OS X Mountain Lion Bible

Opening and Using Finder Windows

You typically navigate the myriad of files and folders in OS X via a Finder window. It is a visual representation of the files and folders contained within the various disks on your computer. It presents the information in a variety of different ways, some straightforward, others more abstract. A standard Finder window, shown in Figure 3.1, is a good place to start.

You can open a new Finder Window quite a few ways if the Finder is active: Choose File⇒New Finder Window, press +N, or right-click or Control+click the Finder icon in the Dock and choose New Finder Window from the contextual menu. (To make the Finder the active application, click the desktop or click the Finder icon in the Dock.) The new Finder window opens to your All My Files smart folder, shown in Figure 3.1, unless you change the default location in the Finder's Preferences dialog box, as explained later in this chapter.

If you double-click a disk's or folder's icon on the desktop or from another Finder window, or you click an item in the Sidebar, its Finder windows opens. (And if you have several disks and/or folders selected, double-clicking any of them opens them all.) If you +double-click a folder in an open Finder window, that internal folder is opened in its own Finder window. ...