Finder Not Responding on a Mac? How to Fix It Without an App

Quick answer: If Finder is not responding on your Mac, press Option-Command-Esc, select Finder and click Relaunch. If it freezes again, restart the Mac. Still stuck? Free some disk space, move Finder's preferences file aside, start up in safe mode once, and update macOS. None of these needs a clean-up app.

The spinning wheel appears over a Finder window. The Desktop stops responding to clicks. Other apps carry on as normal, which somehow makes it worse.

A relaunch is the first thing to try. Here are the fixes in the order worth trying, starting with the ones that take ten seconds.

How do you relaunch Finder when it's not responding?

Use the Force Quit window, and choose Relaunch. Apple's force quit guide gives the shortcut: press Option, Command and Esc together, or choose Force Quit from the Apple menu. Select Finder in the list and the button changes from Force Quit to Relaunch.

Finder is the one app you can't simply quit. Apple's page puts it as "force it to quit and reopen": it starts again on its own within a few seconds.

Can you restart Finder from Terminal?

Yes, with killall Finder. Open Terminal from Applications > Utilities, type that and press Return. Finder quits and macOS starts it again, the same as Relaunch. It's handy when the Force Quit window won't open, or when you're already in Terminal for something else. Activity Monitor works too: search for Finder, select it and click the stop button.

Relaunching only closes Finder windows. Your files aren't touched, and nothing in the Bin is emptied.

What if Finder keeps freezing after a relaunch?

Restart the Mac properly. Choose Apple menu > Restart and let it finish. If the menu won't respond, hold the power button until the Mac switches off, wait a few seconds, then turn it on again. A forced shutdown can lose unsaved work in other apps, so save what you can first.

If Finder only freezes in one folder, look at what's in it. A folder with thousands of files, or one on an external or network drive that has gone to sleep or been unplugged, can keep Finder waiting. Eject the drive or close that window and see whether the rest of Finder wakes up.

Could a full disk stop Finder working?

It can, and it's quick to check. Choose Apple menu > System Settings > General > Storage. Apple's guide to freeing up storage space lists the built-in ways to clear room, from emptying the Bin to removing old iPhone backups.

A Mac with almost no free space can slow down everywhere, Finder included. You don't need a cleaner app to fix that. Delete or move a few large things, empty the Bin, and restart.

How do you reset Finder's preferences?

Move Finder's preferences file out of the way, then relaunch Finder. The file is com.apple.finder.plist in ~/Library/Preferences. A damaged copy is one of the causes people report in a long-running Apple Community thread on Finder not responding.

The top-ranked reply there moves the file rather than deleting it, so you can put it back. In Terminal:

mv ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist ~/Desktop/finder-prefs-backup.plist

Then restart the Mac rather than just relaunching Finder. macOS keeps a cached copy of app preferences in memory, and a restart makes sure Finder starts from a fresh file.

Finder starts with its default settings: view options and the "Show these items on the desktop" choices go back to how they were on a new Mac. If that fixes it, delete the backup. If it changes nothing, drag the backup back into ~/Library/Preferences (Shift-Command-G gets you there), rename it to com.apple.finder.plist and restart to restore your settings.

Does safe mode fix Finder?

Sometimes, and either result narrows things down. Apple's safe mode guide says safe mode stops some software loading at startup, checks the startup disk and clears some system caches.

On a Mac with Apple silicon, shut down, then press and hold the power button until "Loading startup options" appears. Select your startup disk, hold Shift and click Continue in Safe Mode. On an Intel Mac, hold Shift as it starts.

If Finder behaves in safe mode, something that loads at startup is the likely culprit: a login item, or a Finder extension from a sync or clean-up app. Restart normally, then switch off recently added items in System Settings > General > Login Items & Extensions (Login Items on older versions) one at a time.

When should you update macOS or run First Aid?

After the quick fixes, before anything drastic. Apple's safe mode guide recommends installing the latest macOS and app updates first, saying it is "more likely than any other step" to resolve the kind of problem safe mode helps find. Check System Settings > General > Software Update.

If Finder still freezes, run First Aid on the startup disk in Disk Utility, as Apple's Disk Utility repair guide explains. Reinstalling macOS is the last resort, and it keeps your files, but back up with Time Machine first anyway.

Do you need an app to fix Finder?

No. Plenty of pages ranking for this problem end with a download button for a clean-up utility. Every fix above is built into macOS, and none of them needs Full Disk Access granted to a third party.

If a file refuses to delete while you're at it, our guide to files you can't delete on a Mac covers locked files, permissions and the Bin that won't empty.

What to try, in order

1. Press Option-Command-Esc, select Finder and click Relaunch.
2. Restart the Mac if Finder freezes again within a few minutes.
3. Check free space in System Settings > General > Storage and clear some if it's nearly full.
4. Move com.apple.finder.plist aside and restart.
5. Start up in safe mode once, then update macOS and run First Aid.

A note on Spellbin

Spellbin is our own small paid Mac app, so it's fair to say plainly: it won't fix a frozen Finder. It's a pixel-art cauldron that sits in the Dock beside the Bin. Drop a file on it and a green flame carrying the file's thumbnail rises out and dissolves, and by default the file lands in the real Bin.

It's for making deleting a bit more fun once Finder is behaving again. Every drop counts towards achievements that unlock new cauldron skins. Download Spellbin if that sounds like your sort of thing.

A relaunch takes ten seconds and costs nothing. Try it before you download anything that promises to fix Finder.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I force quit Finder on a Mac?

To force quit Finder on a Mac, press Option-Command-Esc to open the Force Quit window, select Finder and click Relaunch. Finder cannot be quit permanently, so the button reads Relaunch rather than Force Quit, and macOS reopens it straight away. Typing killall Finder in Terminal does the same thing.

Why does my Mac Finder keep crashing?

A Mac Finder that keeps crashing can be caused by a damaged preferences file, a nearly full startup disk, a third-party Finder extension or a drive that has disconnected. Relaunch Finder first, then check free storage, move com.apple.finder.plist aside and restart, and try safe mode to rule out login software.

Does relaunching Finder delete anything?

Relaunching Finder on a Mac does not delete files or empty the Bin. It closes the open Finder windows and restarts the Finder process, which also redraws the Desktop. Unsaved work in other apps is unaffected, because relaunching Finder doesn't quit them. Only Finder's own windows need reopening afterwards.

What happens if I delete com.apple.finder.plist?

Deleting com.apple.finder.plist resets the Mac Finder to its default settings the next time it launches. Your files are untouched, but Finder view options and desktop display choices go back to the defaults. Moving the file to the Desktop instead of deleting it lets you restore those settings if the reset does not help.

How do I restart Finder without Terminal?

To restart Finder without Terminal, press Option-Command-Esc, select Finder and click Relaunch. You can also Control-click the Finder icon in the Dock, hold Option and choose Relaunch, or open Activity Monitor, search for Finder, select it and click the stop button. Each method restarts Finder within seconds.

Final Takeaways

• Relaunch first. Option-Command-Esc, Finder, Relaunch takes ten seconds.
• A full disk slows everything, Finder included. Check Storage before anything clever.
• Move the preferences file, don't delete it, so you can undo the reset.
• Safe mode narrows it down to software that loads at startup.
• No clean-up app required. Everything here is built into macOS.