OS X Mountain Lion Bible

Summary

The Finder is an application in its own right, so it has specific menu options in its menu bar, including options to create several types of folders, to open files and servers, get item information, make aliases, control the display of Finder windows' elements, and eject discs. Because the Finder is an application, it can occasionally freeze or crash, so OS X provides the relaunch capability to get the Finder back up and running.

Finder windows are the portal to your Mac's contents, displaying files, folders, and disks and providing information about their contents. The Sidebar in a Finder window also provides quick access to disks, servers, commonly used folders, and smart windows. You can add and remove the items that display in the Sidebar to make it more attuned to the resources you want to access quickly. Likewise, you can customize the Finder window's toolbar to make the icon buttons that provide quick access to a variety of functions the ones that are always shown.

You can view Finder windows' contents in four ways: icon, list, column, and Cover Flow. You can easily switch among them, as well as control how they sort their contents and what details they display using the Finder Preferences dialog box, View Options settings, and View menu options. Some aspects, such as column width, column order, and columns displayed, can be customized as you work in a Finder window.

You can customize the Finder for the following actions: how it empties the Trash, how it displays ...