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dragging and dropping files to folder - no longer alpha with new MacBook Air

Hello

I purchased my first MacBook in 2010 and recently got the MacBook Air. With my first MacBook I was able to drag and drop jpeg images in to a newly set up folder and the file names of the jpegs automatically alphabetized/sorted themselves. Now with my new laptop, this does not happen. Also, if I mistakenly drag a duplicate image, and then drag it to the trash, there's an empty space where the image used to be. With my older MacBook the adjacent jpeg would move into the empty space. Now it seems I have to do everything manually. Is there a way to change my settings to fix this? Thank you.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 29, 2020 2:09 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 29, 2020 3:44 PM

Hi Christine


Well, about sorting alphabetically, it should be done automatically when click the column Name.

There's also an option for you to keep folders above files in menu Finder > Preferences > Advanced.

Also check menu View > Show View Option and see if anything there might help you get the exact view of the files as you like.


About the blank spaces, that's a strange problem.

Let's first try some things to see if it gets any better

Reset SMC https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Reset NVRAM https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

Reboot your Mac holding Shift key to load Safe Mode. it's a longer boot because macOS does some maintenance under the hood and can solve some problems while doing it. I think that can help on that strange behavior in Finder when you delete files.

Check if you have those issues in Safe Mode.

Once done, reboot normally to see if it helped.


Also try creating a new admin user and check if that kind of behavior happens when logged in there. If not, you can move all your stuff over that user and delete the old one.


Last resort would be reinstall macOS.

You can do that 2 ways

First, make sure to backup your personal data to and external drive then create a bootable installer https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

And

1 - Simply reinstall macOS. It is design to save your data, so everything should remain as it is by now, but macOS files will be replaced with new ones.

2 - Make a clean install by erasing the disk before reinstalling macOS. This will get you a factory reset, then allow macOS to update everything, install your favorite apps and copy back your data from the external drive.

(Option 2 is always the best way to get you the top performance of your Mac. If you'd like to do it and need more help on it, let me know here)

Similar questions

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 29, 2020 3:44 PM in response to Christine Altieri

Hi Christine


Well, about sorting alphabetically, it should be done automatically when click the column Name.

There's also an option for you to keep folders above files in menu Finder > Preferences > Advanced.

Also check menu View > Show View Option and see if anything there might help you get the exact view of the files as you like.


About the blank spaces, that's a strange problem.

Let's first try some things to see if it gets any better

Reset SMC https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

Reset NVRAM https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

Reboot your Mac holding Shift key to load Safe Mode. it's a longer boot because macOS does some maintenance under the hood and can solve some problems while doing it. I think that can help on that strange behavior in Finder when you delete files.

Check if you have those issues in Safe Mode.

Once done, reboot normally to see if it helped.


Also try creating a new admin user and check if that kind of behavior happens when logged in there. If not, you can move all your stuff over that user and delete the old one.


Last resort would be reinstall macOS.

You can do that 2 ways

First, make sure to backup your personal data to and external drive then create a bootable installer https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372

And

1 - Simply reinstall macOS. It is design to save your data, so everything should remain as it is by now, but macOS files will be replaced with new ones.

2 - Make a clean install by erasing the disk before reinstalling macOS. This will get you a factory reset, then allow macOS to update everything, install your favorite apps and copy back your data from the external drive.

(Option 2 is always the best way to get you the top performance of your Mac. If you'd like to do it and need more help on it, let me know here)

dragging and dropping files to folder - no longer alpha with new MacBook Air

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