Finder keeps crashing over and over

While I was out my MacBook Air unexpectedly restarted. When I started it up to try to use it again Google Chrome and Finder both kept crashing and would not open. Now Finder is continually crashing and trying to restart and nothing else seems to be working, not even my internet browsers. I’ve tried restarting my computer and I don’t know what else to do.

Posted on Nov 10, 2018 3:28 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Nov 12, 2018 2:36 PM

Hi michfromkitchener,

Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. I see you're running into an issue with your MacBook Air.

When your MacBook Air restarted, did you see any errors or alerts? Do you see any when the apps quit out?

Since you have a number of apps that seem to be quitting unexpectedly, booting your Mac into safe mode is a great start. This runs a diagnostic and then starts up without certain login items, so it's a great way to help with an issue like this. Here's how to Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac :

Start up in safe mode

To start up in safe mode:

  1. Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The Apple logo appears on your display. If you don't see the Apple logo, learn what to do.
  2. Release the Shift key when you see the login window. If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault, you might be asked to log in twice: once to unlock the startup disk, and again to log in to the Finder.

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

User uploaded file

If an issue doesn't happen in safe mode

If an issue doesn't happen when your Mac is started in safe mode, try restarting without pressing any keys.

  • If the issue comes back, you might have incompatible login items.
  • If the issue doesn't come back, it was probably caused by a cache or directory issue with your startup disk, which safe mode fixed.


Once you're in safe mode, try opening one of the apps you mentioned. Then, click the Apple menu () > Restart. Once you're back in normal mode, test it out.

If the issue persists, I recommend repairing your disk using First Aid next. Here's how to Repair a disk using Disk Utility on Mac :
  1. Print this page so you can refer to it later. (You don’t have access to the Disk Utility User Guide when you restart your computer in the next step.)

    In the Disk Utility User Guide window, click the Share button User uploaded file, then choose Print.

  2. Choose Apple menu User uploaded file > Restart. After your Mac restarts (some Mac computers play a startup sound), press and hold the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears, then release the keys.

  3. Click Disk Utility, then click Continue.

  4. Choose View > Show All Devices.

  5. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to repair.

  6. Click the First Aid button User uploaded file.

    If Disk Utility tells you the disk is about to fail, back up your data and replace the disk. You can’t repair it. Otherwise, continue to the next step.

  7. Click Run.

    If Disk Utility reports that the disk appears to be OK or has been repaired, you’ve finished. You can click Show Details to see more information about the repairs. Otherwise, you may need to do one of the following.

    • If Disk Utility reports “overlapped extent allocation” errors, two or more files occupy the same space on your disk, and at least one of them is likely to be corrupted. You need to check each file in the list of affected files. Most of the files in the list have aliases in a DamagedFiles folder at the top level of your disk.

      • If you can replace a file or recreate it, delete it.

      • If it contains information you need, open it and examine its data to make sure it hasn’t been corrupted.

    • If Disk Utility can’t repair your disk or it reports “The underlying task reported failure”, try to repair the disk or partition again. If that doesn’t work, back up as much of your data as possible, reformat the disk, reinstall macOS, then restore your backed-up data.


I hope the steps I've provided help to resolve this for you.

Kindest regards.
1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 12, 2018 2:36 PM in response to michfromkitchener

Hi michfromkitchener,

Thank you for posting in the Apple Support Communities. I see you're running into an issue with your MacBook Air.

When your MacBook Air restarted, did you see any errors or alerts? Do you see any when the apps quit out?

Since you have a number of apps that seem to be quitting unexpectedly, booting your Mac into safe mode is a great start. This runs a diagnostic and then starts up without certain login items, so it's a great way to help with an issue like this. Here's how to Use safe mode to isolate issues with your Mac :

Start up in safe mode

To start up in safe mode:

  1. Start or restart your Mac, then immediately press and hold the Shift key. The Apple logo appears on your display. If you don't see the Apple logo, learn what to do.
  2. Release the Shift key when you see the login window. If your startup disk is encrypted with FileVault, you might be asked to log in twice: once to unlock the startup disk, and again to log in to the Finder.

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

User uploaded file

If an issue doesn't happen in safe mode

If an issue doesn't happen when your Mac is started in safe mode, try restarting without pressing any keys.

  • If the issue comes back, you might have incompatible login items.
  • If the issue doesn't come back, it was probably caused by a cache or directory issue with your startup disk, which safe mode fixed.


Once you're in safe mode, try opening one of the apps you mentioned. Then, click the Apple menu () > Restart. Once you're back in normal mode, test it out.

If the issue persists, I recommend repairing your disk using First Aid next. Here's how to Repair a disk using Disk Utility on Mac :
  1. Print this page so you can refer to it later. (You don’t have access to the Disk Utility User Guide when you restart your computer in the next step.)

    In the Disk Utility User Guide window, click the Share button User uploaded file, then choose Print.

  2. Choose Apple menu User uploaded file > Restart. After your Mac restarts (some Mac computers play a startup sound), press and hold the Command and R keys until the Apple logo appears, then release the keys.

  3. Click Disk Utility, then click Continue.

  4. Choose View > Show All Devices.

  5. In the sidebar, select the disk you want to repair.

  6. Click the First Aid button User uploaded file.

    If Disk Utility tells you the disk is about to fail, back up your data and replace the disk. You can’t repair it. Otherwise, continue to the next step.

  7. Click Run.

    If Disk Utility reports that the disk appears to be OK or has been repaired, you’ve finished. You can click Show Details to see more information about the repairs. Otherwise, you may need to do one of the following.

    • If Disk Utility reports “overlapped extent allocation” errors, two or more files occupy the same space on your disk, and at least one of them is likely to be corrupted. You need to check each file in the list of affected files. Most of the files in the list have aliases in a DamagedFiles folder at the top level of your disk.

      • If you can replace a file or recreate it, delete it.

      • If it contains information you need, open it and examine its data to make sure it hasn’t been corrupted.

    • If Disk Utility can’t repair your disk or it reports “The underlying task reported failure”, try to repair the disk or partition again. If that doesn’t work, back up as much of your data as possible, reformat the disk, reinstall macOS, then restore your backed-up data.


I hope the steps I've provided help to resolve this for you.

Kindest regards.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Finder keeps crashing over and over

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