Finder issue with Downloads and Desktop folders

[martens]

(macOS 12.4) I started having issues with Finder earlier today, with Desktop and Downloads. When I click on either of these in the Finder sidebar the respective files do not load into View. Moreover Finder will then hog foreground and not let other apps stay in foreground. Restart Finder got out of this odd mode, but there are other problems, for example, I cannot create a New Folder in Desktop (context menu lacks the option and it is greyed out in Finder menu).

I’ve turned off Downloads and Desktop in sidebar (the other sidebar items work as expected), and I can still open windows for them with the keyboard shortcuts or Finder menu. And I can create folders and files normally using CLI, it seems only Finder is having a problem doing this. And only with these two folders as far as I can tell, subfolders of those folders are also ‘normal’.

I have tried going into Recovery mode and running resetHomePermissions (it said it worked, don’t see anything unusual in Recovery logs at first sight), First Aid in Disk Manager, and reinstalling Monterrey (from Recovery mode). I deleted Finder .plist. None of this has made any difference.

It may be a fairly innocuous issue, and I have workarounds, but I’ll welcome any suggestions about what else I can check or what might fix this.

 

[Gregg2]

Log in under a different User Account, or a new one if you don't have a Troubleshooting account. If the issue is gone, then your user account is corrupt. You could find and delete com.apple.Finder.plist and then Restart, but if that doesn't clear up the account, migrate to the new one.

 

[martens]

Thanks. I will try new account (no doubt it will work). If nothing else it will give me something to compare with and start planning migration if that seems like the way out.

 

[martens]

It was a bit of a pain to migrate to a new account but there seemed to be no choice. At least a couple of the applications I use regularly were not happy. There remain some applications that were user-specific and have to be reinstalled.

 

[Gregg2]

Did you try trashing the Finder plist file first? Anyway, you're in a better place, and in looking at the timeline of your posts, it really didn't take a long time, so call it a win.

 

[martens]

Yes, I tried deleting the .plist.

 

[kkinto]

Hi - any solution for this? I am having the same problem. No matter how I put the folder in the sidebar, drag or finder preferences it goes away nest reboot. Very annoying.

 

[Gregg2]

Two potential solutions were offered in post #2. The OP tried both, one worked. It wasn't easy or fun. Read through all the posts. If you need more specifics, post back. Otherwise, please do post what you tried that worked.