Finder List View -- MORE Space Between Lines -- How Did I Make This Happen?

[anthrojohn]

Hello! I have long been wanting Apple to allow for a bit more space (AKA leading) between lines in the finder list view. SOMEHOW, when I migrated my parents' old Mac mini user account to a M4 iMac running Sequoia, the spacing has become PERFECT to my graphic designer eyes, when looking at finder list view windows! A tad more room between each line makes it all seem so much less crowded and readable.

THE ISSUE: I have created a new user on the same iMac, and I CANNOT seem to get this more open-looking spacing to happen in list view. So, some setting must have been carried over from my parents' old Mac mini (running Mojave) that has made this improved formatting happen. (The Mac mini does NOT display this wider spacing, however!) I CANNOT for the life of me sleuth out what setting or combination of settings has made this possible on the iMac. I have tried to copy the .plist settings for the finder to the new user account, but nothing changes.

Also, please note that for the attached screenshots, I made sure that the icon size and text size were the same between the two windows. (Small icon, 13 pt font.) The only difference is that the version with more breathing space between lines (which I LOVE) only occurs on the user account that brought in settings from my parents' old computer. The more tight spacing (the default, crowded look of Mac OS) is on the same iMac, but with a totally new user account for testing.

I feel SO close to making finder lists look the way I want them to. Does anyone know WHAT SETTING might be accounting for this tweak? I would love to know!

 

[joevt]

I dunno. Maybe there's an invisible preference?

do the following for each user:

defaults read com.apple.finder > user1finderprefs.txt

then compare with BBEdit.app or other utility:

bbdiff user1finderprefs.txt user2finderprefs.txt

 

[BrianBaughn]

I don't know… but what it looks like is the bigger spaced list is meant for a larger font.

The actual location of the preferences file (in the User's Library folder) is:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

If you want to compare you'll have to copy one of the files (and probably rename it) over from one user to the other. I'd say copy both to the Shared folder, rename them user1.com.apple.finder.plist and user2.com.apple.finder.plist or whatever.

Download BBEdit

Bare Bones Software | TextWrangler is now BBEdit -- and still free! It's time to switch.

and use its menu item Search>Find Differences… to compare the two files (drag them into left/right).

Report back here with the results or ask for help if you need it.

 

[chown33]

As a simple test, you could run Migration Assistant to setup a new account, and give it your well-spaced account as input. If you don't like the result, you can delete the new account completely.

 

[anthrojohn]

Thanks for the

I don't know… but what it looks like is the bigger spaced list is meant for a larger font.

The actual location of the preferences file (in the User's Library folder) is:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

If you want to compare you'll have to copy one of the files (and probably rename it) over from one user to the other. I'd say copy both to the Shared folder, rename them user1.com.apple.finder.plist and user2.com.apple.finder.plist or whatever.

Download BBEdit

Bare Bones Software | TextWrangler is now BBEdit -- and still free! It's time to switch.

and use its menu item Search>Find Differences… to compare the two files (drag them into left/right).

Report back here with the results or ask for help if you need it.

This is an excellent idea, and thank you for the specific instructions! I'll try this out this afternoon!

 

[anthrojohn]

As a simple test, you could run Migration Assistant to setup a new account, and give it your well-spaced account as input. If you don't like the result, you can delete the new account completely.

This phenomenon began after I did import the new account using Migration Assistant, but what your comment has encouraged me to do is to do it a second time, with just the settings being imported and see if it works on my MacBook Air for a new user account. That would be nice to be able to establish repeatability!

 

[anthrojohn]

I dunno. Maybe there's an invisible preference?

do the following for each user:

defaults read com.apple.finder > user1finderprefs.txt

then compare with BBEdit.app or other utility:

bbdiff user1finderprefs.txt user2finderprefs.txt

You and BrianBaughn are definitely encouraging me to investigate the finder prefs more closely.

I'll get back to you with my findings later today!