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Result of "show in finder" (among others) always points to my Home directory

After some months of running macOS Monterey, in several applications (for example Chrome, but not only), when I select "show in finder" after I've downloaded a file, it always shows my home directory although the file is somewhere else.


Yesterday I upgraded to macOS Ventura, and after a quick test, I was convinced that the issue had been solved... until it appeared again a few hours later!


In addition, if I have several finder windows open (for example in different spaces), each one showing a different directory, and if I restart finder (or if I log out and back in), then all windows show again in the various spaces as I left them, but all pointing to my Home directory.

I'm sure that it was not always so... what is causing this bug?


MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 13.2

Posted on Feb 10, 2023 1:28 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 15, 2023 7:52 AM

There are hundreds of horror stories associated with cmm, so whenever I see it, I have to flag it.

In this case, it does not appear to be the culprit.


Since the problem affects the Finder, it is worth deleting Finder preferences. This may help, and even if doesn't is otherwise harmless.


1) In Finder, press Command-Shift-G and paste


~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist


2) Drag the file out of the Preferences folder, and to the trash (or park it temporarily on the Desktop if you prefer).


3) Press Command-Option-Escape, select the Finder in the list, and click Relaunch


A new default preferences file is created automatically.


Adjust the preferences as needed, and test.

If the problem had been caused by corruption in the old preferences file, maybe you're in luck and all is well.

If not, and you feel so inclined, you may put the old file back.

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10 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 15, 2023 7:52 AM in response to Tifred

There are hundreds of horror stories associated with cmm, so whenever I see it, I have to flag it.

In this case, it does not appear to be the culprit.


Since the problem affects the Finder, it is worth deleting Finder preferences. This may help, and even if doesn't is otherwise harmless.


1) In Finder, press Command-Shift-G and paste


~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist


2) Drag the file out of the Preferences folder, and to the trash (or park it temporarily on the Desktop if you prefer).


3) Press Command-Option-Escape, select the Finder in the list, and click Relaunch


A new default preferences file is created automatically.


Adjust the preferences as needed, and test.

If the problem had been caused by corruption in the old preferences file, maybe you're in luck and all is well.

If not, and you feel so inclined, you may put the old file back.

Feb 10, 2023 2:37 AM in response to Tifred

Q - " After some months of running macOS Monterey, in several applications (for example Chrome, but not only), when I select "show in finder" after I've downloaded a file, it always shows my home directory although the file is somewhere else. "


A - The Only area of the Opening System the User has Directly Control over is the Home Folder ) User Account ) of this computer


A - Specific to Big Sur macOS 11, Monterey macOS 12 and Ventura macOS 13.


The Operating System resides in a Sealed and Read Only Volume that can not be opened by the User.


A - As to where the Downloads are being placed on the computer using Google Chrome or native Safari, the user maybe able to switch a download location to another location within the Home Folder

Feb 15, 2023 2:08 AM in response to Tifred

Tifred wrote:

And here's the result of another quick experiment: I have a Finder window open in 'list' mode, showing the content of a sub-sub-sub-directory. Then I click to show items 'as Columns'. Then it shows me the content of my Home...
Why?


Rereading this part, it is possible that this is NOT an error...

When in list mode, if you are seeing an open subfolder, you may still be techically in the containing folder.

For example:



Here we are seeing a file "README.md" that sits inside A11, a subfolder of A1, a subfolder of A.

But note that the window is in fact showing A, as seen in the title.

If you press Command-3 now, it will switch to Column View, showing... A.

Feb 10, 2023 7:53 AM in response to PRP_53

Thank you for these hints. Yes I know that I can select the download folder in Chrome, which I do for each file. But my point is that, in the past, Chrome was able to let Finder open the right folder when I clicked "Show in Finder", and now it always opens my Home directory.


Another annoying example: in Pages (but also in Numbers etc.), when I go to File > Open, and the file selector is currently pointing to a sub-directory (say: $HOME/dir1/subdir2/subdir3/) and I want to go one level up ($HOME/dir1/subdir2/) it then goes straight to $HOME instead of where I wanted.

Note that I'm using the presentation in columns, because I find it so convenient. Apparently what I've just described doesn't happen when using the list presentation.


Feb 15, 2023 5:43 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

Luis Sequeira1 wrote:

By a quick look at the report, I see that you have the hideous cleanmymac...

Completely uninstall that. There is no way to know what damage it may have done. Ultimately, a clean install may be needed.


OK, done - I didn't suspect that this program could be so bad...

But I'm quite sure that I installed it well after the issue first appeared. And I hardly used it, only running diagnostics once and not taking any action.


Result of "show in finder" (among others) always points to my Home directory

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