Tips and Tricks

Finder Tips

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The Finder

The Finder is what most people regard as synonymous with the operating system (OS). In reality, this is not the case but the two are closely related.

The Finder is the "public face" of file system. It is the file system that stores and organises your files and documents on the computer's permanent storage device — generally the hard drive. The Finder is the application that displays icons for all the folders and files on your screen, and responds to double clicks on these icons to instruct the OS to perform actions such as launching (starting) an application or opening a file.

The Finder helps you organise your documents as well as applications.

Beginner

  • With rare exception, the Finder is constantly running.

  • When the Finder is the active application, its name will be in the Application Menu (next to the Apple Menu ).

  • The Finder has no quit command.

  • There are three ways of viewing items in a Finder window. You make your selection from the icons in the toolbar at the top of the window. The three choices correspond to:
    • icon view — items are represented by a thumbnail icon
    • list view — items are listed down the window, with details beside the name.
    • column view — items are listed by name only, and clicking on an item will bring up its contents (if a folder) or a preview (if a document).

Intermediate

  • If the Finder hangs (you get the spinning coloured "beach ball") you may need to force quit it. You can do this by control clicking on the icon on the dock then choosing "Relaunch" (the Finder is designed not to be quit, so automatically starts up again).

Advanced

  • In column or list view in a Finder window, holding down the command and options keys and dragging the mouse will turn the cursor into a hand and will let you scroll the window up and down, left and right.