TheFinder is the defaultfile manager andgraphical user interfaceshell used on allMacintosh operating systems. Described in its "About" window as "The Macintosh Desktop Experience", it is responsible for the launching of other applications, and for the overall user management of files, disks, and network volumes. It was introduced with theMacintosh 128K—the first Macintosh computer—and also exists as part ofGS/OS on theApple IIGS. It was rewritten completely with the release ofMac OS X in 2001.
In a tradition dating back to theClassic Mac OS of the 1980s and 1990s, the Finder icon is the smiling screen of a computer, known as theHappy Mac logo.
The Finder uses a view of thefile system that is rendered using adesktop metaphor; that is, the files andfolders are represented as appropriate icons. It uses a similar interface to Apple'sSafari browser, where the user can click on a folder to move to it and move between locations using "back" and "forward" arrow buttons. Like Safari, the Finder uses tabs to allow the user to view multiple folders; these tabs can be pulled off the window to make them separate windows. There is a "favorites" sidebar of commonly used and important folders on the left of the Finder window.
The classic Mac OS Finder uses a spatial metaphor quite different from the more browser-like approach of the modern macOS Finder.[1] In the classic Finder, opening a new folder opens the location in a new window: Finder windows are 'locked' so that they would only ever display the contents of one folder. It also allows extensive customization, with the user being able to give folders custom icons matching their content. This approach emphasizes the different locations of files within the operating system, but navigating to a folder nested inside multiple other folders fills the desktop with a large number of windows that the user may not wish to have open.[2] These must then be closed individually. Holding down theoption key when opening a folder would also close its parent, but this trick was notdiscoverable and remained under the purview ofpower users.
The modern Finder uses macOS graphics APIs to display previews of a range of files, such as images, applications and PDF files. TheQuick Look feature allows users to quickly examine documents and images in more detail from the finder by pressing the space bar without opening them in a separate application. The user can choose how to view files, with options such as large icons showing previews of files, a list with details such as date of last creation or modification, a Gallery View (replacing the previousCover flow inmacOS Mojave), and a "column view" influenced by macOS's direct ancestorNeXTSTEP.[3]
The modern Finder displays some aspects of the file system outside its windows. Mounted external volumes anddisk image files can be displayed on the desktop. There is a trash can on theDock in macOS, to which files can be dragged to mark them for deletion, and to which drives can be dragged for ejection. When a volume icon is being dragged, the Trash icon in the Dock changes to an eject icon in order to indicate this functionality. Finder canrecord files tooptical media on the sidebar.[4]
InSystem 7, Finder's UI is revamped and is updated to allow for native multitasking, taking most of its features from MultiFinder.
Mac OS 7.6 made drastic performance improvements by increasing memory allocation.[5]
Mac OS 8 redesigned the app to be based on the Platinum theme and rewrote it to be PowerPC-native, support 32-bit processors, and be multi-threaded. It also introduced pop-up windows, as well the Simple Finder, an option which reduces Finder menus to basic operations to avoid overwhelming new users.
Mac OS 8.1 changed the Finder's default file system to beHFS Plus.
Mac OS 9.1 introduced CD Burning and a new "Window" menu.
Mac OS X 10.0 revamped the Finder from the ground up in the Carbon API; its UI is also redesigned to useAqua with a web browser like layout, and removes CD burning, DVD burning, and colored labels.
Mac OS X 10.1 reintroduced CD and DVD burning support from Mac OS 9.1, as well the ability to hidefile extensions on a per-file basis. It also made significant performance improvements.
Mac OS X Panther revamped the app. It gained a brushed-metal interface, live search results, a customizable Sidebar, secure deletion,colored labels reintroduced from Mac OS 9,[6] andZIP support built in. The icon was also changed.
InMac OS X Tiger, the Window menu in the Finder introduced a "Cycle Through Windows" option, while the Get Info window for items in the Finder also added a "More Info" section that includes Spotlight information tags such as Image Height & Width, when the file was last opened, and where the file originated.
InMac OS X Leopard, the app is redesigned withskeuomorphic elements, alongside new features similar to those seen iniTunes 7, includingCover Flow and a Source List-like sidebar.
InMac OS X Snow Leopard, the app was rewritten from the ground up inCocoa, and gained support for 64-bit processors. However, it did not receive a major user interface overhaul.
InMac OS X Lion, the app received numerous improvements, such as the ability for Finder search to allow multiple search criteria to be specified without creating a smart folder as well as to offer suggestions, the ability for files to be grouped by various attributes, and the ability to merge files under two folders with the same name, though a prompt appears asking to replace or keep both files.[7][8] The navigation sidebar lost the ability to show the specific icon of a map[vague] or volume (by default; there is a hack to still add the old ability), instead it shows a grey standard map icon.
InOS X Mountain Lion, the Finder displays a progress bar in the "size" column when copying a file.[9]
InOS X Yosemite, the Finder is updated to include a refreshed user interface with updated typography and translucency, along with a new icon. Functionally, it also adds official support for extensions, allowing synchronization and cloud storage applications such asDropbox to display sync status labels inside the Finder display.[15]
InOS X El Capitan, the app gains a new security feature calledSystem Integrity Protection (SIP),[16] sometimes referred to as "rootless"[17][18]) that protects certain systemprocesses,files andfolders from being modified or tampered with by other processes even when executed by theroot user or by a user with root privileges (sudo). Apple says that the root user can be a significantrisk factor to the system's security, especially on systems with a single user account on which that user is also the administrator. System Integrity Protection is enabled by default, but can be disabled.[19][20]
InmacOS Sierra, the app gains an option to show folders always at the top of the view hierarchy, for instance in list views.
InmacOS High Sierra, the app adds support for features of theApple File System (APFS), introducing fundamental changes to how the Finder handles file operations such as copying, duplicating, and calculating file sizes through copy-on-write technology, resulting in faster performance and improved reliability when managing files.[21][failed verification]
InmacOS Mojave, the app now hasmetadata preview accessed via View > Show Preview. In addition, the software updates are once again performed from the app,[22] while a new Gallery View replaces Cover Flow, and lets users browse through files visually.[23]
macOS Big Sur introduces a complete graphical redesign of the Finder, along with the rest of the user interface, sporting the removal of the brushed metal interface elements, a full-height sidebar and all new iconography. Big Sur also slightly modifies the Finder icon with rounded corners.[26]
InmacOS Monterey, thetoolbar was given a redesign and a few new features introduced.
InmacOS Sonoma, the feature allowing all apps to be hidden was changed, previously, it required holding down the option key when the icon was tapped, though now, in merely requires pressing the icon on the dock.[28]
Stewart Alsop II in 1988 said "It is testimony to either the luck or vision of the original designers" of Finder that "the interface has been able to survive tremendous evolution without much essential damage" from 1984. He praised itsspatial file manager as "probably a more complete definition of a PC-based universe than any" competitor, with users able to seamlessly use floppies, local and remote hard disks, and large and small file servers. Alsop said that even if Apple had stolen Xerox's technology for Finder, it was now very different. While criticizing the lack of a right mouse button andMultiFinder's clumsiness, he concluded that "Apple remains the king of user interfaces. Finder is the only interface with 1.5 million people sitting in front of it daily. Apple is spending tremendous amounts of money on both development and basic research to remain the leader".[29]
Introducing Mac OS X in 2000,Steve Jobs criticized the original Finder, saying that it "generates a ton of windows, and you get to be the janitor."[2]
Ars Technica columnist John Siracusa has been a long-standing defender of the spatial interface of the classic Mac OS Finder and a critic of the new design.[30]Daring Fireball blog authorJohn Gruber has voiced similar criticisms. In a 2005 interview[31] he said that the Finder in version 10.3 of Mac OS X had become "worse than in 10.0" and that "the fundamental problem with the OS X Finder is that it's trying to support two opposing paradigms at once – thebrowser metaphor ... and the spatial metaphor from the original Mac Finder ... and it ends up doing neither one very well." Reviewing the same version of Mac OS X, Siracusa comments that the Finder "provides exactly the same self-destructive combination of spatial and browser-style features as all of its Mac OS X predecessors".[32]
Third-party macOS software developers offer Finder replacements that run as stand-alone applications, such asForkLift,Path Finder,Xfile,Bloom, andXtraFinder. These replacements are shareware or freeware and aim to include and supersede the functionality of the Finder. AfterMac OS X 10.4 Tiger the UNIX command line file management tools understandresource forks and can be used for management of Mac files.
There are minor differences between Finder versions and Classic OS to System 7. From System 6 onward, the version numbers are unified.
Since the introduction of Mac OS X, the largest rewrite of the Finder was with the 2009 release ofMac OS X 10.6, into theCocoa API, though little change was visible to the user.[33]
^"One more cool cat".The Baltimore Sun. October 30, 2003.Archived from the original on October 8, 2021. RetrievedOctober 8, 2021.Those nostalgic for Mac OS 9 will celebrate the return of colored file labels in this menu.
^"Finder". Apple Inc. Archived fromthe original on January 4, 2012. RetrievedAugust 26, 2014.
^"What's New in OS X".Mac Developer Library. Apple. June 8, 2015. At section OS X v10.11.Archived from the original on June 11, 2015. RetrievedJune 18, 2015.
^Alsop II, Stewart (January 18, 1988)."Apple's Finder: Maturity in UI"(PDF).P.C. Letter.4 (2):4–5.Archived(PDF) from the original on March 8, 2021. RetrievedNovember 23, 2017.
^Siracusa, John (April 2, 2003)."About the Finder..."Ars Technica.Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. RetrievedDecember 20, 2006.
