Finder issues? How to delete its preferences

Corrupted Finder® preferences may cause a variety of problems, including the Finder crashing or quitting unexpectedly.

This FAQ provides several methods for deleting the Finder preferences files:

  • com.apple.finder.plist: the primary Finder preferences.
  • com.apple.sidebarlists.plist : the Finder Sidebar preferences for those using Mac OS X 10.3 Panther or later.

These instructions are a subset of the comprehensive Finder troubleshooting information in our book Troubleshooting Mac® OS X.

Delete Finder preferences using Finder

  1. Open a Finder window and navigate to Home > Library > Preferences folder.
  2. Trash the file com.apple.finder.plist
  3. If you are using Mac OS X 10.3 or later, also trash the Finder Sidebar preferences file, com.apple.sidebarlists.plist
  4. Perform one of the following tasks:
    1. Log out, then in again.
    2. Relaunch the Finder by choosing Force Quit from the Apple menu, selecting Finder, then clicking the Relaunch button.
  5. Empty the Trash.

Delete Finder preferences using Terminal

If you cannot launch Finder, you can delete its preferences using Terminal.

  1. Oopen Terminal, located in the Applications > Utilities folder.
  2. Delete the primary Finder preferences file:
    1. At the Terminal prompt, type the following command exactly as written
      1. rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
    2. Press Return.
  3. If you are using Mac OS X 10.3 or later, delete the preferences for the Finder Sidebar:
    1. At the Terminal prompt, type the following command exactly as written:
      1. rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sidebarlists.plist
    2. Press Return.
  4. Perform one of the following tasks:
    1. Log out, then in again.
    2. Relaunch the Finder by choosing Force Quit from the Apple menu, selecting Finder, then clicking the Relaunch button.
  5. Empty the Trash.

Delete Finder preferences in Single-User Mode

If you cannot open Terminal, you can startup in Single-User Mode to delete the Finder preferences file.

1. Start up in Single User Mode using the instructions in the AppleCare Knowledge Base document "Mac OS X: How to Start up in Single-User or Verbose Mode."
2.

Follow the instructions in the AppleCare Knowledge Base document "Mac OS X: About Using Disk Utility and fsck for File System Maintenance" to run file system consistency check (fsck). This will check your hard disk for errors. Essentially:

  1. At the Terminal prompt, type the following command exactly as written:
    1. /sbin/fsck -fy
  2. Press Return.

Note: Pay close attention to the instructions in this AppleCare Knowledge Base document. In particular, after you have run fsck -fy once, if it indicates that File System was Modified, then you must run it again. It must be run repeatedly until it returns the message No problems found.

3.

After fsck -fy indicates the disk is OK (No problems found), mount the file system by typing the following command exactly as written:

  1. /sbin/mount -uw /

Be sure to note the spaces in this command: there is a space after mount and a space after -uw.

4. Press Return.
5.

At the Terminal prompt, type the following command exactly as written:

rm /Users/shortname/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

where shortname is the "short" name of your user account on your computer, most likely your first name. Note that the only space in this command is after the rm (remove) command.

6. Press Return. The primary Finder preferences file on your ID are now deleted.
7.

If you are using Mac OS X 10.3 or later, at the prompt, type the following command exactly as written:

rm /Users/shortname/Library/Preferences/com.apple.sidebarlists.plist

where shortname is the "short" name of your user account on your computer, most likely your first name. Note that the only space in this command is after the rm (remove) command.

8. Press Return. This deletes the preferences for the Finder Sidebar, again on your ID.
9. At the prompt, type reboot and press Return to restart in Mac OS X.

Did you find this FAQ helpful? You will find a wealth of additional advice for preventing or resolving Mac OS X problems in Dr. Smoke's book, Troubleshooting Mac® OS X.
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