Big Sur "Today" folder on Desktop

[stefanmaine]

I upgraded to Big Sur a couple of days ago.

Since then, when I save a file to the Desktop, there appears on the Desktop a folder labelled "Today" with a down arrow on it, pointing to the file I just posted to the Desktop.

I have never seen this before, so I am assuming it is a "feature" provided by Big Sur.

I would like to turn off the feature.
Right clicking on it does not seem to offer an option. If I move it to the Trash, it takes the file with it.
Systems Preferences does not seem to mention it.

I will appreciate any thoughts.

(Oops. I think this belongs at Mac OS - Apps & Programs. I apologize for that. I'd move it, but I do not know how.)

 

[chscag]

Have no idea what it looks like since your attachment does not work. Take a screenshot and post it here instead of a separate attachment.

And to answer your question... it is not a feature of Big Sur.

It may be a folder you created on your desktop. I personally do not recommend saving files to the desktop as that can be confusing at times or inadvertently deleted. Saving files to the desktop is an old Windows habit that many folks continue doing when switching to a Mac.

I don't know if that is the reason for you, but in any event, I recommend not doing it.

 

[MacInWin]

@stefanmaine, check in System Preferences, then click on "Apple ID" on the top line and then look to see if either the "Optimize Mac Storage" box is checked, or on the iCloud Drive/Options, that "Desktop & Documents Folders" is checked. If either of these is checked, DO NOT UNCHECK THEM, but let us know that they are checked and we can talk you through what needs to be done to recover your files. Basically, with those boxes (either of them) checked, your Desktop and Documents folders are stored in iCloud, so anything you put on the Desktop will be uploaded to the cloud and a link to it created. A link has the little arrow you mentioned, which is what makes me think it may be turned on. It is not sufficient just to uncheck the options, there are steps you need to take before you do that or you could lose everything on the Desktop or in the Documents folder. And no, this is not a feature of Big Sur, it's been around for a long time, ever since iCloud Drive was first created, but Big Sur defaults to using iCloud for storage unless when you installed it you told it not to do so.

 

[chscag]

Good thinking Jake. I didn't suspect that may be the reason, but I believe now that you have mentioned it, you are probably right.

His screenshot that he added later shows that the document is an Open Office text file.

 

[stefanmaine]

chscag: Here is a screenshot. At the top, is the "feature"; at the bottom is an empty page I saved simply to make the other appear.

If I delete the .txt file, the other disappears. Then, if I create another file and save it to the Desktop, it reappears. I have never seen anything like it, either on the MacBook or any other Mac OS.

I am guessing MacInWin is correct. When I first upgraded to Big Sur, I encountered the iCloud issue. There will be a record here of my post/question and resulting thread about that. I will search for it tomorrow, and follow up here. For me it is late here now, so I will put this off until tomorrow morning.

Also, I do not normally save to the Desktop. Ordinarily there is nothing on my Desktop except the row of apps at the bottom and I can't remember what it's called at the top (Apple, Date, Clock etc.). But thanks for reminding me.

As always, thank you for being here.

 

[stefanmaine]

The attached screen grabs show what is at System Preferences>Apple ID related to iCloud (as best as I can figure it).

I logged onto iCloud, and there everything is empty except: CONTACTS, which has my contacts from my iPhone 6 (I did not copy those to the iMac or iCloud itself. Apple picked them up from the iPhone and put them on iCloud); NOTES, has a few notes from my iPhone (again, I did not consciously put them there); iCLOUD DRIVE>DESKTOP & DOCUMENTS are empty, except at DOCUMENTS there is a folder BOOKS which I added to DOCUMENTS on the computer a few months ago; it too is empty at iCloud but on the computer itself it has contents (and, of course, there are a lot of other folders on the computer in DOCUMENTS that do NOT appear at iCloud>Documents ... just the folder BOOKS); PAGES and NUMBERS and KEYNOTE display "welcome, get started" (I have never used those apps); FIND iPHONE calls for a login (I used it a few times a year or two ago); FIND FRIENDS displays a map (I have never used it).

I apologize to Apple for the typo in the thread's title; I know it's not Sure, it's Sur.

Please let me know what else you need from me in order to help me. The folder with the arrow was not on the Desktop this morning (I have taken your advice, gratefully) so I created an empty file, saved it to the Desktop, and the folder reappeared. It's gone now, along with the empty file. (The empty file was on the Desktop when I visited iCloud a few minutes ago, but it did not appear in iCloud Drive>DESKTOP & DOCUMENTS.)

Here's the thing. I can live with this arrowed folder. It got me by surprise. BUT if it is an indication of something I ought to be aware of (and fix), then obviously I want to do that. If you can tell me it is just a nuisance, then fine.

As always, thank you.

 

[stefanmaine]

An afterthought: Thinking about the contents at "iCloud Drive" in Notes and Contacts that came from my iPhone (not my iMac) raises the question: is there an option on the iPhone that I should check or uncheck and which may be generating the "arrowed folder" on the iMac Desktop?

I don't see "iCloud" as a link or folder at iPhone Settings or on the phone's desktop.

It's an iPhone 6s Plus.

 

[MacInWin]

OK, I'm stumped. It's not, AFAIK, a Big Sur feature, nor can I find any preferences setting to get what you have. The only think I can think of is that it is somehow associated with the app being used to create these documents. What is that app? Does it happen with all apps, or just that one?

 

[ferrarr]

I really believe this "today" is a feature of a non macOS app. Have you installed any new apps recently?

 

[stefanmaine]

Have you installed any new apps recently?

March 20 or 21 upgrade from Catalina to Big Sur (is there a "log" that will tell me the time/date? Does the App Store keep an accessible log?)
March 21 added Tinker Tool System
March 21 or 22 upgrade Onyx from Catalina to Big Sur (I have had Onyx on this iMac for months, maybe longer)
March 22 I wrote on this thread "I upgraded to Big Sur a couple of days ago. Since then, when I save a file to the Desktop, there appears on the Desktop a folder labelled Today ..."
March 22 upgrade VueScan for Big Sur (I have had VueScan on this Mac for years)
March 22 added DetectX Swift
March 22 added VirusBarrier Scanner
March 22 According to DetectX History: added Safari "Ad Block Plus" and "Ghostery"
Those two are news to me. Perhaps my wife did it. She is out of the house for a couple of hours. Her computer is Windows 10, but when at my iMac, she uses Safari. I use Firefox. If it matters, I will confirm when she returns.
March 22 removed ClamXav and Malwarebytes


"Since then, when I save a file ..." Unfortunately I do not know precisely when (time and date).

You are going to ask me to remove TinkerTool System, DetectX, and VirusBarrier, and see what happens, aren't you? Oh well.

 

[MacInWin]

You are going to ask me to remove TinkerTool System, DetectX, and VirusBarrier, and see what happens, aren't you? Oh well.

Not really. Tinkertool, DetectX and VirusBarrier are all well known, well behaved applications. Can you answer the questions I posed in Post #8?

 

[stefanmaine]

The only think I can think of is that it is somehow associated with the app being used to create these documents. What is that app? Does it happen with all apps, or just that one?

I failed to answer that question. The files you have seen related to this thread (saved to the Desktop) were created either on LibreOffice or TextEdit. Since installing Big Sur, I have also used TextMaker 2021 & PlanMaker 2021 and BBEdit. I do not think any of those three required a special Big Sur update. Others that I have used in the last few days but which have not required Big Sur related updates are PostBox, Quicken 2017, and Pixelmator.

This morning, testing, I have saved files to the Desktop created in TextMaker, TextEdit, Pixelmator, BBEdit, and VueScan, and the arrowed folder responded to each.

Now, if I follow chscag's urging never to save to the Desktop, the arrowed folder will (presumably) never appear. In that case, as long as it is not rotting out the guts of this iMac (out of sight), then who cares?

 

[MacInWin]

Now, if I follow chscag's urging never to save to the Desktop, the arrowed folder will (presumably) never appear. In that case, as long as it is not rotting out the guts of this iMac (out of sight), then who cares?

Well, here's the thing--the Desktop is just another folder. Yes, it's the default one on the screen, but it's just another folder to the operating system. So whatever is causing this to happen on the desktop has the potential to be happening in any folder.

Can you use Finder to open the Desktop Folder (It will be under your account name in the sidebar.) and then right click on the "Today" folder and then Get Info and report back? Do the same with the file icon with the arrow as well. The arrow one should say it's a link and you may be able to find the original file to which the link is pointing, which may help us diagnose what is going on.

EDIT: To clarify, Get Info will say that it is an alias, which it is, and show where the original is.

 

[stefanmaine]

Can you use Finder to open the Desktop Folder (It will be under your account name in the sidebar.) and then right click on the "Today" folder and then Get Info and report back? Do the same with the file icon with the arrow as well. The arrow one should say it's a link and you may be able to find the original file to which the link is pointing, which may help us diagnose what is going on.

EDIT: To clarify, Get Info will say that it is an alias, which it is, and show where the original is.

On the Desktop were two items: (1) The arrowed folder and (2) a TextEdit file with no text (well, "now is the time") named "test.txt".

If I left click on the arrowed folder, test.txt leaps into the arrowed folder and "disappears."
Then, all that is left visible on the Desktop is the arrowed folder (with the word "Today" beneath it).

If I left click the arrowed folder again, test.txt jumps out, and resumes its resting place below the folder.

OK, first, I right clicked the arrowed folder, and selected "Get Info", screen grabbed it, and named the screen grab "arrowed folder.png" (see below).

Then, I right clicked test.txt, selected "Get Info," screen grabbed it, and named the screen grab "file itself.png" (also below).

As you can see, they are identical ... at least so they seem to me.

Looking closely at the arrowed folder on the Desktop (it appears now because test.txt and the two screen grabs are on the Desktop, waiting for me to post this) I have to say it looks more like an image of a folder than a folder. I have just taken a screen grab of an empty new folder (I right clicked the Desktop and selected New Folder) next to arrowed folder. Here, that screen grab is called "folders.png" As you can see, they are not identical.

Also, incidentally, if I left click arrowed folder right now, the four screen grabs and test.txt all leap into it, together. The new, empty "real" folder did not. It just sits there.

While all those files were "in" arrowed folder, I right clicked arrowed folder, and selected Get Info, and Get Info images popped out for each of the files, simultaneously.


Below is the "Get Info" of the arrowed folder. (When I took the screen grab, there was only one file "in" arrowed folder).
You wrote "The arrow one should say it's a link and you may be able to find the original file to which the link is pointing, ..." I do not see "link" anywhere on this image. Am I looking in the wrong place?



Below is the Get Info of the file test.txt labelled "file itself"




Below is the screen grab of the new, real empty folder and the arrowed folder, side by side.
The images are not identical.

 

[MacInWin]

I've never seen the icon you have for the "Today" folder. But as a long shot, can you right click on the desktop somewhere not near any icon and in the resulting window see if "Use Stacks" is checked? Your description of the action sounds like Stacks, but the icon is not something I have ever seen. If "Use Stacks" is checked, what happens if you remove the check?

 

[stefanmaine]

Well, let's see.

You suggested that on an empty piece of Desktop terrain, I right click. And so I did.
Then, you said, if "Use Stacks" is checked, uncheck it, and see what happens.

OK. I right clicked where you suggested, and yes, "Use Stacks" was checked.

I unchecked it.

And so now, you are almost certainly wondering, what happened?

Arrowed folder DISAPPEARED!

I left it unchecked, and restarted the computer. Just in case it was a temporary accident.

No arrowed folder.

I created a few files with different apps. Moved them around. No arrowed folder.

As I write these happy words, there are files scattered about on the Desktop ... and no arrowed folder.

You are BRILLIANT!

"Long shot" indeed.

Thank you for your time, your patience, and your expertise. I am truly grateful.

 

[MacInWin]

Glad that worked. Proves that even a blind squirrel finds a nut every once in a while...

 

[MacInWin]

Oh, and don't use the Desktop as a storage area. As was said earlier:

It may be a folder you created on your desktop. I personally do not recommend saving files to the desktop as that can be confusing at times or inadvertently deleted. Saving files to the desktop is an old Windows habit that many folks continue doing when switching to a Mac.

Try to keep the Desktop clean as you can. And if you don't want the icons all over the place, sort them by something. I choose "Type" as the sort option so that the drives are together, then folders, then files. Makes it easier to find things, although I don't keep much on the Desktop at all.

 

[stefanmaine]

Re the Desktop, chscag's gentle scold earlier on this thread has convinced me. There is nothing on my Desktop except what Big Sur put there. (The files etc. that I mentioned earlier were placed there solely for this "arrowed folder" exercise, and are now in the Trash.)

Finally, you and chscag (and others) have helped me several times. In my experience, none of you is a "blind squirrel." But I do like the image! Very cool.

 

[chscag]

I'm pretty sure Jake is not a blind squirrel, but sometimes I run into this guy in my travels here in the forums: