Version 6.2.5 of Default Folder X is available. While the release notes are fairly short, there’s quite a bit of depth to what’s been addressed.
First the easy ones: Bloom‘s developer has added a way for Default Folder X to reveal files and folders in Bloom — the new release of Default Folder X takes advantage of this. If you hold down the Command key and select any item from one of Default Folder X’s menus, it’ll reveal that item instead of opening it. If you’ve got Bloom selected as a substitute for the Finder in your DFX settings, it can now do so in Bloom.
The other important change is that Default Folder X is once again capable of opening your Applications folder in the Finder. In the latest release of macOS 26 Tahoe, Apple changed the Finder so that if you give it a URL to the Applications folder (file:///Applications), it just ignores it. I’m not sure if this is intentional (some kind of security measure?) of if it’s a bug, since asking it to open the Applications folder by supplying the path in AppleScript still works. At any rate, Default Folder X sidesteps the problem by not asking the Finder to open it via a URL.
<RANT>
Another “fix” in version 6.2.5 is enabling the OK button in Default Folder X’s license entry dialog even if you leave the Name field blank. This was necessitated by the fact that Tahoe’s Liquid Glass UI has such poor contrast that it’s virtually impossible to see that there IS a box there to enter your name.
So now you can enter your license number, click OK, and be scolded for not entering your name correctly. What progress! At least confused people won’t be stuck there wondering why the OK button is disabled.
</RANT>
Aside from enabling support for Enfocus Griffin, the rest of the changes in Default Folder X 6.2.5 are fixes for crashes that have come in through its automated crash reporter. The exciting bit is that a number of the crashes could be traced back to a couple of small bugs deep in Default Folder X’s handling of Open and Save dialogs. While the crashes were very few and far between (experienced by less than half a dozen users each), I’m very happy to have fixes in place to eliminate that little bit of unreliability.
As usual, this update is free for licensed Default Folder X 6 users. Just choose Check for Update from Default Folder X’s menu in your menu bar or visit the What’s New page to see the full release notes and download the update.
Version 6.2.3 of Default Folder X is available, and it delivers an array of improvements and fixes (like you couldn’t have guessed that 😁).
Quick Search now searches for open and recently closed Finder windows in addition to favorites and recent files, folders and apps. The Open With menu – which you can access by holding down the Command key and mousing over any file in Default Folder X’s menus – supplies a less overwhelming list of available applications. And Tahoe users will now see a full complement of menu item icons in Default Folder X’s menu:
I know the icons are a little thing, but the unbalanced look was driving me nuts with just the icons that Tahoe provides by default.
There’s also more accurate tracking of recently opened files when you’re using Java apps, and all recent files are shown when using a file dialog presented by Keyboard Maestro‘s macro engine. The font size in Default Folder X’s menus is adjustable via a Terminal command, and you can specify a minimum size for file dialogs (check out the release notes for details on those).
On the bug fix front, delays that some people experienced in Open and Save dialogs have been eliminated. And a bug in Tahoe that caused various failures in Default Folder X has been dealt with – it prevented the path menu in file dialogs from updating, caused the Quick Search keyboard shortcut to work unreliably, and got DFX’s list of Finder windows out of sync, among other things. The gist of it is that the macOS Accessibility API stops reporting that a user interface item has disappeared, and that could get Default Folder X quite confused. DFX now works around those missing signals by using other methods to get (roughly) the same information.
As usual, this update is free to everyone with a license for Default Folder X version 6 (thank you again!), and there’s a 30-day free trial if you haven’t tried Default Folder X yet (you really should!). Download links and full a list of the changes in version 6.2.3 are available on the What’s New page.
Version 6.2.2 of Default Folder X is available, adding support for the Bloom file manager and tinted folders in menus. It also allows you to toggle between opening a folder in a new Finder window vs. an existing one, and fixes a number of bugs.
Bloom is an excellent replacement for the Finder that offers multi-pane views, auto-resizing columns, sync browsing and much more. Default Folder X’s Finder-click feature sees its windows and will open files and folders in Bloom instead of the Finder.
Version 6.2.2 will also colorize folders in its menus when you tag them with a color in the Finder or Default Folder X.
In addition, when choosing a folder from Default Folder X’s menus you can now hold down the Option key to toggle whether it opens in a new Finder window or in the frontmost window. This also applies to Bloom or any of the other supported Finder-substitutes. And because I took the Folder Sets menu out of the default menu configuration in version 6, Default Folder X will now offer to add the Folder Sets menu if you don’t have one when you switch between folder sets in the Settings.
Finally, there are a bunch of bug fixes. While several are specifically for Tahoe issues, a number apply to all versions of macOS, so this update is recommended for all Default Folder X users, regardless of which version of macOS you’re using.
As usual, this update is free for anyone who has purchased a license for version 6 of Default Folder X. Just choose Check for Update from Default Folder X’s menu in your menu bar, or go to the What’s New page for download links and release notes.
Version 6.2 of Default Folder X is available, delivering support for macOS 26 Tahoe as well as addressing a number of issues. This update is free if you’ve already purchased a license for version 6, and you can just select “Check for Update” from Default Folder X’s menu in your menu bar to get it.
While the headline feature for version 6.2 is its compatibility with macOS 26, it also includes a number of other changes that benefit users running any supported version of macOS (10.13 – 26.0). Default Folder X’s buttons in the Finder’s toolbar are more attractive and work better, and issues with Adobe apps have been addressed. The “Open With” menu that was introduced in version 6.1.7 works more smoothly, and there are new AppleScript commands for integrating with other apps such as Alfred.
In addition to that, a number of bugs have been squashed and little details have been improved. They’re listed in the change history on the What’s New page, along with download links for version 6.2 in various languages.
As always, thanks for your support, suggestions and bug reports. We couldn’t do this without you!
The newest public beta version of Default Folder X 6.2 is available – you can download Default Folder X 6.2b6 here. It includes quite a few fixes for various appearance niggles that weren’t quite right in Tahoe, as well as some improvements that affect users of older versions of macOS.
First, there’s a bug fix for incorrect drag-and-drop behavior in the Quick Search window. If you dragged an item out of your Quick Search results – to move it in the Finder or to open it in a particular app – the Quick Search window would just stay on screen afterwards. It now closes as it should when you drag and drop an item out of it. This impacted all versions of macOS.
An improvement for versions of macOS from Big Sur up to and including Tahoe are the new Finder toolbar buttons.
They’re now proper toolbar buttons, and work much more smoothly than the old ones. If you’re running 6.2b6, I’d appreciate it if you turn them on in the General tab of your Default Folder X settings and give me your feedback.
There’s a full list of changes on the Default Folder X beta testing page. The overall takeaway is that this build is more polished in its support of Tahoe’s new look, while also providing bug fixes for all supported versions of macOS. If you’re already running a 6.2 beta, just choose “Check for Update” from Default Folder X’s menu in your menu bar to get the new build.
Build number 5 of the Default Folder X 6.2 public beta is available! It supports Apple’s latest macOS 26 Tahoe betas and even includes a glassy new icon created with Icon Composer 😁
The importance of this release depends on whether you’re using any of Adobe’s Creative Cloud 2025 apps. If you are, version 6.2b5 will solve problems with selecting or typing text into edit fields in Save dialogs. And although the Default Folder X betas are primarily for getting things working smoothly on Apple’s macOS 26 Tahoe beta releases, these fixes work on any supported version of macOS (10.13 High Sierra through 26 Tahoe). So yeah, if you’re running InDesign 2025, Illustrator 2025, or any other Adobe “2025” app, get Default Folder X 6.2b5.
This build also includes a second attempt to fix a rare bug that has shown up a few times in crash logs, but that I’m unable to reproduce here. The system is throwing an odd exception, but I can’t figure out how to cause it, so the included fix is my best guess at working around the issue. We’ll see if the crash logs stop trickling in 🤷🏻♂️ If you’re actually seeing a crash in Default Folder X, please get in touch!
Version 6.1.7 of Default Folder X is now available, delivering a feature that was originally included in the version 6.2 beta last week. When you hold down the Command key, Default Folder X adds a submenu to whatever file is currently selected in its menu:
The menu gives you multiple options for handling the file, rather than just opening it. Those include revealing it in the Finder, copying the path of the file or the file itself to the clipboard, or bringing up a standard Share sheet to attach it to an email, AirDrop it, send it in Messages, etc. Or you can use the Open With submenu to open the file in any app you have that recognizes it.
These options are also available in Default Folder X’s Quick Search window by Control-clicking or right-clicking on a search result:
In addition, the 6.1.7 release addresses a number of issues that have been reported since the last update, including incorrect text input in Save dialogs, problems with Save dialogs in Quick Look, Finder tags not always working correctly in Save dialogs and more.
The update is free for everyone who’s purchased a license for version 6. For a complete list of changes and download links, see the What’s New page. Or if you’re already running Default Folder X, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar.
Version 6.1.6 of Default Folder X is available, and offers a new Focus filter in addition to the usual handful of improvements and bug fixes.
Your Mac comes pre-loaded with Focus modes like Do Not Disturb and Sleep, but you can add your own for things like Work, Finance or Gaming to customize the way your Mac behaves while you’re in one of these ‘modes’. And Focus filters are app actions that you can trigger automatically when you activate a Focus.
Using Default Folder X’s Focus filter, you can switch to a specific folder set, loading a set of favorites, default folders and recent history. This customizes Default Folder X to show the folders and files you want to access quickly while in that Focus. For more about folder sets in Default Folder X, see the User Guide.
To set up a Focus filter, open System Settings and click on Focus in the left sidebar.
Create a new focus or choose from one of the existing ones by clicking on it. Within that Focus, scroll down to the bottom and click on the “Add Filter” button.
Finally, choose the Default Folder X filter and select a folder set to use. Once you’ve done so, your chosen folder set will be loaded automatically whenever you activate that Focus.
In addition to the new Focus filter, version 6.1.6 of Default Folder X includes a number of other improvements. It’s faster at switching between folders in file dialogs, and problems with keyboard shortcuts, Finder-click, keyboard focus and creating new folders have all been addressed.
For a full change history and download links, see the What’s New page. Or if you’re already running Default Folder X, choose Check for Update from its menu in your menu bar.
Quick Search gets new filtering options, which are especially useful if you want to automate things using AppleScript or Default Folder X’s new URL handler. You can restrict searches to the same options available in the Quick Search menu:
For example, searching for “folders:receipts” will yield only folders whose names match “receipts”, rather than all files, folders, and apps. The filter keywords are the same as the menu items:
all:
files:
folders:
apps:
recent:
favorite:
finder:
spotlight:
This can be used in AppleScript like this:
tell application "Default Folder X" to QuickSearch "folders:receipts"
Other additions to version 6.1.4 include an “Apply to All” checkbox when dragging and dropping multiple files or folders onto Default Folder X’s menu bar icon when they already exist in the chosen folder:
and identical behavior when dropping items onto a folder in Default Folder X’s Finder drawer.
There are also several important bug fixes in Default Folder X 6.1.4 that prevent crashes, hangs, and misbehavior. If you’re using Microsoft Word with Microsoft Sharepoint, running the Copy’Em app, or synchronizing DFX’s settings via iCloud, make sure to update immediately. A less harmful bug, in which DFX fails to show label colors in its menus if you have fewer than 8 favorite labels set up in your Finder settings, has also been fixed.
For a full list of changes and download links, go to the Default Folder X What’s New page. Or if you’re already running Default Folder X, select “Check for Update” from DFX’s menu in your menu bar.
Well, I’m a day late but want to share some details on the changes in the new version of Default Folder X that was released yesterday.
First, the Bug Fixes
1. The last release of Default Folder X (6.1.2) used the macOS windowserver SPI to work around a very problematic bug in Apple’s Accessibility API in Sequoia, and that turned out to be a bit touchy. Since the SPI is officially undocumented, I should’ve been even more paranoid than I was when using it. DFX wasn’t checking the size of the argument returned by some notifications, and that caused a crash in rare circumstances.
2. The improved management of Finder labels in DFX 6.1.2 wasn’t always improved. If your Finder settings lacked a list of favorite tags (or the list contained fewer than the standard 7 tags), Default Folder X would unexpectedly quit. This only affected a few people, as you had to have some pretty messed up Finder prefs for it to occur, but resulted in DFX crashing every time you used an Open dialog. My apologies – it’s fixed in version 6.1.3.
3. In Sequoia, the “Do you want to keep this new document?” Save dialogs optionally contain a popup menu for the file’s format. This confused Default Folder X, resulting in it not putting its toolbar up when it should have. That’s been corrected, so DFX will now enhance Save dialogs when apps offer a format popup (TextEdit is the only one I’m aware of at present).
4. In the process of chasing down the problems above, I also cleaned up several other bugs and sped up the construction of Default Folder X’s hierarchical menus.
I’m sorry about all that – version 6.1.2 was a bit substandard.
New Things
I did manage to actually make a couple of useful additions while chasing down bugs:
1. Quick Search can now be invoked using AppleScript or a custom URL. This is primarily useful for folks who want to access it from a keyboard macro app like Keyboard Maestro or using a launcher / shortcut utility like Raycast or Alfred. Look up the details in Default Folder X’s AppleScript dictionary, or use an URL like:
(yes, you can click on that URL if you’re already running Default Folder X 6.1.3).
2. Default Folder X does a better job of tracking recent Microsoft Word documents that are stored on OneDrive. The underlying problem is interesting: Even though your files are stored locally on your Mac, Word internally keeps track of files on OneDrive using a network URL like https://d.docs.live.net/48c889/OneDriveTest.docx. That makes sense, since the “true source” of the document is on OneDrive – the file on your Mac is just a synchronized copy of it. So Default Folder X has to translate that URL into the location of the local file on your Mac in order to use it. It’s been doing that for a while, but there are some interesting twists and turns if it’s actually stored on SharePoint, Microsoft’s corporate version of OneDrive. DFX 6.1.3 now navigates that little SharePoint maze correctly.
Please Update to Default Folder X 6.1.3
So – regardless of whether those two new things matter to you, please grab the Default Folder X 6.1.3 update to get the bug fixes. You can select “Check for Update” from Default Folder X’s menu in your menu bar, or get more details and download it from the Default Folder X What’s New page.
