
If you have a different favorite, tell me about it in the comments. My personal favorite is #2 for a benign restart, but I probably haven't discovered all the unique ways. If you run into a problem, one of these techniques should work for you. OS X will relaunch the Finder automatically. Enter the command: killall -KILL FinderĬ. The SSH daemon will probably be running even if the Finder is locked up.)ī. (If you can't do that from the Finder, try an SSH from another computer.
RELAUNCHFINDER MAC
The Terminal app on the Mac (or remotely)Ī. If that's not possible, log out then log in. Press Enter to force quit the application. Use the arrow keys to navigate and select the app causing the trouble.
RELAUNCHFINDER HOW TO
Here’s how to do it: Press Command + Option + Esc to open the Force Quit Window. Keep on holding till the screen goes blank. Hold down the Digital Crown and side button simultaneously on your Apple Watch. To relaunch, click the Finder icon on the left side of the Dock. You can also relaunch Finder using the force quit window to refresh your graphical user interface. With that out of the way well show you what needs to be done. In this technique, the Finder really is stopped for good and is not relaunched. The reason for that is that Force Quit is a brutal way to stop an app, and we always want to stop an app with the least force required in order to avoid potential damage to the system.į.
RELAUNCHFINDER WINDOWS
You can continue using any of the methods above to open additional Finder windows if you like. Right-click Finder in your Dock and select New Finder Window from the shortcut menu. If that doesn't work, try again with Force Quit. Do one of the following: Go to the menu bar and select File > New Finder Window. Click the "x" icon on the top left under the colored buttons.Į. Optional: Click the Process name header to alphabetize the process names. If you can, launch the Activity Monitor app from /Applications/Utilities.ī. Right-click the Finder icon in the Dock while holding down the OPTION key.Ī. Note, you can always open this window directly with CMD+OPTION+ESC.Ī. It says "Relaunch" instead of "Force Quit" - which is probably what you want. (Apps that aren't responding will be shown in red.) Note that the button in Force Quit is different for the Finder app. Hold down the SHIFT key and open the Apple menu.Īlternatively, you can simply select Force Quit and relaunch the Finder from the list of running apps. Make sure the Finder is the frontmost app.ī. For example, " Frozen: How to Force the Restart of a Mac."Ī. Worst case, of course, is a restart of your Mac. If the Finder is really hosed, you may not be able to launch apps as in technique #3 below and you may have to resort to Unix trickery as in technique #4. These techniques generally assume you are doing a configuration change that requires a benign relaunch (kill and restart) of the OS X Finder. Here are four different ways to handle the Finder with a view to a kill. Or perhaps you've made a configuration change that requires a Finder restart. (It is, after all, just an app.) Perhaps it's locked up. If you can’t see your recently uploaded or downloaded files in Finder, try checking your search settings.There are times when it's necessary to restart the Mac's Finder. Finder is as old as Mac itself, and there’s a reason it’s hard to replace it. You’ll now see an otherwise hidden Relaunch option, select it and Finder will quit and relaunch. Hold down Option and then right-click on the Finder icon in the Dock. Don’t want to dig out the Terminal or Activity Monitor to relaunch the Finder No sweat.

RELAUNCHFINDER MAC OS X
But if you have a great app like Finder, things become a little easier. Relaunch Finder from the Mac OS X Finder. Organizing your files can be quite a chore. These steps should make your greyed-out files and folders go back to normal. But you can change it to anything you want.
