Pick of the Week - Nov 10 [Show all picks]
Path Finder 5 - A feature-laden Finder replacement
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10.5: Display full paths as Finder window titles Desktop
Wed, Nov 14 2007 at 1:30PM PST • Contributed by: Voxel
You can enable the display of the path to each Finder window as that window's title by typing the two following commands in the terminal: 
$ defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES
$ killall Finder
While you can't edit or copy the path, this feature can still be useful for power users. It is similar to the Path Bar in Leopard's Finder, but it shows the path in a more compact way, and in a format that power users are used to.

[robg adds: This can get somewhat ugly when you drill way down into the file system, but it definitely works.]
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10.5: Display full paths as Finder window titles | 11 comments | Create New Account
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10.5: Display full paths as Finder window titles
Authored by: labjerk on Wed, Nov 14 2007 at 6:12PM PST
This is magnificent. Have needed it for a lonnng time.
That said, how might I undo it if need be...?

[ Reply to This | # ]
10.5: Display full paths as Finder window titles
Authored by: ferret-slayer on Wed, Nov 14 2007 at 6:59PM PST
$ defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool NO
$ killall Finder

[ Reply to This | # ]
10.5: Display full paths as Finder window titles
Authored by: neuralstatic on Wed, Nov 14 2007 at 6:58PM PST
VERY cool.

(to undo:
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool NO
)

[ Reply to This | # ]
thanks a bundle!
Authored by: fruityth1ng on Wed, Nov 14 2007 at 7:26PM PST
Great! :)


[ Reply to This | # ]
10.5: Display full paths as Finder window titles
Authored by: Zettt on Wed, Nov 14 2007 at 9:39PM PST
You can also go to View >> Show Path Bar

This will display the path on the bottom of any Finder window. Plus you will have drag'n'drop support for files you would like to copy/move to an overlying folder.

[ Reply to This | # ]
10.5: Display full paths as Finder window titles
Authored by: johnsawyercjs on Wed, Nov 14 2007 at 11:42PM PST
Though I know it's the correct way of showing the startup volume's pathname, this has the slightly unfortunate effect of removing from the title bar, the name of the startup volume. Other volumes retain their /Volumes/volumename prefix. Not a real problem, but just a slight annoyance (at least for me).

[ Reply to This | # ]
Be kind to the Finder!
Authored by: mithras on Thu, Nov 15 2007 at 4:20AM PST

Just to note -- the Finder, as a GUI app, expects to be dealt with more kindly than with the KILL signal. When you send KILL, it doesn't have a chance to save your current window positions and other settings.

So instead of

killall Finder

I'd recommend the slightly more verbose:

osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to quit'

and then tap the Finder icon in the Dock to relaunch.

---
--
mithrastheprophet.net (coming soonish)

[ Reply to This | # ]

Be kind to the Finder!
Authored by: slambert on Tue, Apr 1 2008 at 12:52PM PDT
I was searching exactly for this hint. Many hints involve quitting and restarting the finder. I find it annoying the open window aren't preserved. (Sometimes recently closed windows reappear!)

However I am having trouble applying your hint.
>osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to quit'

I copied this into Script Editor and when I try to run I get the following Syntax Error:
"A unknown token can't go after this identifier."

Please tell me what I am doing wrong.

-scott



[ Reply to This | # ]
Be kind to the Finder!
Authored by: slambert on Tue, Apr 1 2008 at 1:05PM PDT
I figured it out:
>osascript -e 'tell app "Finder" to quit'
to execute from terminal.

>tell app "Finder" to quit
in Script Editor.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Be kind to the Finder!
Authored by: weizilla on Wed, Apr 2 2008 at 2:00PM PDT
can't you just hold alt, right click on the finder icon on the dock and click on the "relaunch" menu item?

[ Reply to This | # ]
Is this possible with OS X 10.4?
Authored by: rotero on Tue, Jan 6 2009 at 6:21AM PST
Does anyone know if there's an equivalent preference for OS X 10.4? I have tried these, but none of them work:
_FXShowPosixPathInTitle
_FXShowPosixPathInTitleBar
_FXShowPosixPathInTitlebar
FXShowPosixPathInTitle
FXShowPosixPathInTitleBar
FXShowPosixPathInTitlebar

[ Reply to This | # ]

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