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FinderPath

bahoom.com

127 pointssteeples45 comments

This is the #1 most annoying thing in my recent conversion to working with a Mac. There is literally not a single way I can find to copy the current folder that I'm at in Finder for use in another finder window(ie, open/save files) nor for use in a terminal. Best bet is to two finger tap, get info, copy and paste the messed up "Macintosh HD"ized path, manually convert the Macintosh HD crap to an actual path, and then probably it works and you just wasted 1 minute of your life.

Not sure exactly what you are trying to do, but dragging a folder from finder into the open/save dialog will normally change directory to the one dropped in.

You can click on the folder icon at the top of a Finder window and drag it into an open/save dialogue, or drag it into a Terminal window to get the absolute path. This works with individual files, too.

You can also drag it onto the Terminal.app dock icon.

This would always piss me off, eventually I put this into my rc file https://gist.github.com/adamnemecek/bf9d8e4c0356bfdd86c2

What I then do is that I select a file in the directory I want to cd into, hit CMD + C, switch to terminal and run sd on CMD+V. The script basically cd's into the same dir as the file you selected.

I realize that this workflow might not be for everyone but it's kind of ok for me.

Give xtraFinder ( http://www.trankynam.com/xtrafinder/ ) a shot, it'll let you copy paths of a directory, along with a whole other suite of additions. Makes Finder a whole lot better.

If you are in the folder "foo" with no files selected then Cmd-C will copy the address of "/Users/Yourname/foo". You can paste that into the terminal no problem.

If you want to go to a particular path in finder or an open/save dialog, hit cmd-shift-g. Then you can paste your path or use tab completion to get to your directory.

Considering opening the current path in Terminal, there are a few easier ways using Automator[1] or Alfred[2], but from 10.7 on there is a built in feature to do this:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/420456/open-terminal-here...

[1] http://peterdowns.com/posts/open-iterm-finder-service.html (iTerm)

[2] http://www.alfredforum.com/topic/1664-open-current-finder-wi...

I doubt it solves all your problems, but for the issue with terminals I recommend Go2Shell[1] which just adds an icon you can click to open a terminal in that window.

[1] http://zipzapmac.com/go2shell

If you happen to use zsh/oh-my-zsh, enable the OSX extension. You can then use the command cdf to jump to the active finder directory and pfd to display the active finder directory.

I use this bash function to get the same effect [1]

[1]: http://git.io/hFmk

Semi-OT: i just recently started using OSX (coming from Xubuntu/XFCE). The Finder is my number #1 problem with the OS. I find it very uncomfortable and cumbersome to use, maybe i just don't grasp the concept... whatever.

Is there any alternative? Also open to a command line file navigator.

Depends what your problems are, I use TotalFinder for better Tab Support and Split-Screen Tab arrangements, but I don't know if that will help with what you dislike about finder.

There's also a free alternative called xtrafinder (https://www.trankynam.com/xtrafinder/)

TotalFinder ( http://totalfinder.binaryage.com/ ) works for me.

PathFinder from cocoatech.com

For me, it is everything Finder should have been

Forklift is a dual pane file manager that works well for me. With FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3 and so on.

http://www.binarynights.com/forklift/

In my experience most long-time advanced OS X learn all of the somewhat hidden keyboard and mousing short cuts of which there are many. Most advanced users don't directly improve or replace the Finder with more GUI mousing tools such as Path Finder, XtraFinder and the like.

Instead we use tools that keep our hands on the keyboard and automate workflows. I have been a user of LaunchBar for over 15 years since OS X Beta. Other people use Alfred or Quicksilver for the same reasons. Any of these apps will address most of the issues people have mentioned in these comments. Each of these apps has a slightly different focus and style so it is worth testing each to see which fits you the best.

For the few things that LaunchBar can't do, or for much more complicated workflow automation, I use Keyboard Maestro.

* http://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/index.html

* http://www.alfredapp.com

* http://qsapp.com

* http://www.keyboardmaestro.com/

Fun Note: you can still download versions of LaunchBar back to pre-OS X NEXTSTEP.

EDIT: immediately after posting, I saw this review in my RSS stream. They pick Alfred, but discuss the rest. http://thesweetsetup.com/apps/our-favorite-os-x-launcher/

Of course it's written by the same guy who created Hyperdock. Hyperdock is literally the one tool that makes OSX bearable.

I've never heard of Hyperdock but damn that's nice. Thanks for mentioning that!

Just great. This is basically more valuable to me than all of the updates, combined, in Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite.

I always get nervous of products like Hyperdock as I fear they will cause some instability.

How have you found it?

There's probably some performance degradation and I've occasionally experienced weird behavior, but it's caused much fewer problems than Alfred did.

Try: ⌘ + SHIFT + G

This shows you the last path you went to using this command, so it's useless for showing you your current path.

Cmd-c in the current directory copies the current path. Not sure why you would want to just look at the current path.

You can see the path with `defaults` command show path in title bar.

It's really a shame something like FinderPath has to exist. Finder in Mac at this point is really a shame.

So happy if only for Cmd-T to open a terminal at the given folder. I really appreciate having a navigation bar in finder, I used to do all my serious file browsing in the terminal. Now perhaps finder will actually have some use.

Another handy trick: Drag the icon next to the Finder title into any open terminal window and it will place the full path at the prompt.

You can also just do Shift + CMD + G if you want to jump to a folder. You can also drag the Finder proxy icon to Terminal and it'll write the path to your session.

I used to have an Applescript app that I made a default icon in the Finder action bar that would open a new terminal tab and then cd to the path of the Finder window, but they introduced this a few versions ago and I think it works fine: http://lifehacker.com/launch-an-os-x-terminal-window-from-a-...

Yes, you can do this using "Services" from the system (they appear in Finder contextual menus at appropriate times) but not all Services are enabled by default.

Go to: System Preferences >> Keyboard >> Shortcuts tab and select the Services list item. In the list you will find a section named "Files and Folders", which contains "New Terminal at Folder" and "New Terminal Tab at Folder". If you download 3rd party terminal replacements such as mine (MacTerm), you will see Services for those applications as well. :)

I've used some toolbar applications for this for years. The current one I use is Go2Shell: https://itunes.apple.com/se/app/go2shell/id445770608?l=en&mt...

But Cmd+T seems much easier. :)

This hasn't been updated in nearly five years. That alone would make me hesitant to install it. can anyone confirm if it even runs on Yosemite?

I have it running on Yosemite. Instructions for enabling accesibility settings are a little different though. https://thequantumself.wordpress.com/2014/06/26/enable-acces... Haven't tried anything fancy but verified it works

"FinderPath 0.9.5 March 23, 2015

Changelog Improved compatibility with OS X Yosemite"

I prefer DTerm[0].

From Finder, ⌘⇧⏎ pulls up an Alfred-like modal for executing one-off commands in the folder you are viewing, displaying output in the modal itself.

Another quick ⌘⏎ pops open a full terminal with the folder as your working directory.

[0]: http://decimus.net/dterm

Thanks for this, this is great. I run iTerm2 in visor mode (quake-type pull down console), but that DTerm can figure out what the cwd I'm in is great!

Just tried this, DTerm is not playing nice with Zsh and iTerm2 :/

So do you need an app for every single thing you want to do on a Mac? I saw an app for maximising windows, now an app to display file paths...

There's also an app to cut-paste files. It's their way of getting users to adopt their design decisions, make it the most practical option by not supporting alternatives. Pretty effective.

I guess you can see Where you are by typing Cmd + I in the folder.

I know this is not the best possible solution for this :)

I'd love something like this that works with the ZSH + z fuzzy folder matching

Cupertino, start your photocopiers :)

Cmd+Maj+G ?

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