Get Info panels in Finder stacking on top of each other

[phkc070408]

Hello everyone:

I'm having an issue in Monterey, although it happened in prior OSs as well. Originally when I would select multiple icons and go to "Get Info", the info panels would spread out across the entire screen and would only stack on top of each other if I ran out of room. For some reason now only 5 of them spread out, and starting with the 6th they stack on top of each other, but there is still plenty of room for them to keep spreading out.

I tried adjusting my monitor resolution to have more space and I got up to 8 across before they started stacking. It seemed that they started stacking at the same spot on the display, about 75% from the left. I then reduced my resolution and this time I got only 5 across, again, stopping at about the 75% mark from he left.

The only thing I can think of is if I accidentally clicked and drug one of the panels. I recall in the past that the layout of the panels change when I accidentally grab and drag one, but I can't confirm that. One thing I do know is that trying that again does not allow me to fix the issue.

I have attached a screenshot to show it

 

[IWT]

If you have multiple folders or files about which you want to “Get Info” -

1. Select them all and use Cmd + i. In that case all of them are seen separately.

2. Select all of them then use Option + Cmd + i. In that case you get one with the cumulative data of all of these.

Does that help?

Ian

 

[phkc070408]

Hi Ian and thanks for chiming in. That unfortunately doesn't help me.

I take a lot of pictures and like to create a thumbnail icon of the picture. OSX Sierra and earlier had a way of doing this through the Automator but it was removed. I found an App called Image to Icon where I can batch create the icons, but the icons are different files (X.icns) and I have to drag the icon file into the icon portion of the Get-Info panel of my JPEG. Since every picture is different I need the Get Info panel to open on each one.

I have a Samsung 2160 monitor and I used to be able to get nearly 50 panels open at once and I could drag and drop the icons in less than 5 minutes. With the get info panels stacked. I need to rearrange them, just another step.

I've done some more troubleshooting. 1. I created a new user on my Mac and the problem does not reproduce with the new user. Second I reinstalled MacOS (without formatting) but the problem still exists.

My next step is to start removing software one app at a time and being if I can get it to repair. I have the TrashMe app so I can remove all traces of an app.

Here is an example of what I'm trying to do. While these aren't photos, it should still be a good demonstration of what I'm trying to do.

Note: I've tried using the "Show Icon Preview" in the folder view options, but I don't like it as much. It's an OCD thing. Also I like to do this with a lot of my non-photo files, and the "Show Icon Preview" wouldn't work in that case, as in the example above.

 

[toMACsh]

I've done some more troubleshooting. 1. I created a new user on my Mac and the problem does not reproduce with the new user. Second I reinstalled MacOS (without formatting) but the problem still exists.

My next step is to start removing software one app at a time and being if I can get it to repair. I have the TrashMe app so I can remove all traces of an app.

Why remove things? You've discovered that something is corrupt in your User account. You might never know what it is. But, you can try deleting some plist files, starting with com.apple.finder.plist to see if that's it. Why spend time looking for the exact problem though when all you have to do is switch to a new User account? I'm pretty sure you can find step-by-step instructions for doing that on the Apple Support site.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Huh. I'm experimenting a little here on my MacBook and when I do a Get Info on a few photos in one folder, my windows pop up all over each other in one single stack. Now I know full well they used to spread out. In fact, I just tried on my iMac and they do in fact spread out on that. It can't be due to the resolution. My iMac is set to one comparable to my MBA's resolution.

 

[Lifeisabeach]

Ok, this is insane. I've been doing some troubleshooting on this, and no settings changes appeared to impact this behavior. So... I was in the process of looking at the hidden files that contain per-folder preferences, accomplished by using a freebie app named DesktopUtility to turn on visibility of hidden items. Well I saw no hidden files in my pictures folder (I could swear there used to be... maybe a recent change in macOS?), so I toggled the display of hidden items back to off and was browsing through my preference files in my user Library. I decided to try Get Info again on a couple files there, and BAM! The Get Info windows were tiling side by side like they should have been all along.

I don't get it. This was weird. The best I can come up with is that simply toggling the display of hidden items from on, then back off, cured it. And actually that may make sense. That would have forced a re-write of com.apple.finder.plist, and I'm betting that the file was corrupt in some manner. The creation and modified date of the plist are both set to about when I did those toggles.

 

[pigoo3]

I'm having an issue in Monterey, although it happened in prior OSs as well. Originally...

Just trying to get a better handle on things. You said..."this happened in prior OS's as well".

Considering that Apple has been releasing a new macOS version about once/year.

If this issue is happening now for you with Monterey...and was happening with "prior OS's as well". How many years are we talking here? Sounds like at least 3 years...if not more.

Most of the details in post #1 kinda make it sound like this is a recently developed issue...when actually it sounds like this issue first started 3+ years ago.

Like I said...just trying to get a better handle on the scope & timing of this issue.

Thanks,

Nick

 

[phkc070408]

Hi everyone. OP here. Sorry I’ve been distant - I found even a better way to get to my ultimate task (adding icons of my images).

But regarding what I posted about, this patricular issue only started recently, however in the past I somehow had the panels spaced farther apart than they normally are. I don’t know how I fixed it.

So, I just went to my Mac and it is still behaving the way it was. I then displayed and hid hidden files and it did not fix the issue. I then created a hidden folder and deleted it, but it did not correct the issue.