mac OS X
    Jun 13, 2016 6:22 AM in response to thunderzzz

    This seems to be a bug with one of the recent el capitan updates - never did it before. But didn't think to "Navigate to Finder/preferences. Choose sidebar and check the list." again.

     

    So having done that, it now works. No doubt will at some point open up empty again, but atleast I don't need to restart to reset finder sidebar info. PS relaunching finder doesn't work.

  • by petergood66,

    petergood66 petergood66 Jun 23, 2016 3:43 PM in response to Jimjam123
    Level 1 (8 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 23, 2016 3:43 PM in response to Jimjam123

    This happens to me over and over again. It's completely random, especially when I do a 'save as' the sidebar is often empty. Why did I bother upgrading to El Capitan? It's the worst. with so many small glitches like this... I've seen the wheel of death more often since I upgraded than ever before.