The latest addition to the DFX6 preview is a rewritten Drag Zone, the drag and drop “shelf” that sits on the left side of Open and Save dialogs. You can now select and multi-select items, drag them to reorder them, insert new items between existing ones, etc. Previews pop up if you hover the mouse over an item. Double-clicking an item will open it. Control-clicking on an item brings up a contextual menu with options to reveal the item in the Finder, open it in the file dialog, or remove it from the drag zone.
There are also a number of fixes for issues in the previous DFX6 build – if you’re curious about all of the changes, check out the Read Me file that accompanies the app when you download it. The Read Me also includes instructions for setting up other new features, such as the keyboard-centric quick entry window, syncing preferences via iCloud, running actions after saving a file and more.
Version 5.7.4 of Default Folder X is available, addressing several issues that could impact its reliability in Open and Save dialogs. These ranged from the mundane – a timing bug in the code that switches to new folders in file dialogs – to the “I wouldn’t have guessed that” – where Safari’s SandboxBroker helper app was tricking Default Folder X into thinking there were actually two Save sheets displayed at once.
All of these issues happened infrequently enough that they only generated a few tech support requests (my apologies to those unlucky folks), but chasing them down and getting them fixed will ensure that they don’t disrupt anyone else’s day.
The complete list of fixes and download links are on the Default Folder X release page. Or if you’re already running Default Folder X like you should be, just choose “Check for Update…” from its menu in your menu bar to see the change history and update to the new version.
A new pre-release build of Default Folder X version 6 is available! Click here to download it. If you haven’t been following along, previous posts have covered new features like the wider filename edit box in Save dialogs, new Quick Entry window, and post-save actions.
In this build I’ve rewritten the drawer that Default Folder X (optionally) attaches to Finder windows. It now properly supports dragging to reorder items, selection and multi-selection of items in the drawer, dragging items into folders that you’ve added to the drawer, and more.
This makes the drawer much more helpful as a temporary “shelf” when moving items between folders, as well as a handy place to organize files and folders while you’re working with them. They’re easy to get to, even if they’re actually located in multiple different folders.
One of the challenges with the drawer was finding a way to make it scale as you add more items to it. It shrinks the icons as more are added, then as you mouse through them, spreads them apart so you can read their filenames.
I’ve been experimenting with this for quite a while, and I’d appreciate feedback on how it works for you in practice. Suggestions are more than welcome!
Version 5.7.3 of Default Folder X works around issues in macOS Ventura that have been causing problems for some of you.
A bug in Ventura’s metadata API could cause Default Folder X to crash when it tried to ask the system for information about the selected file in an Open dialog. This release recovers from the error, though it won’t be able to show some metadata information (like the width and height of jpeg or png images) when the problem occurs. I’ve submitted the bug to Apple so we’ll hopefully have a resolution to the underlying problem at some point.
Another issue in Ventura is its handling of drag-and-drop operations in file dialogs. This, in a round-about way, was causing Default Folder X to hide the mouse cursor for several seconds when switching from one folder to another in Open and Save dialogs. Default Folder X 5.7.3 works around this problem as best it can, usually reducing the length of time the cursor goes missing to an almost-unnoticeable fraction of a second. Again, I’ve submitted a bug report to Apple – fingers crossed that they address this 🤞🏼
Default Folder X 5.7.3 also fixes some minor bits, moving the default position of the button for Default Folder X’s Finder drawer further to the left in the Finder’s toolbar so it doesn’t get hidden behind the “>>” button when Finder windows are small. Descriptions of Default Folder X’s AppleScript commands have also been improved in its AppleScript dictionary so details of their operation are clearer. And finally, the popup path menu in the Open and Save dialogs of Affinity apps will now respect the Dark Mode interface setting in your Affinity Photo / Designer / Publisher settings, even if the rest of macOS is running in Light Mode.
As always, if you’re already running Default Folder X, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar. If you’re not, download Default Folder X and save yourself time and headaches while opening, saving and managing your files!
Version 5.7.2 of Default Folder X is available, addressing several problems when using Stage Manager. Flaky behavior of Default Folder X’s drawer in the Finder has been fixed – it now correctly appears and disappears as Stage Manager shows and hides the Finder’s windows.
And when using Default Folder X’s Finder-click feature (which lets you click on the Finder’s windows to switch to that window’s folder in an Open or Save dialog), Default Folder X now takes Stage Manager into account. Normally, the Finder’s windows aren’t “clickable” when they’re not showing on the screen. Since that’s pretty much always the situation when using Stage Manager, Default Folder X will now allow you to click where the windows would be if the Finder weren’t hidden by Stage Manager. As you move the mouse around, DFX will highlight the areas where Finder windows would be if they were visible.
The shadowed rectangle shows a Finder window displaying “Creative Cloud Files”
This release also fixes a bug that could cause Default Folder X to ask for Security & Privacy permissions on macOS 10.15 Catalina even though they’re already set. And it corrects a few minor user interface bugs and a problem creating aliases for files and folders that contain the ‘/’ character in their names.
Details and download links for English, French, Japanese, German and Danish versions are available on the Default Folder X release page, or if you’re already running DFX, just choose “Check for Update…” from its menu.
After making intermittent progress on version 6 of Default Folder X for months, I’m hoping to get things moving faster so I can get the new features out to a wider audience soon. The new capabilities make Open and Save dialogs even faster and easier to use, as well as speeding access to recently used files and folders in the Finder.
Among the features I find most useful are a wider edit field in Save dialogs, so you can actually see and edit long filenames:
and a “quick entry” pop-up where you can type a few letters in the name of a folder or file you want to access:
I outlined the details of these features in a previous post.
In addition, the latest build synchronizes your preferences and history between multiple Macs, so you’ll have access to your favorite and recently used files and folders regardless of which Mac you’re using. The caveat here is that synced Macs must have their files and folders synchronized so that Default Folder X can find the items on both machines – if it can’t, those items will be grayed out in its menus.
DFX 6 also offers “post-save” actions that you can use to automatically handle files after saving them. Built-in actions include immediately opening a saved file, attaching it to an email, or running an AppleScript or Automator workflow on it.
If you’d like to give the new features a spin, you can download the latest development build here. While it’s not feature-complete, the features above are working well and are stable. Please see the Read Me file for details on enabling the new features, and if you’ve got suggestions, feedback or bug reports, send them to DefaultFolderX@stclairsoft.com
There’s a quick update available for Default Folder X, bringing it up to version 5.7.1.
This release provides a fix for a handful of folks who’ve been getting prompts from Default Folder X after they log in, saying that it needs approval in Security & Privacy even though it already has the permissions it needs.
If you’re affected, just choose “Check for Update” from Default Folder X’s menu in your menu bar to get the new version. Or you can download Default Folder X 5.7.1 and update manually.
Please note that this isn’t the only cause of repeated requests for permissions approval. I’ve also seen a number of cases where the macOS TCC (Transparency, Consent, and Control) database gets corrupted and mistakenly refuses to give proper access to Default Folder X or other applications that require Accessibility, Full Disk Access, Screen Recording and other permissions. If you’re seeing these problems and version 5.7.1 doesn’t fix them, you may need to reset your TCC database. There are instructions for doing that here.
Version 5.7 of Default Folder X is now available, delivering compatibility with macOS 13 Ventura! It also adds integration with Find Any File so you can start a search from a file dialog, and addresses a number of issues such as problems with iCloud and Microsoft OneDrive.
If you’re running a very old version of macOS, however, I have some disappointing news. Default Folder X now requires macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later to run. Apple’s Xcode tools no longer support building software for versions of macOS prior to High Sierra, so I don’t have a way of providing support back to macOS 10.9 anymore. You can still use Default Folder X 5.6.6 on older systems, and it’ll continue to work as well there as it always has.
With that caveat, I encourage you to use Default Folder X 5.7 even if you’re not running Ventura, as it fixes issues when running on earlier versions of macOS as well. Check the Default Folder X Release page for a full list of changes.
Note that there are still a few rough edges as of Ventura’s sixth public beta. When giving Default Folder X permission for Automation, Full Disk Access, etc, you’ll have to enter your password (or Touch ID) more than once. I apologize for this – it’s due to a bug in Ventura’s new System Settings app. I’ve submitted the bug to Apple, but don’t expect to see it fixed before macOS 13.0 ships. As usual, I’ll revisit this and other less visible workarounds for Ventura’s quirks as Apple fixes them.
If you haven’t tried Default Folder X, grab a copy to see how much more convenient Open and Save dialogs can be! And if you’re already running it, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar to download the new version – and thanks for your support!
A mention of Default Folder X on episode 940 of MacGeekGab reminded me (yet again) about this useful podcast, hosted by Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun. Their goal with each episode is for everyone to learn at least 5 new things about working with their Mac, iPhone, or associated bits, and they almost always succeed. I highly recommend their podcast if you’re into Mac tips and tricks!
Among other things, the second public beta of Default Folder X 5.7, otherwise known as version 5.7b2, adopts Ventura‘s use of the term “Settings” rather than “Preferences.” Seems like that wouldn’t be a big deal, right? It turns out that those terms occur more frequently than you’d think in various dialogs and error messages, and have to be substituted on the fly to match the version of macOS you’re running. So I spent a couple of days bringing all that into conformance, then testing and localizing, and now it DFX fits in properly on Ventura.
Version 5.7b2 also adds a couple more interesting things, like support for Thomas Tempelmann’s Find Any File application. When you’re in an Open or Save dialog, you can now search with Find Any File from Default Folder X’s utility menu.
Find Any File can be helpful because it performs an exhaustive search based on a file’s name, modification date, and other filesystem properties. While Spotlight indexes these same properties as well as the contents of documents, it won’t always find all files – Spotlight omits the contents of some folders, as well as files contained within application packages and other special locations.
Default Folder X 5.7b2 also fixes a problem with its Recent File and Recent Folder tracking on Microsoft OneDrive that could result in files or folders being listed twice when they’re updated on OneDrive.
If you’re already running an earlier beta of Default Folder X 5.7, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar. If you’re not, head over to the Default Folder X Testing page to download a copy!
