1

I opened a write-protected and locked PDF-file with the Preview app. Originally it was located within a folder at the desktop.

Afterwards, I moved the file within its folder to a different location.

After some time, the containing folder reappeared at the desktop but without any content in it.

It has been some days since then and I rebooted several times. The folder just keeps reappearing. I delete it, it somehow gets recreated by some application after some minutes.

I even unlocked the PDF-file, moved it back and forth. I also deleted the folder with sudo in the terminal. It says that "staff" is the owner. But it keeps reapperaring.

What could I do? Can I see why the folder was created?

Improve this question
6
  • 1
    What is the name of the folder? Do you have iCloud sync for Documents and Desktop enabled?
    – nohillside ♦
    Commented Mar 29, 2021 at 6:44
  • iCloud for Desktop is not enabled. The name is just my previous chosen name where I stored the pdf-files, nothing system-related.
    – User123456789
    Commented Mar 29, 2021 at 6:56
  • If you rename it once it got created, does an additional folder with the old name reappear as well after a while?
    – nohillside ♦
    Commented Mar 29, 2021 at 7:38
  • Yes, I renamed it and half an hour later, there appeared a new folder with the old name
    – User123456789
    Commented Mar 29, 2021 at 8:31
  • You can try the following to find out which process recreates the folder: open Terminal, type while :;do sudo lsof ~/Desktop/<folder name> 2>/dev/null; done (replace <folder name> with the name of the folder that keeps reappearing) and press Enter (you will most probably need to type your password once). With a bit of luck this loop should print the process that creates the folder (you may need to delete the folder several times and wait for it to be recreated).
    – jaume
    Commented Mar 29, 2021 at 17:37

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0

I found the solution: It was the default download location of firefox. I changed it, deleted the folder, it never got recreated ever since.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .