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My default sidebar width in Big Sur is too small. While I can click/drag to make folders look wider, that fix only works for folders that I open. If any application calls a new window to open - say for picking a file to attach or upload - the default windows that open render differently and my sidebar shortcuts once again can't be fully seen.

When I drill down into those prefs via CLI to change them, there seem to be about a dozen places in the finder's preferences file that mention the sidebar width:

defaults read com.apple.finder | grep SidebarWidth
        SidebarWidth = 174;
        SidebarWidth = 221;
        SidebarWidth = 221;
    "FK_SidebarWidth" = 294;
            SidebarWidthTenElevenOrLater = 217;
    NSNavSidebarWidth = 120;
        SidebarWidth = 178;
    SidebarWidth = 260;
        SidebarWidth = 135;
                SidebarWidth = 248;
            SidebarWidth = 0;
        SidebarWidth = 221;

I'll spare sharing the entire Finder preferences file as it's ginormous, sooo: I have questions!

  1. Am I working with the right preference file?
  2. Which of these mentions is the right one?

Thanks, all.

For @pion, here's the full code pull you'd requested:

WindowState =     (
        BROw,
                {
            EntryPoint = "file://localhost/Volumes/Mac%20OS%20X%20Install%20DVD/";
            ScrollPosition =             {
                h = 0;
                v = 0;
            };
            ShowToolbar = 0;
            SidebarWidth = 0;
            Target = "file://localhost/Volumes/Mac%20OS%20X%20Install%20DVD/";
            ViewHeight = 420;
            ViewStyle = icnv;
            WindowBounds =             {
                bottom = 590;
                left = 597;
                right = 1122;
                top = 170;
            };
        }
    );
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10
  • Try defaults read com.apple.finder SidebarWidth
    – pion
    Mar 9, 2021 at 20:15
  • So that clearly works for anything I generate in the Finder @pion. It does NOT work for when the OS or an app opens a window FOR me during an upload process.
    – TallFunnyJew
    Mar 9, 2021 at 20:55
  • I suspect the SidebarWidth = 0 entry. Can you share its full context?
    – pion
    Mar 9, 2021 at 20:57
  • Added above, @pion
    – TallFunnyJew
    Mar 9, 2021 at 21:06
  • Can you tell me the full defaults path to that property? WindowState isn't a root-level node.
    – pion
    Mar 9, 2021 at 21:09

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
1

Try

defaults delete com.apple.finder WindowState && killall Finder

Update:

Also try

defaults delete com.apple.finder NSNavSidebarWidth && killall Finder
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7
  • nope. that doesn't change the sidebars in the windows which are auto-called by the OS when uploading/downloading something. here's a video that shows what's happening: loom.com/share/9bccc3cc0f6147a3acda413aedec2fb6
    – TallFunnyJew
    Mar 9, 2021 at 21:39
  • Can you run defaults read com.apple.finder | grep SidebarWidth again and show the new values?
    – pion
    Mar 9, 2021 at 21:41
  • ``` SidebarWidth = 174; SidebarWidth = 221; SidebarWidth = 221; "FK_SidebarWidth" = 293; SidebarWidthTenElevenOrLater = 217; NSNavSidebarWidth = 120; SidebarWidth = 178; SidebarWidth = 245; SidebarWidth = 135; SidebarWidth = 248; SidebarWidth = 221; ```
    – TallFunnyJew
    Mar 9, 2021 at 21:43
  • Fascinating, right?
    – TallFunnyJew
    Mar 9, 2021 at 21:54
  • Thanks for all the help and research, @pion - you've been very generous with your time to an old sysadmin. Neither solution addresses the size of the finder window (which might be a part of the problem here in Big Sur) nor the width of the sidebar. Not when any application calls for the Finder to open a window to assist in navigation. I've also restarted to see if that might help but no.
    – TallFunnyJew
    Mar 10, 2021 at 3:11

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