Mac OS X Mountain Lion Working with Finder

Mac OS X Mountain Lion

Working with Finder

Watch the video (3:17). Need help?

The Finder Window

• Double-click any folder on the desktop.
  
  Double-clicking a folder
  OR
• Click the Finder icon on the Dock.
  
  Opening Finder

The Finder window

Your Home Folder

To Open Your Home Folder:

1. Make sure that you are in Finder (the left side of the menu bar should say "Finder").
2. In the menu bar, click Go and select Home.
   
   Opening the home folder
3. Your home folder will open in a Finder window.
   
   The home folder

   Changing the View, Arrangement and Sort Options

   Mountain Lion allows you to change the way folder contents are displayed by changing the view, arrangement andsort options. This makes it easier to find the specific file that you're looking for.

   View Options

   Finder has four different view options to choose from. You may prefer to use just one all the time, or you can switch between them whenever you want.

   • Icon View: This is the default view. It displays the folder contents as large icons.
     Icon View
   • List View: This displays a vertical list of folder contents, along with details about each item.
     List View
   • Column View: This shows the current folder in a column, with the parent folder in another column to the left. If the Finder window is large enough, it will display several levels of folders, allowing you to see the location of the current folder. If you select a file, it will display a preview of the file to the right of the columns.
     Column View
   • Cover Flow: This is similar to List View, but at the top of the window there is a preview of the folder contents. Using your keyboard's arrow keys, you can easily flip through all of the files in the folder without actually opening them.
     Cover Flow

   No matter which view you're in, you can preview a file by pressing the space bar on your keyboard. This is known as Quick Look. It works with most common file types, but not all.

   Previewing a file with Quick Look

   To Change the Item Arrangement:

   With Mountain Lion, you can group folder contents by file type, application, date, size, or label. This is very useful when you have a lot of files in a folder.

   1. Click the Item Arrangement button and select the desired arrangement.
      Arranging by Date Created
   2. The folder contents will now be arranged into groups.
      After arranging the folder

   To remove the grouping, simply change the item arrangement to None.

   To Sort in List View and Cover Flow:

   If you are in List View or Cover Flow, you can sort the folder contents. This is similar to item arrangement, except it only puts the contents in order and doesn't group them. You can't use sorting and item arrangement at the same time, so you'll need to make sure the item arrangement is set to None.

   • Click a column header to sort by that column. For example, you can click the Size column header to sort by file size.
     Sorting by file size

   If you don't see the column you want, you can right-click any column header to select the columns that you want to show.

   Right-clicking the header to add columns

   Working with Files and Folders

   Watch the video (3:05). Need help?

   Now that you know how to use Finder, you can learn how to createnew folders, add shortcuts to the desktop, delete files, color-code folders, and unmount drives that are connected to your computer.

   Watch the video to learn how to work with files, folders, and more.

   
   

   Creating and Modifying Folders

   As you organize your files, you'll need to create new folders from time to time. Most of the time, you'll be creating folders within other folders, but you can also put them directly on the desktop. Once you've created a folder, you canchange its name or color-code it.

   To Create a New Folder:

   1. Navigate to the location where you want to create the new folder.
   2. Right-click and select New Folder.
      
      Right-clicking to create a new folder
   3. Type the desired name for your folder.
      
      Typing a name for the folder

   You can also create a folder by clicking File in the menu bar and selecting New Folder.

   To Rename a Folder:

   1. Click on the folder once to select it (do not double-click), and then press the Return or Enter key. The folder name should now be highlighted.
      The highlighted folder name
   2. Type the desired name for the folder.
      Typing a new name for the folder

   To Color-Code a Folder:

   1. Right-click the folder icon and select the desired color.
      
      Choosing a folder color
   2. The folder name will now show the new color.
      The folder name with the new color

      Creating a Shortcut to a Folder

      If you have a folder that you use frequently, you can save time by creating a shortcut (also called an alias) on the desktop. Instead of navigating to the folder every time you want to use it, you can simply double-click the shortcut and the folder will open. A shortcut will have a small arrow in the lower-left corner of the icon.

      To Create a Shortcut:

      1. Navigate to where where your folder is located.
      2. Hold down the Option and Command keys, and then click and drag the folder to the desktop. While you are dragging it, you should see a small arrow on the icon.
         
         Creating a shortcut on the desktop

The finished shortcut

Deleting Files and Folders

If you want to remove some of the clutter from your computer, you can delete files and folders that you don't need. This will move them to the Trash (which is just like the Recycle Bin in Windows). Then, if you're sure you want to permanently delete them, you can empty the Trash.

To Delete a File or Folder:

1. Click and drag the file or folder onto the Trash icon on the Dock. Alternatively, you can select the file and then press Command-Delete.
   
   Dragging a file to the Trash
2. To empty the trash, right-click the Trash icon and select Empty Trash. All files in the Trash will be permanently deleted.
   
   Emptying the Trash

On some Macs, right-clicking may be disabled by default. If you're unable to right-click, you can just click and hold the Trash icon until you see the Empty Trash option.

Ejecting Drives

When you connect a flash drive or external hard drive to your Mac, it is known as mounting the drive. Before you disconnect the drive, it's important to eject it (or unmount it) properly to avoid damaging the data.

To Eject a Drive:

1. Click the Finder icon on the Dock.
   
   Opening Finder
2. Locate your drive in the sidebar and click its eject button.
   
   Clicking the eject button
3. The drive will disappear from the sidebar and you can safely disconnect it from the computer.

If your flash drive appears as an icon on the desktop, right-click the drive icon and select Eject. The drive icon will disappear from the desktop. Alternatively, you can click and drag it to the Trash. It can then be safelydisconnected from your computer.

Ejecting a USB flash drive