I Can't select my desktop Icons

[DaGloom]

Same problem at my MacBook Unibody 13" (late '08):

every time I am connecting my external monitor, the desktop icons on the MacBook are not clickable. Disconnecting or restarting the Finder brings it back to function. Still no other solution found 🙁

 

[bigjash]

I have similar symptoms; desktop items unresponsive to mouse clicks but dock still works. Relaunch of the finder works for me.

I do not have iStat installed, but I tend to see this when utilizing VNC to access my different Apples on my local LAN. If a session times out or is not disconnected, I will see this behavior.

Solution for me is to disconnect my VNC sessions.

 

[Signal-11]

Usually, when my friends are suffering this issue, it's because I took a screenshot of the desktop and put it up as a background.

 

[wrestlindog112]

I get the same problem on my MBP with 10.5.1. It has only happened a couple of times and I can't be sure what causes it.

To solve it, I type killall Finder into a Terminal window to relaunch Finder or you can Alt-Right Click on the Finder icon in the Dock and select Relaunch.

I had this problem too...had folders on my desktop that wouldn't open. Tried deleting them, selecting them, nothing would work. Tried the "alt + right click, select Relaunch" and it got rid of them. Thanks!

 

[joeb456]

=<

I have a similar problem. I can't select ANY of my icons on the desktop. It works with the task bar tho 😕. Can anyone help?

Thanks, JoeB456.

 

[theBigD23]

I have a similar problem. I can't select ANY of my icons on the desktop. It works with the task bar tho 😕. Can anyone help?

Thanks, JoeB456.

Do you have any third party utilities installed? That was my problem.