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Image thumbnail stuck on screen

So my problem is that when I move files (mostly talking about images) a ‘ghost’ image of the file stays on my screen. This happens a LOT. When I force quit finder it disappears but I have to do that many times a day which is super annoying. Restarting did not help.

(Btw these images are in a folder, not on my desktop)


It’s a MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2017, 2,3 GHz Intel Core i5 processor, 8gb memory) updated to the latest version of High Sierra.


Can someone hlp me fix this issue?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2)

Posted on Dec 25, 2017 7:59 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Aug 10, 2018 1:21 AM

I have a quick and easy fix. Please let me know if this works for anyone else. This happens to me sometimes.


All you do is when this happens is go in finder or any file for that matter and use quick look. Hit the space bar several times (quick looking any file) and the "ghost file" usually disappears. It works for me all the time and you don't have to quit finder as well.

81 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Aug 10, 2018 1:21 AM in response to brn2bfly

I have a quick and easy fix. Please let me know if this works for anyone else. This happens to me sometimes.


All you do is when this happens is go in finder or any file for that matter and use quick look. Hit the space bar several times (quick looking any file) and the "ghost file" usually disappears. It works for me all the time and you don't have to quit finder as well.

Mar 29, 2018 11:01 AM in response to jcmdcp

My solution: Uncheck Look up & data detectors on System Preferences / Trackpad / Point & Click tab.

• Doing this it wont happen again!!!


(To get rid of the image stuck just Force Quit the Finder)

• Click on Finder, then click on Apple icon on the top left and click Force Quit, the image will vanish.


I will keep posting it but Apple should check further on this function and fix permanently the problem!

Oct 8, 2018 9:34 AM in response to brn2bfly

Well I have this problem as well, but on an iMac (New 18,3)....so the solution of turning off a function in the track pad is not a solution as I don't have any options under the Track Pad prefs. Restarting the Finder also doesn't get rid of the icons. See the Mar 22 icon that is stuck. This got left after using Launch Pad after launching the Menu Calendar app.

User uploaded file

Dec 26, 2017 1:45 PM in response to brn2bfly

Hi brn2bfly,

It sounds like you're having some trouble with Finder displaying items correctly. I want to help you have all the right icons showing for you, I know it's important to managing your data to have icons showing properly.

First, let's try starting in safe mode to see if you have the same issue.
Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac - Apple Support

If you're not having the issue in safe mode, it could be that some of your login items is causing the issue. To narrow that down you can turn off login items in System Preferences > Users & Groups > Login Items.

Let me know if that helps.

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.

Apr 4, 2018 10:05 AM in response to eqs_x

eqs_x wrote:


COME ON APPLE, USE THIS INFORMATION AND SEND AN UPDATE DISABLING THAT FUNCTION!!! Actually close this topic and add this solution as reply to the fist post as well or change this topic title to SOLUTION TO THUMBNAIL STUCK ON SCREEN or... (this if any Apple professional is looking at this post what I doubt by now) (4th reply)

Remember that Apple is not here. We're all just users like yourself. If you want to complain to Apple use this link: https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html

Feb 3, 2018 7:05 PM in response to brn2bfly

I‘ve same issue when working with photos. I’ve to force to restart the computer in order to get ride off it. It’s brand new computer, I wonder what cause the problem and want to fix it permanently. To force restart the computer is not a solution and won’t fix the problem.

Any Helps highly appreciate!

Feb 15, 2018 1:34 PM in response to Old Toad

I had the same problem (usually when exporting Photos from Lightroom and then importing them to Apple Photos). I couldn't reproduce it after starting up in safe mode (though I wasn't willing to try too long for all the graphics ticks that got on my nerves), but it hasn't happened so far after rebooting the computer again in the normal fashion.

(Macbook Pro Retina with Touch Bar, Mac OS X High Sierra 10.13.3)

Image thumbnail stuck on screen

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