Tag Archives: Finder

fixed : use Window Tiling to quickly arrange windows on-screen

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Question :
Is there a way to quickly arrange the active windows of various apps on my macOS screen ?


Answer :
Yes, since macOS 15 Sequoia you can do this with the Window tiling option.

The main ways to use Window Tiling are :
1. using the on-screen buttons
2. using keyboard shortcuts

-1-
Window Tiling buttons
The Window Tiling buttons appear in a popup-screen when you hover the cursor over the GREEN button that’s top-left in every window, be it a Finder-window, an App-window, a Settings-window or any other on-screen window.

NOTE : there’s an extra option (almost hidden) here : the “Move to iPad”-button that enables you to move the active window to your iPad if it’s in the direct vicinity of your Mac (and connect to the same iCloud account)


-2-
Keyboard shortcuts
By pressing various key-combos on your keyboard you can also move the active window(s) – the primary 1, 2 or even 3 windows – to the desired half or quarter of the screen …and still leave the top menu bar and The Dock visible.
These are the main keyboard shortcuts for Windows Tiling :

[fn]+[CTRL]+[F] = FILL the entire screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[C] = CENTER the active window in the middle of the screen
[fn]+[CTRL]+[R] = RESTORE to the previous window location(s)

These are the keyboard shortcuts for filling only one half of the screen :

[fn]+[CTLR]+[RIGHT] = fill the RIGHT half of the screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTLR]+[LEFT] = fill the LEFT half of the screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTLR]+[UP] = fill the UPPER half of the screen with the active window
[fn]+[CTLR]+[DOWN] = fill the LOWER half of the screen with the active window

These are the keyboard shortcuts for filling both halves of the screen :

[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[RIGHT] = fill the RIGHT half of the screen with the active window AND the left half with the secondary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[LEFT] = fill the LEFT half of the screen with the active window AND the right half with the secondary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[UP] = fill the UPPER half of the screen with the active window AND the lower half with the secondary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[DOWN] = fill the LOWER half of the screen with the active window AND the upper half with the secondary window

And these are the keyboard shortcuts for filling one half and two quarters of the screen :

[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[RIGHT] = fill the RIGHT half of the screen with the active window, the left top quarter with the secondary window AND the left bottom quarter with the tertiary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[LEFT] = fill the LEFT half of the screen with the active window, the right top quarter with the secondary window AND the right bottom quarter with the tertiary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[UP] = fill the UPPER half of the screen with the active window, the left bottom quarter with the secondary window AND the right bottom quarter with the tertiary window
[fn]+[CTRL]+[ALT]+[SHIFT] +[DOWN] = fill the LOWER half of the screen with the active window, the left top quarter with the secondary window AND the right top quarter with the tertiary window

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : Finder does not list files and folders by name in alphabetical order

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Question :
I must have messed something up, but I can’t figure out how to get the original setting back… whenever I open a new finder window, the files are listed in the order of the date added, but I generally I don’t want that, as it’s usually easier to find files and folders when they’re alphabetically ordered by name… I have tried the switching the file arrangement setting (the Line-3squares-Line-3squares icon) to ‘Name’ but that doesn’t do the trick, and neither does setting it to something else and then setting it back to ‘Name’…

What can I do to fix this ?


Answer :
The soloution is simple, but it’s not in the place where you are looking.
What you are setting with the ‘file arrangement’ setting (the Line-3quuares-Line-3squares icon) is just the ‘chapterization’ of the files, so the ‘grouping’ or whatever you want to call it…

The solution to your porblems is in the ‘More’ setting (the ‘3 dots in a circle’ icon) :
– open a new finder window
– in the top bar of that Finder window, click on the ‘More’ button (the ‘3 dots in a circle’ icon)
– in the pulldown menu that appears, click on ‘Group By’
– in the second pulldown menu that appears, click on ‘Name’
…now the files wil be listed in alphabetical order

That’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

fixed : burn .iso to bootable Windows DVD-R in OSX 10.11 El_Capitan

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Question :

As I need to install Windows in Boot Camp mode on my Mac, I’m trying to burn an .iso disk image of Windows 7 onto a DVD-R from within OSX 10.11 El_Capitan.

But when I right-click on the .iso-file and select “Burn Disk Image “windows-7.iso” to Disc” from the popup-list, Β everything seems to go okay, but I end up with a DVD-R with just the .iso-file on it…

It’s not a bootable DVD-R of Windows 7 as I was intending to do… what is wrong ?

 

Answer :

In OSX 10.11 El_Capitan the procedure for doing this has slightly altered compared to previous versions of OSX :

  • right-click on the .iso-file and select “Open With” and then “DiskImageMounter(default)” from the popup-list
  • now the .iso will mount in the Finder
  • then start the Disk Utility application
  • in the window that opens, select the mounted .iso from the list on the left ; it’s listed with an unpronounceable name under “Disk Images”
  • then, in the top menu bar of the screen, go to “Images” and chooseΒ “Convert…” from the pulldown list
  • in the pulldown window that opens, select the original .iso-file and click “Open”
  • in the next pulldown window, at “Save As:” replace the temporary Untitled-name with the unpronounceable name of the mounted .iso you’ve seen before
  • then, at “Where:” choose a destination to create the converted .iso-file, and make sure “Encryption:” is set to “none” and “Image Format:” is set to “DVD/CD master” ; then click “Save”
  • now, a .cdr-file will be created in the location you selected at “Where:”
  • right-click on the .cdr-file and select “Burn Disk Image “[name].cdr” to Disc”
  • in the window that opens, select your SuperDrive (or external DVD-burner) and click on the triangular arrow at the far right side
  • the window will be extended, and at “Burn Options” choose the slowest speed possible (if this option is greyed-out, leave it as-is), and at “After Burning” choose “Verify burned data”
  • then put a DVD-R in your Superdrive (or external DVD-burner) and click “Burn”
  • now, the end result will be a bootable Windows installer-DVD

enjoy !

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fixed : animated GIFs not playing in Preview.app

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Question :

For my work I regularly get animated-GIF for online advertising campaigns send to me offline. As it turns out I can only view them in the Finder’s preview, but when I double-click on them, they open in Preview.app as a static picture…

What can I do ?

 

Answer :

As any .gif-file is considered as a picture by OSX, both static and animated GIFs will be opened in Preview.app by default. Too bad, but Preview.app can only display static pictures, no movies, nor dynamic pictures…

The solution is simple ; just make OSX by default open all .gif-files in an application that can handle animations, like your web browser.

to do so :

  • locate and select any of your animated .gif-files in the Finder
  • then press the [cmd]+[i] key-combo on your keyboard (a.k.a. “get info”)
  • in the info-window that opens, scroll down to “Open with:”
  • make sure the triangular arrow in front of “Open with:” is pointing down
  • if the triangular arrow isΒ pointing to the right, click on it
  • just below “Open with:” you will see “Preview (default)”
  • click on that, and change it to “Safari” (or any other application that can handle animated GIFs, if you don’t see the application you’re looking for listed, select “Other…” and select the one you prefer from you Applications folder)
  • then, don’t forget to click on the “Change All…”-button also

…that’s it, from now on, any .gif-file on your Mac will be opened in Safari (or your chosen alternative) by default, and you will see all animated-GIFs opened as animations when you lick on them.

enjoy !

πŸ˜‰

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fixed : shared disks not visible in Finder

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Question :

When I’m at home, I usually am able to see my Time Capsule in the paragraph named “Shared” in the shortlist on the left side of each Finder window.

But today, I don’t even see the “Shared” paragraph… How can I connect to my Time Capsule to view the files I’ve stored on it ?

Answer :

There can be several causes for your problem, but these two are the most commonΒ :

#1. you have accidentally switched off viewing of shared volumes in the Finder preferences

to correct this :

– click on the Finder icon in the Dock (the half-blue-half-grey square-face icon)

– then, in the top menu bar, go to Finder –> Preferences

– in the window that opens, click on the “Sidebar” tab

– then, in the “Show these items in the sidebar:” list, make sure there’s a checkmark in front of “Connected servers” (in the “Shared” paragraph)

– then close the Finder Preferences and you’re done ; enjoy !

#2. OSX has automaticallyΒ logged on to a different WiFi-network than your primary WiFi-network (getting logged on to your Guest-network can cause this problem for instance…)

to correct this :

– click on the AirPort/WiFi-icon in the top menu bar (the ‘piece of pie’-icon)

– in the list of available WiFi-networks that appears,Β click “Turn Wi-Fi off”

– then click on the AirPort/WiFi-icon in the top menu bar again, click “Turn Wi-Fi on”, wait for the available WiFi-networks to appear in the list, thenΒ select your primary WiFi-network to connect to

– this should resolve your problem, but to make sure your Mac won’t auto-connect to the wrong WiFi-network again, do this also :

– go to the Apple-icon (top-left in the top menu bar) –> System Preferences –> Network

– in the window that opens, select “Wi-Fi” in the shortlist on the left

– then click the “Advanced”-button

– in the window that opens, select the “Wi-Fi”-tab and scroll down though the list of “Preferred Networks:” until you come to the name of your Guest-network (or other WiFi-network you unwillingly connected to)

– then click on the ‘Minus-sign”-button to delete your Guest-network (or alike) from the list of preferred networks, then click the ‘OK’-button to save and exit

…that’s it !

enjoy πŸ˜‰

Note : if situation #1. occurs, your Time Machine backupΒ would still be operating, but if situation #2. is the case, Time Machine won’t be able to see your Time Capsule either, even if you have internet access…

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fixed : remove icon from behind the Dock

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Question :

I somehow managed to move an iconΒ to the outer corner of the Desktop in such a way that there’sΒ no way to select it and move it to another location (or trash it). The document icon even got placed behind the Dock, so whenever I try to select the icon, the Dock is in front of it, and I am selecting or activating something in the Dock…

How can I fix this ?

 

Answer :

If there’s a document icon (or app icon) on your Desktop that you can’t select to use or move the document (or app), try this :

– open the Finder

– in the Finder window that opens, select your Desktop, then select the file (or app)

– now move it to another location on your Mac ; to another folder or to a new folder

– then, when you go back to your Desktop, the file will be in folder you’ve just put it in

…and if you wish, you can even drag & drop it back onto any location on the Desktop.

That’s it !

Enjoy !

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