Finder
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OP
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A couple of times today I managed to inadvertently ~ mindlessly quit Finder — thereby making all my Desktop folders disappear — via a combination of keystrokes which I can't recapitulate. And once that happens, I've had to restart or re-login to regain the Finder window.
Query: Is there any other means by which to relaunch Finder without having to restart or re-login, preferably via a keyboard shortcut?
Running Mac OS X Lion 10.7.5
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Re: Finder
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I take it you can't simply click on Finder's Dock icon to relaunch it? That works for me. (OS X 10.9.2, but I'm pretty sure it worked that way back in Leopard and earlier.)
Edit: Not sure how you're able to inadvertently quit Finder, though. AFAIK, the only way to invoke a Finder quit event within the normal user interface environment is by adding a Quit menu item to the app via Terminal's defaults write command, which I imagine you've not done. Seems more likely that Finder is quitting on its own, which would be symptomatic of some other underlying issue...
Last edited by dkmarsh; 04/26/14 03:13 PM.
dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
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Re: Finder
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I didn't think you could quit the Finder permanently. To me that speaks of greater problems.
However, to answer your question, Command-Option-esc (that last one is the "escape" key, upper left on your keyboard) will bring up the "Force Quit" dialog. In my experience if you Force Quit the Finder from here the Finder will automatically relaunch. Of course, if you have truly quit the Finder prior to this key combination, it may not show as an option in Force Quit. Still, worth a try.
On a Mac since 1984. Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
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Re: Finder
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You can Force Quit applications in a number of ways, starting with Command+Option+Escape to call up the Force Quit Applications window. Since Mac OS X won't let you to do that to the Finder except only transiently, that particular one is called ' Relaunch Finder'.
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Re: Finder
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If you did add a Finder Quit menu item—perhaps through a third party interface-tweaking utility—that could easily be ascertained by going to Finder's Finder menu and looking for, well, a Quit item. If that's the case, then your inadvertent quits would have been invoked, not surprisingly, by the ⌘-Q key combination while Finder was the active app.
dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
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Re: Finder
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OP
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... Command-Option-esc (that last one is the "escape" key, upper left on your keyboard) will bring up the "Force Quit" dialog. In my experience if you Force Quit the Finder from here the Finder will automatically relaunch. Of course, if you have truly quit the Finder prior to this key combination, it may not show as an option in Force Quit. Still, worth a try. That was my first thought when it occurred. But because Finder had quit, it was no longer part of the open items which could be force-quit or, in the case of Finder, relaunched.
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Re: Finder
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OP
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I take it you can't simply click on Finder's Dock icon to relaunch it? That works for me. ... Edit: Not sure how you're able to inadvertently quit Finder, though. ...
By George, I think you've got it .... I now believe that instead of the application I was trying to quit, I inadvertently was actually in Finder when I hit ⌘-Q. While formulating this response, I tried it out, and that's exactly what happened. Your recommendation to click on the Finder icon in the Dock (which I didn't even think of, since it's always there) resolved the problem straightaway. Merci à tous.
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Re: Finder
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If you did add a Finder Quit menu item—perhaps through a third party interface-tweaking utility—that could easily be ascertained by going to Finder's Finder menu and looking for, well, a Quit item. Tinker Tool will do this.
Jon
macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
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Re: Finder
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> ...I inadvertently was actually in Finder when I hit ⌘-Q. While formulating this response, I tried it out, and that's exactly what happened.
Is that new behavior? I'm unable to quit Finder with command-Q in Snowy. (Best I can do is command-H hide it.)
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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Re: Finder
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dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
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Re: Finder
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AFAIK, the only way to invoke a Finder quit event within the normal user interface environment is by adding a Quit menu item to the app via Terminal's defaults write command...
dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
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Re: Finder
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AFAIK, the only way to invoke a Finder quit event within the normal user interface environment is by adding a Quit menu item to the app via Terminal's defaults write command... I saw that, but grelber hasn't admitted to having done the deed...yet.
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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Re: Finder
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AFAIK, the only way to invoke a Finder quit event within the normal user interface environment is by adding a Quit menu item to the app via Terminal's defaults write command Another way is to create an AppleScript containing the single line: tell application "Finder" to quitand saving that as, for example, ~/Library/Scripts/Applications/Finder/"Quit Finder.scpt". While you're in AppleScript Editor, go to Preferences->General and put a checkmark on "Show Script menu in menu bar". Now, whenever you're in Finder, you can choose "Quit Finder" from the Script menu. Bring Finder back by clicking on its Dock icon. I've been doing that at least as far back as OS X 10.4 Tiger, and I think even before that. (I didn't start using OS X until OS X 10.2 Jaguar, and I think that's when I started doing this, but all the pieces were in place and would have worked even on OS X 10.0 Cheetah.) You can set the whole thing up without ever launching Terminal or any third-party apps. Once set up, it's a simple menu selection. Does that count as "within the normal user interface environment"?
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Re: Finder
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Does that count as "within the normal user interface environment"? Only if you consider AppleScripting to be "normal." Perhaps I should have said, "within the default user interface environment." Presumably, if one had compiled such a script, stuck it in the Scripts folder, and enabled the Script menu, one would have a hard time running it unwittingly.
dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
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Re: Finder
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OP
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To be clear: As noted in my earlier post, and as I just performed again (ergo, replicable), I merely have to be in Finder (as indicated in the toolbar at the top), hit ⌘-Q, et voilà , all Desktop folders disappear, the little white dot next to the Finder icon in the Dock disappears. Then when I click on the Finder icon in the Dock, all folders reappear instantly, as does white dot next to the Finder icon. I have never done AppleScripting (because I don't know how and have never found a reason to use it). Perhaps I'm using the wrong terminology when I say I quit Finder, but that's what I mean when I use the keystroke combination ⌘-Q.
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Re: Finder
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But you've never responded directly to If you did (inadvertently) add a Finder Quit menu item—perhaps through a third party interface-tweaking utility—that could easily be ascertained by going to Finder's Finder menu and looking for, well, a Quit item. (Emphasis added)
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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Re: Finder
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OP
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But you've never responded directly to If you did (inadvertently) add a Finder Quit menu item—perhaps through a third party interface-tweaking utility—that could easily be ascertained by going to Finder's Finder menu and looking for, well, a Quit item. (Emphasis added) I didn't do any of that (inadvertently or on purpose) and wouldn't even know how.
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Re: Finder
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Sorry, but does that mean that you've looked in your Finder Menu Bar for a "Quit" option and not found one?
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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Re: Finder
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OP
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No, there is a Quit Finder with keystroke pattern ⌘Q appended to the right of the specification (last item in the drop-down menu). That option came with Lion, and I've never messed with it. My point was originally that I was unaware of being in Finder when I used the shortcut; I thought I was in some other application (eg, Word) and tried to quit it. My fingers did not do their bidding correctly.
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Re: Finder
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Got it, but now your situation has turned anomalous: You seem to be the only user here with an apparently default "Quit Finder" option in your Menu Bar. (I haven't got one in 10.6.8.)
The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.
In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
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Re: Finder
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I didn't do any of that (inadvertently or on purpose) and wouldn't even know how.
You might not know how to do any of that on purpose, but almost by definition, you could have done so inadvertently without being any the wiser. I seem to recall your having installed OnyX a while back. A simple inadvertent click in one checkbox out of multiple dozens is all it would have taken...
dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
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Re: Finder
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That option came with Lion, and I've never messed with it. I would be very interested in documentation of this assertion. I've never run Lion, but using Google, I have been unable to turn up a single reference supporting it. Does Pogue provide menu-by-menu coverage of Finder?
dkmarsh—member, FineTunedMac Co-op Board of Directors
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Re: Finder
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OP
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I didn't do any of that (inadvertently or on purpose) and wouldn't even know how.
You might not know how to do any of that on purpose, but almost by definition, you could have done so inadvertently without being any the wiser. I seem to recall your having installed OnyX a while back. A simple inadvertent click in one checkbox out of multiple dozens is all it would have taken... You are, of course, right (as usual). I just assumed, now having looked for the Quit Finder command in the drop-down menu for the first time ever, that it was original to Lion. I installed OnyX some time back and ran bits of it once or twice (and got a tad freaked out by its machinations); it must have installed the Quit Finder command "surreptitiously". I think I'll open OnyX and see if I can remove that option. Does Pogue provide menu-by-menu coverage of Finder?
No. That's the first place I checked before posting the query in FTM.
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Re: Finder
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I think I'll open OnyX and see if I can remove that option. Hah! I opened Onyx and searched until I hit Parameters > Finder > Finder Menu > Show Quit Finder, which was enabled (apparently by default); I unchecked/disabled the feature, and it disappeared from the menu. I then tried the Quit command while in Finder, and it didn't quit Finder (as one would hope). Amen to all of that.
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Re: Finder
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Got it, but now your situation has turned anomalous: You seem to be the only user here with an apparently default "Quit Finder" option in your Menu Bar. (I haven't got one in 10.6.8.) Grelber is not the only one here that has the Finder > Quit (also command+Q). I have had it for several years and honestly do not remember in what version of OS X it began in. FWIW I have found it very useful when some Finder operation gets hung and use it reasonably often. It is a useful tool.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
— Albert Einstein
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