If you cannot select the file, then drag its parent folder to the Terminal window, followed by deleting the trailing space and then appending a slash followed by the folder name (i.e., “/foldername”) to the folder path. This is a relevant date and time for a folder to be created:Ĭopy and paste, or drag and drop, the grayed-out folder from the Finder to the Terminal window, so its full path is entered after the previously typed command (again with a space between the last number and the pasted file path).

The first eight digits here represent the date and time, in this case being January 1, 2015, with the trailing zeros being hours, minutes, and seconds, indicating midnight. Type the following command, followed by a single space (this space is important).Open the Terminal utility (in Applications > Utilities).Since the fix for this is relatively easy, this should be the first step you try for recovering the lost folder: One potential cause for this issue is if the interruption caused the system to improperly set the folder’s creation or modification dates. Nevertheless, for starters, open the Terminal utility (in Applications > Utilities) and run the following command to disable this hidden folder view (if enabled): defaults delete AppleShowAllFiles killall Finder When done, the folders will appear grayed however, unlike this problem, they will be accessible. OS X contains a number of hidden folders to keep your system looking clean, but there are hidden settings that can be activated to show these folders. This problem should be distinguished from the viewing of hidden folders in the Finder. Regardless of the reason, the result is you cannot open the folder, and other programs may not be able to open it either. Otherwise accessible folders may appear grayed and be inaccessible (click image for larger view). This can also happen if you are using an unsupported storage setup, such as a software RAID array (especially those from third-parties), in which case you might see many (if not all) of your folders duplicated (see below). This damage may happen from an interruption in a file or folder copying process, such as might happen from a power failure, crash, hard-reset, forced-cancel, or sudden disk unmount. This display usually means the folder is not accessible at a low level, and this in turn is likely from either a fault in the filesystem entry for the file, or damage to your Mac’s hard drive formatting. When this happens, you will not be able to open the folder, and unlike other folders that may show a small entry triangle next to them in list view, these will not have options for viewing what is inside. All files and folders that you encounter when browsing the Finder in OS X should be displayed in regular font and icon color however, there may be times when this is not the case, and one or more folders may appear grayed out and otherwise faded.

Can t open finder on mac