Relaunch Finder… from the Mac OS X Finder

May 12, 2011 - 5 Comments

Relaunch Finder from Mac OS X

Don’t want to dig out the Terminal or Activity Monitor to relaunch the Finder? No sweat.

Hold down Option and then right-click on the Finder icon in the Dock. You’ll now see an otherwise hidden “Relaunch” option, select it and Finder will quit and relaunch. It only takes a few seconds to reload.

Relaunching the Finder is sometimes necessary for troubleshooting reasons, but it’s also required for many Mac OS X interface tweaks to take effect, including many defaults write commands.

On the other hand, if you’re already in the Terminal with a defaults write command, maybe it’s easier to just type the standard:

killall Finder

This also causes the Finder to relaunch, as does killing it in the Activity Monitor… but if you don’t have to leave the Finder, why bother?

PS: For those wondering about the wallpaper, it’s this wood picture from my recent awesome wallpaper post.

.

Related articles:

Posted by: Paul Horowitz in Mac OS, Tips & Tricks

5 Comments

» Comments RSS Feed

  1. Krecci says:

    wallpaper link please?

  2. Valashtar says:

    You can also relaunch Finder from the Force Quit window by selecting Finder and then pressing the Relaunch button.

  3. Tom says:

    What wallpaper is that?

  4. Atul says:

    Just Option-RightClick on the Finder icon will do.

Leave a Reply

 

Shop on Amazon.com and help support OSXDaily!

Subscribe to OSXDaily

Subscribe to RSS Subscribe to Twitter Feed Follow on Facebook Subscribe to eMail Updates

Tips & Tricks

News

iPhone / iPad

Mac

Troubleshooting

Shop on Amazon to help support this site