Accidental "Get Info" on 1,000 files -- any way to stop explosion of popups??

[kirkbross]

Have you ever selected dozens or hundreds of files hoping to get info "collectively" -- namely the cumlulative size -- but Mac OS starts an unstoppable avalanche of pop-ups for each and every one and you panic and eventually give in and let a billion popups tile across your monitor for an hour, like so many coats of digital paint, or just hard power-off your computer.

Am I the only one? Is there a way to stop this action once it's started, or set the OS to not open multiple Info windows to begin with?

 

[Schtumple]

Hold alt when you right click and instead of "get info" it'll say "inspector", tada, no popups.

 

[duncyboy]

What version of OS X do you have?

If I select more than a certain number of files in Finder it does a cumulative info window as opposed to individual ones automatically.

Actually, just tested it and 11 or more files shows a cumulative info window.

 

[kirkbross]

What version of OS X do you have?

10.5.5 and I just tested it and also got a cumulative window... hmmm... I must admit, the pop up avalanche hasn't happened to me in a while so maybe it was an early build of Leopard or maybe I had been doing some key-click combination that specifically told the OS to open separate files. Oh well... I should test these things before posting, but sometimes I remember old nuissances and try to post before I forget.

 

[duncyboy]

Maybe it was a bug that's been fixed since? Odd!

Whether I use CMD & A, drag-select with the mouse or use the shift and cursor keys it always does a cumulative.

 

[kirkbross]

IT'S FOLDERS!

I just tried a Get Info after selecting twenty folders and I got the avalanche. For some reason it won't do a cumulative in that case (unless you drag all those folders into a new folder and do a Get Info on that single folder.

For example, instead of selecting your HD and doing a Get Info, open it first and select all the folders inside (Applications, Developer, Library, etc.). It's not so bad when its five or six folders, but I've accidentally done it to hundreds of folders and it's popup insanity.

 

[feuerschlange]

IT'S FOLDERS!

I just tried a Get Info after selecting twenty folders and I got the avalanche. For some reason it won't do a cumulative in that case (unless you drag all those folders into a new folder and do a Get Info on that single folder.

For example, instead of selecting your HD and doing a Get Info, open it first and select all the folders inside (Applications, Developer, Library, etc.). It's not so bad when its five or six folders, but I've accidentally done it to hundreds of folders and it's popup insanity.

I tried, and get a cumulative info with all sorts of files (including folders). Running 10.5.5 on a mbp.

 

[GGJstudios]

If you fail to use the Option key to "Show Inspector" rather than "Get Info", you can stop the pop-up avalanche by doing a Force Quit on Finder.

 

[MacBoobsPro]

To get rid of all the pop ups once they popped up, make one of them active (by clicking on it) then press Command + Shift + W and it will get rid of them all for you.

From your posts though it sounds like you may already know this.

 

[Teej guy]

Hold alt when you right click and instead of "get info" it'll say "inspector", tada, no popups.

Sick tip, I've done that to force quit before, but didn't see there was also inspector. Thanks!

 

[GGJstudios]

To get rid of all the pop ups once they popped up, make one of them active (by clicking on it) then press Command + Shift + W and it will get rid of them all for you.

I believe you meant Command+Option+W. Command+Shift+W doesn't do anything.