<img class=”alignleft” src=”http://www.kirkville.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Isierra-finder-prefs.png” alt=”Sierra finder prefs” border=”0″ width=”300″ ” />I don’t plan to write extensively about macOS Sierra or iOS 10; plenty of other websites will offer thorough coverage of these new Apple operating systems. I will, however, highlight some of the small, overlooked features I come across as I use the betas.
Here’s one from the macOS Finder. There are two new preferences, that will be useful for some people. The first lets you tell the Finder to automatically delete item from the Trash after 30 days. I know a lot of people who never empty the Trash, until they eventually run out of space on their Macs. This will help them, since items in the Trash will be deleted automatically. Unfortunately, this setting of 30 days is a long time; I think a week would be better, or perhaps a menu with several choices, such as On Shutdown, One Day, One Week, One Month.
The second setting makes for better file viewing when you view files in the Finder in list mode, and sort by name. Folders will display at the top of the list, instead of mixed into the list in alphabetical order. So you’ll see files and folders like this:
This makes it a lot easier to quickly spot and find folders in a window with a variety of items.
Hooray! No more naming my folders to begin with a hyphen or a space!
Hooray! No more naming my folders to begin with a hyphen or a space!
For the folders, I’d just prefer Finder gain a feature: “Headers”. Like with Excel worksheets, having a Window in List view combined with Finder:File:Add to|Remove from Header (also in context menu) and Finder:View:Show|Hide Header commands would be more powerful than an across the board solution like they’ve done. Headers would sit at the top of the Window List, and not scroll, just like in a spreadsheet. (Perhaps, make them collapsable with a widget similar to the show|hide Predictions on the iOS keyboard.)
I understand they’re aping Windows and Linux convention, so perhaps facilitating both would be the best way forward. But after all these years, I’d really just like the Finder to become MORE powerful, not merely gain “features” that switchers are looking for.
You can get what you want by putting those folders into the Sidebar, or on the Toolbar.
I think you’re missing the point…
For the folders, I’d just prefer Finder gain a feature: “Headers”. Like with Excel worksheets, having a Window in List view combined with Finder:File:Add to|Remove from Header (also in context menu) and Finder:View:Show|Hide Header commands would be more powerful than an across the board solution like they’ve done. Headers would sit at the top of the Window List, and not scroll, just like in a spreadsheet. (Perhaps, make them collapsable with a widget similar to the show|hide Predictions on the iOS keyboard.)
I understand they’re aping Windows and Linux convention, so perhaps facilitating both would be the best way forward. But after all these years, I’d really just like the Finder to become MORE powerful, not merely gain “features” that switchers are looking for.
You can get what you want by putting those folders into the Sidebar, or on the Toolbar.
I think you’re missing the point…
How is the second feature different than what we can currently do by arranging a list view by kind? What am I missing here?
Sort by Kind, and the Finder sorts files according to the alphabetical order of the Kind (Ailas, Document, Folder, PDF, etc.). This sorts by name, and puts folders before documents.
How is the second feature different than what we can currently do by arranging a list view by kind? What am I missing here?
Sort by Kind, and the Finder sorts files according to the alphabetical order of the Kind (Ailas, Document, Folder, PDF, etc.). This sorts by name, and puts folders before documents.
Is this optional?
I’m sure it’s not optional to have the preferences. But the word “preferences” kind of implies, you know, options.
SorrYou I wasn’t clear. Is there an option to turn off the sorting of folders first?
:facepalm:
The check box in the Finder Preferences with “Keep folders on top when sorting by name” next to it would indicate that it is, indeed, optional – and turned off (unchecked) by default.
…diving under the table in embarrassment…
I should read more carefully. Thanks for setting me straight.
Is this optional?
I’m sure it’s not optional to have the preferences. But the word “preferences” kind of implies, you know, options.
SorrYou I wasn’t clear. Is there an option to turn off the sorting of folders first?
:facepalm:
The check box in the Finder Preferences with “Keep folders on top when sorting by name” next to it would indicate that it is, indeed, optional – and turned off (unchecked) by default.
…diving under the table in embarrassment…
I should read more carefully. Thanks for setting me straight.
I really hate having folders on top. I consistently hated it on windows when I was forced to use it for work and could never find anything straight away because I had to wade through a page of folders before finding any files. (In a large project with limited structure and both a lot of files and folders at one of the levels.) It does not make my day happy to see the option here, and makes it just more confusing that alphabetic sort is no longer alphabetic…
It’s just an option.
I really hate having folders on top. I consistently hated it on windows when I was forced to use it for work and could never find anything straight away because I had to wade through a page of folders before finding any files. (In a large project with limited structure and both a lot of files and folders at one of the levels.) It does not make my day happy to see the option here, and makes it just more confusing that alphabetic sort is no longer alphabetic…
It’s just an option.
Off topic, but have you noticed that in icon view Sort by Name now goes across then down? After 20+ years of using icon view it’s frustrating, and moreso because I can’t find a preference setting for this.
Yeah, I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to figure out how to get it back to the way it was. I’m lost now when looking at folders in icon view. If I do figure it out, I’ll post an article.
Did you ever figure this out? Many thanks
Off topic, but have you noticed that in icon view Sort by Name now goes across then down? After 20+ years of using icon view it’s frustrating, and moreso because I can’t find a preference setting for this.
Yeah, I spent a lot of time yesterday trying to figure out how to get it back to the way it was. I’m lost now when looking at folders in icon view. If I do figure it out, I’ll post an article.
Did you ever figure this out? Many thanks