Customize Your Mac Finder Sidebar

[@georgedavis-stewart4225]

Excellent as ever. Thanks.

[@danuff]

I've been using Macs for years and didn't know all of these. As always, thanks for these tips.

[@ClitGPT]

Yeah, there are people working for Apple that are still learning from Gary...

[@grahamdefreitas1424]

This was excellent. The saved Search tip will be very helpful for my work. Thanks Gary!

[@Greg-fg1rd]

Appreciate the info. Definitely learned enough to be more creative in using the Side Bar. Thanks,

[@davidgagnon5360]

Even when you explain something I believe I fully understand, there are always a few gold nuggets I didn't know about: you're a real magician, Gary!

[@sdflyer1672]

Thank you, Gary! I've learned so much from your tutorials!! 👍

[@carlupthegrove262]

You always show something I didn't know existed... many thanks

[@NishantRajKetan]

Just Excellent Useful Informative

[@2yankees517]

i keep my work folders in my sidebar favorites. w/in each folder, I have a folder hierarchy consisting of the numbers 0 - 4. Noticing in some of the folders, the "sort by name," doesn't always keep my top folder as "0," which is what I want. Some folders keep this arrangement (0-4 top to bottom), but others don't? Thoughts?

[@macmost]

Hard to say without seeing it. Check all of the Finder settings and the View settings for that folder carefully.

[@chucksaeger7500]

If you’re seeing files listed that don’t show a “size”, is that an indication of a shortcut to that file? Thanks for everything!

[@macmost]

Probably could mean many things. It is easy to see if it is an alias (proper term) to a file. Just get Info and it shows Kind: Alias. Or, look for the little curved arrow in the icon.

[@mvl6827]

Instead of using the Finder sidebar, you could put files that you are (temporarily) using a lot on the desktop. Very easy to access.

[@macmost]

That works in some situations. But often it would mean separating that file from the others related to it. Like if you have a folder Project A and there are 10 files related to that project. You would want to keep them all together.

[@Slurkz]

I wish Apple would bring back the options to have colored icons / folders for at least the sidebar. Especially if you have a crowded sidebar, colors enable you to find the right item in a split second instead of seconds. Great video! Thanks Gary 💜

[@macmost]

You probably mean "labels" right? Those weren't colored icons or folders, but just a color indicator in the Finder. It is still there, but expanded into Tags. The main difference is you could only apply one label to a file, but multiple tags. So it is nor represented with a color dot instead of a solid color background as it needs to show multiple tags.

[@Erin-Thor]

Do you remember when color screen Mac’s first came out, and there were a bunch of angry businesses angry because of a bug. Delete a colored folder, and ALL folders of that color network wide would be deleted. 😂

[@macmost]

@@Erin-Thor I don't remember that.

[@Erin-Thor]

@@macmost I remember reading that in MacWorld magazine a long, loooooong time ago.

[@Slurkz]

@@macmost Thanks for your suggestion, but I was actually referring to the colourful sidebar from before OS 10.6. I can't link here, but I'm sure there will be some examples in Google images. With those colours it used to be so much faster to find the most important sidebar items within just the blink of an eye. Losing that efficiency is still a frequent frustration for me.

[@carolinebarlow4795]

Thanks very much, Gary, for this informative video! Some very helpful suggestions here.

[@razvanmihai4884]

Great tutorial once more! I see several use cases for the save search feature you demonstrated at the end of the video. I've saved my local apps, mostly "Add to Doc" from Safari, as a search named Applications-Local, then added it to the sidebar. This trick is helpful because adding the local app folder directly to the sidebar cause confusion with the Global Applications folder having the same name and icon.

[@ianskinner6837]

Very useful as ever - TY

[@aram5642]

I always create a folder named Screenshots which I have in the sidebar, and this is destination folder for all my screenshots in every screenshot app I happen to use. A great time saver and Desktop de-clutter.

[@flanerpete2040]

Why does my SanDisk 128GB show up under Locations twice in the sidebar? After restarting my Mac Studio M2 Max, only one flash drive is displayed, but after a while, the second one is displayed. Both of them show the exact same files.

[@macmost]

Sounds like a bug. Maybe the drive has a small connection issue or something.

[@flanerpete2040]

@@macmost Ejected and reinserted the drive and so far, so good. Thanks.

[@ZeevBenDavid]

subscribed to your channel a while ago... i am new to MacOS only for the last 5 months, and i learn a lot from each and every video you post. thanks a lot

[@valedurov3913]

Hi, how to add "Photos" to the sidebar (not "Pictures")?

[@macmost]

Photos in an app, not a folder. You would normally access it by running it from the Dock, for instance. Or LaunchPad. Or any way you want to launch apps.

[@greebo7857]

Another thing I find useful. If you have the screen real estate you can right click on anything in the sidebar to open it in a new tab.

[@monizfilms]

Great tips Gary. I don't have a Current Folder in my Documents. Is that a Smart Folder you created?

[@macmost]

It is just a regular folder I created. Create whatever folders you want there.

[@monizfilms]

@@macmost thanks Gary, I thought it was a smart folder with the current files that you were working within the last month or something. Thanks again.

[@lonnb5242]

I always learn something new AND useful!!

[@AlessandraCAmaro]

I don't have that finder thing on the top of my mac, I don't get it

[@macmost]

What do you mean by "finder thing" exactly? Do you mean you don't see the word "Finder" in the Menu Bar at the left? If so, then you are currently using another app. Switch to the Finder with the App Switcher or the Dock.

[@СвободуЧервінськомуіДудіну]

Like 👍👍👍

[@juwright1949]

excellent!

[@carlgehriger6732]

Is there a way to add Google Drive?

[@macmost]

I think if you install Google's app for it you can. I don't use that myself.

[@ateliercunha2876]

Hello, is it possible to increase or decrease the body of the text in the sidebar, as is done for example within windows and folders on the desktop? Thank you very much for your help. Best Regards.

[@macmost]

Not sure what you mean. The "body of the text"?

[@ateliercunha2876]

Font size ,-) in the Sidebar items.

[@macmost]

@@ateliercunha2876 Oh, "size." You can enlarge it in System Settings, Accessibility, Display, Text Size. But if you are having trouble seeing the sidebar text, then you are probably have trouble seeing other text as well so you may want to simply change your screen resolution. Other ideas: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJeog6B_nKyta5Y

[@ateliercunha2876]

@@macmost Done .-) Thanks a lot. Regards.

[@pitsnipe5559]

Never knew this was a feature, thanks!

[@javtimestwo]

You consistently produce videos that are not only something I had no idea was possible but also something very relevant & tips I can apply day to day. Keep up the great work! Q: In the finder do you use tags often? If yes, what is the benefit? I don't use them. I literally forget about them but maybe I should in the future?

[@macmost]

Do you mean tags? I don't use them all that often. I keep everything neat and organized in folder based on the project. If I worked in a more business-like environment (reports, meetings, etc) I probably would though.

[@stephenbridges2791]

Very good tips. Nice job.

[@loisskiathitis8926]

Pardon my tardiness! A very useful and informative video tutorial today! I always learn something new! Thank you, Gary!👏🏻❤️

[@AnilAtluriWord]

Wonderful Gary.

[@MaiElizabeth]

I always find tags useless and actually annoying.

[@macmost]

How can they be annoying if you don't use them though?