Mac OS X - Finder Windows

| Toolbar | Column view navigation |

The Mac OS X Finder introduces two new elements to Finder windows. The first is the toolbar. The second is column view folder navigation, which also appears in open & save dialog sheets. It also introduces some new behaviors. For example, dragging a disc icon onto a folder will make an alias of the disc, but not copy it. Also, by default, opening a folder or disk does not open a new window but displays the contents of the folder in the same window (this behavior can be changed in the Finder preferences).

The Toolbar

The windows in the Mac OS X Finder windows have a customizable toolbar available which allows quick and easy access to a number of different Mac OS X functions.

Above is the default toolbar.

• 'Back' and 'Forward' - behave like web browser forward and back buttons as you navigate through your file systems
• 'View' - allows you to switch between icon view, list view and column view
• 'Computer', 'Home', 'Favorites' and 'Applications' - shortcuts to locations on your computer
  • 'Computer' - the top level of the file system which lists the disks you have available
  • 'Home' - your "home" directory on your computer which contains default folders for storing your application preferences, documents, movies, pictures and music, as well as your desktop folder (which is a visible folder in Mac OS X, unlike earlier versions)
  • 'Favorites' - your folder full of favorite locations, which can include documents, folders and even server locations
  • 'Applications' - your Mac OS X Applications folder, as opposed to the 'Applications (Mac OS 9)' folder
• 'Search' - quick and easy access to searching for files inside the location you are viewing

The toolbar can be customized by selecting 'Customize Toolbar...' from the 'View' menu in the Finder,. You can also add shortcuts to it simply by dragging an item up to the toolbar.

Column View navigation

Introduced and widely used in Mac OS X, column view provides a new way of navigating through your disks and folders on your computer. It works from left to right, with each column displaying the contents of the item selected in the column to the left of it. You can also get a preview column which will show a preview of a document if available as well as information about the file (size, date, etc.).

The columns can be resized by dragging the resize handle in the column dividers (looks like two verticle bars). This will resize all the columns in the window. To navigate higher up the file system, say all the way to the disk icons, you can use the scroll bar at the bottom of the window to scroll to the left.

Above is a typical sheet that appears when you select the command to save a document for the first time. To view the file system and navigate to a location other than the available default or favorites, you will need to click the square blue button with the large downward pointing triangle to the right of the "Where:" line. This will present you with a view of your files in column view.

Open... dialog boxes open in column view immediately because you need to be able to view the list of files. In all cases, you navigate the same way ... scrolling left to get to the root of the tree and navigating through your path.

Web site comments

Need immediate assistance? Call the HelpDesk at (715) 425-4357 (HELP)

Site Map  |