'Downloads' Folder Opening in Finder rather than a window

[icianom]

Hey all, I will make this as short and precise as I can.

As far as I can see, someone on my work mac right clicked on the 'Downloads' folder and set the 'Open With' option to 'Preview'.

As such, when the icon is clicked every item in the Downloads folder opens in preview (massive pain) and there are issues with the folder working on the dock. I tried changing the 'open with' option on the Downloads folder myself but there isn't anything appropriate to change it back to. I assumed finder but that isnt an option.

Any ideas guys, thanks in advance for reading this.

 

[Mal]

You can't set the Downloads folder to "Open with", because it's just a folder. It doesn't open in anything. You also can't set all contents of a folder to open with the same app, that's not set per folder, it's set per file or filetype.

What kind of items are in your Downloads folder? There's something else going on here…

jW

 

[icianom]

I don't think you're quite right, here is a video I have showing the problem. The downloads folder only contains a PDF for the 'Toy Story 3' script. Instead of displaying the contents of the folder, it opens whatever files are inside it. If there were more files in Downloads they would all expand.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytrYhcVJK0o

 

[iVoid]

Try dragging the downloads item from yoru sidebar and then re-adding it to the sidebar.

If you just browse to it in the finder (not via the sidebar) does it open in preview?

 

[icianom]

Yeah, in the video you can see that no matter where I open it from it opens its contents in finder rather than open it in a window.

Doing what you suggested doesn't work as every way of opening the Downloads folder the same thing occurs but thanks for trying.

 

[Mal]

OK, that's just bizarre. Try selecting a different folder and Get Info on it. You should never have the ability to set the Open With on a folder. If I Get Info on my Downloads folder, or any other folder, that simply doesn't appear at all, which makes me think you or someone else has messed with something.

jW

 

[icianom]

I know right! No other folder has that on the 'Get Info' pane. It's absolutely driving me insane. It's not worth reinstalling the OS for but it's really annoying me considering how much I use that folder.

 

[dukebound85]

have you tried a restart? 99% of my software issues are fixed via a restart

 

[icianom]

This has been ongoing for 6 months. It even survived me needing to restore from a Time Machine backup when my Macbook Pro had to be repaired from the Apple Store.

 

[allan.nyholm]

I suggest deleting the folder after looking through its contents with an app like PathFinder or ForkLift or even MuCommander. Save the filebrowsing app to the desktop and use one of these app to look through the folder. Your best bet is probably ForkLift or MuCommander because I think PathFinder shares the same techniques as Finder for opening folders.

I'm not sure to be honest.

When the contents are out delete the existing Downloads folder and logout. After you have logged in again create a new folder named Downloads. If you are lucky then this folder gets the downloads logo on the folder and should behave as the previous Downloads folder. Perhaps do multiple logouts or even a reboot after doing this just to make sure it's in working condition.

Logging out and in again is my lather rinse repeat formula. You feel like it's a reboot but it's really not at all

yay or nay?

Edit: looking over my post I suggest something without thinking. Forklift has an option to handle apps as if they were folders. If you really need the contents on this Downloads folder before deleting it then take a look at that option for browsing apps as if they were folders. It could look like it's behaving like an application but is not. the video clearly shows that it is a folder but it acts like an application which I find odd.

One other option I can think of if use an app like Cocktail or Onyx for restoring the default system file associations. Could help. Or look at RCDefaultApp and reset whatever you can their default state.

Also the video shows that the sharing permissions on the folder is off. I only have myself(read and write) and Everyone(no access) You seem to have a custom setting on your Downloads folder.

Good luck.

 

[iVoid]

I think allan is onto the solution.

Rename the downloads folder to OLD DOWNLOADS. Create a new folder called Downloads. Move any files over you want to keep. Trash the old folder.

Or if you don't need to keep the old files, just delete it and recreate the folder.

If an invisible file is causing this behavior, that should fix it.


BTW, what happens if you open your home directory in column mode? Can you browse the Downloads folder that way?

 

[Hal Itosis]

Could you list it for us with these commands?

ls -ldbOe@ ~/Downloads

xattr -l ~/Downloads