Finder bug...? Desktop disappears

[Keukasmallie]

In the last several versions of macOS' Finder the Favorites entry "Desktop" comes and goes from the listing. For example, I click on Finder, look for Desktop, but it isn't in the list; so I locate Desktop in Finder Preferences check the box and it appears in the list. Later that day, or several days later, Desktop disappears again and I repeat the above sequence to restore it to the Favorites list in Finder.

Does anyone know why this happens, does it happen to you...?

Thanks for the info I anticipate from the knowledgable readers/posters in this forum!!

Bob Fort

 

[Gregg2]

No, it has never happened to me. I can't tell you why it's happening on your Mac, but I'm pretty confident that it's not normal. So, it's got to be something on your specific machine.

How often do you Restart? That can fix some things, so try it if you haven't done that lately.

Finder's preferences could be corrupt. To find out:
Hold down Option, click Go in the Menu, select Library
Open Preferences and find com.apple.finder.plist
Drag that out of there (Trash or Desktop)
Restart, or restart Finder
This will make that file again in Preferences, set to defaults
If yours was corrupt, this will fix it.

 

[JOSmith99]

In the last several versions of macOS' Finder the Favorites entry "Desktop" comes and goes from the listing. For example, I click on Finder, look for Desktop, but it isn't in the list; so I locate Desktop in Finder Preferences check the box and it appears in the list. Later that day, or several days later, Desktop disappears again and I repeat the above sequence to restore it to the Favorites list in Finder.

Does anyone know why this happens, does it happen to you...?

Thanks for the info I anticipate from the knowledgable readers/posters in this forum!!

Bob Fort

Check if it appears under the "iCloud" section (likely located directly below favourites in the sidebar). Apple has moved this in macOS Sierra and High Sierra because the contents of the desktop are now by default stored in iCloud. The same is true if documents. If you don't want the content of the desktop stored in iCloud, you can turn it off in iCloud preferences, although I'm not sure if that would stop it from moving from favourites. I was able to put it back in favourites and it has stayed there (it may have been automatically removed a few times before that stopped, I don't remember for sure).