Dumb Question... How to arrange icons?

[Thussy]

I'm new to OS X, and i'm just learning still... and I LOVE IT.

Konfabulator is the coolest program in the world btw.

Anywho, I can't figurte out how to arrange icons neatly. It seems that as i drag new programs in the more messy it gets.. with icons overlapping and such.

I'ts probably somethign really easy, but I can't figure it out!

[Rob587]

Im not a Mac user(yet) so I cant help you out with your question, but I have a question for you about your signature. If it says 15" pb soon how are you having a problem with OS X. lol.... sorry I always point stupid things out. :rolleyes:

[jsw]

Don't know if this is what you mean, but:

With the Finder on top (i.e., the top left-hand of the menu bar says "Finder"), go to View->Show View Options, or just hit ⌘-J.

You'll see options there to arrange icons however you want.

[Thussy]

I haven't updated it.. i will right now.

And yes that's what I was wondering.. thanks!

[yellow]

If you're viewing your directories as icons only, use Finder -> View -> Clean Up to rearrange them so they aren't overlapping. But you should get used to list or column view. Much more versitile and easy to find things.

[Gherkin]

How do you arrange icons on the desktop?

Also, is there a keyboard shortcut to jump directly to System Preferences?

[jsalzer]

Well, as long as this thread is here and the original has been answered, I'm going to ask a dumb question. In OSX, I find that my "Macintosh HD" icon won't stay in what has always been its home - in the upper right hand corner.

Every time I reboot, it removes itself from that location, leaving the corner empty. I generally move it back, but I do so knowing I'll have to move it back again the next morning.

Has anyone else run into this? Any ideas? It really is kind of annoying.

Thanks!

[yellow]

Well, as long as this thread is here and the original has been answered, I'm going to ask a dumb question. In OSX, I find that my "Macintosh HD" icon won't stay in what has always been its home - in the upper right hand corner.

I've found some strangeness in the OSX Desktop & snap to grid. 2 of my 3 Macs have "dead spots" where if I try to drag something into them, the icon goes 'zinging' off into another spot on the desktop. Annoying.
I finally gave up and started sorting my desktop by kind. That way all my disks/partitions are at the top, and everything trails after that. It took some getting used to, but it's working so far.

[jsw]

How do you arrange icons on the desktop?
See above - the ⌘-J method will show you a number of arrangement options.

Also, is there a keyboard shortcut to jump directly to System Preferences?
Not by default. However, it's not only present in the Apple menu (upper-left, menu bar) but in your Dock. If it's not in your dock for some reason, either drag it there from the Applications folder, or, when it's running, right (or control) click on the dock icon and choose "Keep in Dock".

[jsw]

Well, as long as this thread is here and the original has been answered, I'm going to ask a dumb question. In OSX, I find that my "Macintosh HD" icon won't stay in what has always been its home - in the upper right hand corner.

Every time I reboot, it removes itself from that location, leaving the corner empty. I generally move it back, but I do so knowing I'll have to move it back again the next morning.

Has anyone else run into this? Any ideas? It really is kind of annoying.

Thanks!
Here's something to try which might work and which won't hurt anything:

Open up Terminal (Applications->Utilities->Terminal). In the Terminal window, type (hitting 'return' after each line):

cd ~/Desktop
mv .DS_Store OldDS_Store

Then you can quit Terminal.

This will get rid off the .DS_Store file which tracks the locations of icons in the directory. It's not a necessary file - you can delete it and it'll get regenerated. The command above merely moves it elsewhere. To move it back, if you want to, you can always repeat the above and enter:

cd ~/Desktop
mv OldDS_Store .DS_Store

Anyway, before moving it back (which is actually not necessary), see if the "dead" area now goes away. If it works, don't move the old file back. In fact, you'll almost undoubtedly never need to move it back.

This might not work, but it won't hurt anything.

Edit: you might actually need to do this from another account, as it seems to do nothing when you're logged in and, obviously, using your Desktop, which means the Desktop's .DS_Store file is in memory. That makes this a non-beginner project. Easy, but not so easy that you might not mess something up.

[jsw]

Some discussions of the .DS_Store file:

http://www.westwind.com/reference/OS-X/invisibles.html

http://www.macromedia.com/support/dreamweaver/ts/documents/ds_store.htm

[Blurb]

From the Finder->View menu, you can just highlight <Arrange> and it will show all the options for arranging icons right there to immediately click on.