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My question is related to Remove link to something that is not a folder in the Finder sidebar, but my problem is fundamentally different.

I still have file links appearing in my folder sidebar. But I know how to remove those links, I just right-click and choose the option Remove from the sidebar.

I actually have no idea how files end up appearing in there: I don't drag them, I don't do anything special. Actually, if I drag them, I get a nice Forbidden icon. So I don't get how they should even appear.

So why do they appear there and how can I prevent this from happening?

I have Mountain Lion 10.8.2.

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Maybe someone else drags them? (Incidentally, you have to hold down Command while dragging to add them. You can also hold down Command and drag them off to remove them, if you have some irrational hatred of right-clicking...) – daviewales Dec 9 '12 at 12:15
Like a Poltergeist? :P On a more serious note, I highly doubt that, I'm the only one who uses my computer. – Alenanno Dec 9 '12 at 12:16
I have had the occasional thing appear in my sidebar, but I just assumed that it was due to me (or one of my many brothers and sisters) being careless... I wonder if it's a bug. – daviewales Dec 9 '12 at 12:18
@daviewales I don't know. Perhaps it's intentional behavior, but I hope we can solve it with the question. :D – Alenanno Dec 9 '12 at 12:33

1 Answer

up vote 1 down vote

You might accidentally be pressing the shortcut commandT which means “Add to Sidebar” in the Finder but is used for many different things in many other applications. So if you think another application is frontmost where actually the Finder is you'd accidentally add the currently selected file to the sidebar. Happened to me a few times.

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Ah yes, I do use that combination to open a new tab on Chrome. I just tried it and it worked. How do you prevent this? Just "be careful"? I hope there is some option to lock the sidebar? goes to check – Alenanno Dec 10 '12 at 14:09
There is no option to lock the sidebar that I know of. A quick glance in the upper left hand corner of the screen next to the  menu will always show the name of the frontmost application that will receive your keystrokes. In my experience you'll get used to where the focus of the system currently is as there are many indicators beyond the application menu. – MacLemon Dec 10 '12 at 15:04

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