What is the Finder?
The Finder is viewed through a Finder Window in which you can you can view, open, and copy applications and documents.
This is the first MacOS window we will look at in this course and it is typical to all MacOS windows such as in the Mail and TextEdit apps.
The Finder is a system of folders on the hard drive that organize all of your documents and applications into folders such as the Desktop, Documents, and Downloads folders.
Navigating the Finder.
You can use VoiceOver to open and navigate Finder windows, and use keyboard commands to work with the files and folders in the Finder.
Before you start, make sure the keyboard focus and VoiceOver cursor are synchronized by visiting the VoiceOver Utility / Navigation to select the Synchronize keyboard focus and VoiceOver Cursor checkbox.
Note: VO represents the VoiceOver modifier.
Open a Finder window
Do one of the following:
Move to the Dock by pressing VO + D. Navigate to the Finder, which is the first item in the Dock. If a Finder window isn’t already open, press Return.
Open the Application Chooser by pressing VO + F1 + F1. Choose Finder in the Application Chooser.
You can also use the macOS App Switcher by holding down the Command + Tab keys until you hear Finder, then release the keys.
Navigate a Finder window
In a Finder window, press VO + Right Arrow or VO + Left Arrow to move through the window until you hear "toolbar", then interact with the toolbar.
In the toolbar, press VO + Right Arrow until you hear the view you want to use (such as "icon view" or "list view"), then select it.
When you have selected a view, stop interacting with the view radio group and the toolbar, then press VO + Right Arrow to move through the window until you hear "sidebar".
Interact with the sidebar, then move down the list of items in the sidebar by pressing VO + Down Arrow. When you hear the item you want, press VO + J to jump to it in the view browser, where you can interact with it.
Move to and select the item you want to open, using the method for the view you’re in:
- Icon view: Use the arrow keys to move to the item you want.
- List view: Press VO + Right Arrow until you hear “list view,” then interact with that area. To move down the list rows, press VO-Down Arrow. To expand and collapse a folder, press VO + \. To move the VoiceOver cursor across a row and hear information about an item, press VO + Right Arrow. Press VO + R to hear the current row number and the total number of rows.
- Column view: To move down the list until you find the folder or file you want, use the Down Arrow key. To move into sub-folders, press the Right Arrow key.
- Gallery view: To move between the gallery and the preview panel, press VO + Left Arrow or VO + Right Arrow. Interact with the gallery or the preview panel to hear its contents.
When you find the file or folder you want to open, open it using the Finder shortcut Cmd +O or Cmd + Down Arrow.
VoiceOver announces when you have selected an alias or a file or folder you don’t have permission to open.
Use Finder shortcuts
Open the selected item: Press Command + O or Command + Down Arrow.
Move to the parent of the selected item (such as the folder that contains a sub-folder you selected): Press Command + Up Arrow.
Add the selected item to the Finder sidebar: Press Control + Command + T.
Add the selected item to the Dock: Press Control + Shift + Command + T.
You can temporarily hide the toolbar and sidebar in a Finder window to make it easier to navigate. To hide or show both the toolbar and the sidebar, press Option + Command + T. To hide or show just the sidebar, press Option + Command + S.
Use VoiceOver to switch apps and windows on Mac
When you have more than one app open, or more than one window open for an app, you can quickly switch between them using the Application Chooser or Window Chooser. The Window Chooser also provides easy access to system dialogs.
Switch between apps
- To open the Application Chooser, press VO-F1-F1, or double-tap near the left edge of the trackpad.
- To navigate the list of open apps, press the Down Arrow or Up Arrow key, or flick down or up on the trackpad.
- When you hear the app you want, press the Space bar or double-tap on the trackpad.
- If you used the VoiceOver command to open the chooser, pressing the Space bar opens a submenu that lists all open windows, dialogs, or alerts for the app. Navigate a submenu in the same way you did the list of apps.
- To exit the Application Chooser without making a selection, press the Escape key or Fn-Tab, or scrub back and forth with two fingers on the trackpad.
Switch between windows
To open the Window Chooser, press VO + F2 + F2, or double-tap near the right edge of the trackpad.
To navigate the list of open windows and system dialogs, press the Down Arrow or Up Arrow key, or flick down or up on the trackpad.
To select a window or system dialog, press the Space bar or double tap on the trackpad.
To exit the Window Chooser without making a selection, press the Escape key or Fn + Tab, or scrub back and forth with two fingers on the trackpad.
Use VoiceOver to hear open apps and windows on Mac
Hear which apps and windows are open on your Mac.
Hear which app is active and how many apps are open: Press VO + F1.
Hear which app is active and how many windows of that app are open: Press VO + F2.
Use VoiceOver to drag and drop items on Mac
Drag and drop items from one location to another. Both the original and destination locations must be on the screen when you start dragging the items.
Use the mouse
Use VoiceOver cursor tracking on Mac
Cursor tracking with the mouse can be on or off.
By default, the VoiceOver cursor and keyboard focus are synchronized, set to follow (or “track”) each other. This is called "cursor tracking." You can also set the VoiceOver cursor and the mouse pointer to track each other.
It can be useful to turn off cursor tracking, and use the keyboard, mouse pointer, and insertion point independently. For example, in Messages you can move the VoiceOver cursor to the message portion to hear incoming messages, while the keyboard focus remains in the text field to type outgoing messages.
Turn on cursor tracking for the mouse
- Open VoiceOver Utility (press VO + F8 when VoiceOver is on).
- Click the Navigation category, click the “Mouse pointer” pop-up menu, then choose a behavior for the mouse pointer:
- Follows VoiceOver cursor
- Moves VoiceOver cursor
Turn off cursor tracking
- Click the Navigation category, then deselect "Synchronize keyboard focus and VoiceOver cursor."
- Click the "Mouse pointer" pop-up menu, then choose "Ignores VoiceOver cursor."
- To temporarily turn cursor tracking on or off while you're working, press VO + Shift + F3. This command doesn't change the settings in VoiceOver Utility; it just switches them on or off until you press the command again.
Work with cursor tracking turned off
- Move the VoiceOver cursor to the keyboard focus: Press VO + Shift +F4.
- Move the keyboard focus to the VoiceOver cursor: Press VO + Command + F4.
- Move the VoiceOver cursor to where the mouse pointer is focused: Press VO + Shift + F5.
- Move the mouse pointer to where the VoiceOver cursor is focused: Press VO + Command + F5.
- Move the VoiceOver cursor to the item you want to move.
- If the mouse pointer is not set to follow the VoiceOver cursor, press VO + Command + F5 to move the mouse pointer to the item you want to move. You can verify that the mouse is on the item by pressing VO + F5.
- Click and hold the mouse by pressing VO + Command + Shift + Space bar.
- Move the VoiceOver cursor to the target location.
- If the mouse pointer is not set to follow the VoiceOver cursor, press VO + Command + F5 to move the mouse pointer to the target location. You can verify that the mouse is on the target location by pressing VO + F5.
- Release the mouse by pressing VO + Command + Shift + Space bar.
Drag to a hot spot
If you used the Commanders category in VoiceOver Utility to assign Drop Marked Item hot spot commands to keys or gestures, you can drag items to the same hot spot.
Mark an item to drag, then use one of the commands you assigned to a key or gesture.
VoiceOver asks you to press the number key for the hot spot you want to use for the drop, then drops the marked item after, before, or on the hot spot.
After the drop, the VoiceOver cursor returns to its original location. Repeat for each item you want to drop on the hot spot.
A marked item remains available to drop again unless it's no longer on the screen, or you mark a new item for drag and drop.