Version 5.7 of Default Folder X is now available, delivering compatibility with macOS 13 Ventura! It also adds integration with Find Any File so you can start a search from a file dialog, and addresses a number of issues such as problems with iCloud and Microsoft OneDrive.
If you’re running a very old version of macOS, however, I have some disappointing news. Default Folder X now requires macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later to run. Apple’s Xcode tools no longer support building software for versions of macOS prior to High Sierra, so I don’t have a way of providing support back to macOS 10.9 anymore. You can still use Default Folder X 5.6.6 on older systems, and it’ll continue to work as well there as it always has.
With that caveat, I encourage you to use Default Folder X 5.7 even if you’re not running Ventura, as it fixes issues when running on earlier versions of macOS as well. Check the Default Folder X Release page for a full list of changes.
Note that there are still a few rough edges as of Ventura’s sixth public beta. When giving Default Folder X permission for Automation, Full Disk Access, etc, you’ll have to enter your password (or Touch ID) more than once. I apologize for this – it’s due to a bug in Ventura’s new System Settings app. I’ve submitted the bug to Apple, but don’t expect to see it fixed before macOS 13.0 ships. As usual, I’ll revisit this and other less visible workarounds for Ventura’s quirks as Apple fixes them.
If you haven’t tried Default Folder X, grab a copy to see how much more convenient Open and Save dialogs can be! And if you’re already running it, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar to download the new version – and thanks for your support!
A mention of Default Folder X on episode 940 of MacGeekGab reminded me (yet again) about this useful podcast, hosted by Dave Hamilton and John F. Braun. Their goal with each episode is for everyone to learn at least 5 new things about working with their Mac, iPhone, or associated bits, and they almost always succeed. I highly recommend their podcast if you’re into Mac tips and tricks!
Among other things, the second public beta of Default Folder X 5.7, otherwise known as version 5.7b2, adopts Ventura‘s use of the term “Settings” rather than “Preferences.” Seems like that wouldn’t be a big deal, right? It turns out that those terms occur more frequently than you’d think in various dialogs and error messages, and have to be substituted on the fly to match the version of macOS you’re running. So I spent a couple of days bringing all that into conformance, then testing and localizing, and now it DFX fits in properly on Ventura.
Version 5.7b2 also adds a couple more interesting things, like support for Thomas Tempelmann’s Find Any File application. When you’re in an Open or Save dialog, you can now search with Find Any File from Default Folder X’s utility menu.
Find Any File can be helpful because it performs an exhaustive search based on a file’s name, modification date, and other filesystem properties. While Spotlight indexes these same properties as well as the contents of documents, it won’t always find all files – Spotlight omits the contents of some folders, as well as files contained within application packages and other special locations.
Default Folder X 5.7b2 also fixes a problem with its Recent File and Recent Folder tracking on Microsoft OneDrive that could result in files or folders being listed twice when they’re updated on OneDrive.
If you’re already running an earlier beta of Default Folder X 5.7, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar. If you’re not, head over to the Default Folder X Testing page to download a copy!
There’s a new public beta release of Default Folder X available: version 5.7b1. It’s compatible with Apple’s latest pre-release version of macOS 13 Ventura, and includes some fixes to work more smoothly with the new System Settings app, which is Ventura’s replacement for System Preferences.
System Settings is still rough around the edges, so there are a few quirks in the flow of granting Default Folder X the various privacy permissions it needs. Most notably, you’ll need to authenticate for each separate permission you give it (Accessibility, Full Disk Access, and Screen Recording). This is because System Settings doesn’t reliably set the state of the Privacy & Security controls if it’s already running when an app requests to be added. As a result, Default Folder X has to quit System Settings before it asks for each permission, or the little switch next to its icon will do nothing to the underlying setting when you turn it on and off. That means that instead of supplying your admin password or Touch ID once and turning on all the necessary switches all in one go, you’ll see the System Settings window go away, then come back, asking for admin permissions each time. Hopefully, this bug in System Settings will be resolved before Ventura ships and I can remove this little dance.
Default Folder X 5.7b1 also fixes a minor bug when running under Ventura and on older versions of macOS. There were circumstances in which Default Folder X could mistake your home folder for your iCloud Drive folder, showing the wrong name in the path menu that appears above the file listing in Open and Save dialogs. That’s been fixed.
Release notes and download links are available on the Default Folder X Testing page, or if you’re running a previous beta of Default Folder X 5.7, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar.
It’s June, and you know what that means! Well, maybe you don’t… Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) is held at the beginning of June every year, and Apple traditionally uses the conference to introduce the next version of all of its operating systems. This year is no different, so developers world-wide (see what I did there?) are downloading and running the first early test version of macOS 13 “Ventura”.
And because Default Folder X works so closely with the operating system, it needs to be updated to support each new version. So there’s now a public pre-release build of Default Folder X 5.7 that’s available for folks who are running Ventura. For those of you who are accustomed to Default Folder X’s quick navigation and file management, this will keep you from getting frustrated while testing or developing on Ventura 😁
A download link, release notes and a list of known problems are on the Default Folder X Testing page. I’ve also rolled in a few fixes for other issues that affect both Ventura and past versions of macOS, so check the release notes for details about those, too.
Version 5.6.5 of Default Folder X is now available for download. It includes a number of improvements and bug fixes.
First, Default Folder X now recognizes files that you upload using a web browser or attach to an email as “recently used,” even if they haven’t actually been modified or opened. They’ll appear in DFX’s Recent Files menu so you can quickly get back to them.
Also, this release improves the way it handles Save As dialogs in Big Sur and Monterey. When a Save dialog is presented as a sheet, Default Folder X will emphasize the Finder windows behind it by drawing them darker as you mouse over them, but will leave the title-bar area of the sheet’s parent window unemphasized. This is done so you can still drag the window by its title bar to move it (and its attached Save dialog) around on the screen. It looks like this:
The “Downloads” window in the Finder is shown darkened behind a Save As sheet
Clear as mud, right? I’ll be the first to admit that it looks damned weird, but given that the Big Sur / Monterey implementation of sheets is a giant step backward in usability, I didn’t have a lot to work with. This method gives you the best access to your Finder windows while still allowing you to move the window (even though the new sheet UI implies that you can’t move it by graying it out).
And while we’re discussing Finder-click, version 5.6.5 fixes a problem with the way Default Folder X tracked the windows of Path Finder and ForkLift. They sometimes wouldn’t be recognized by the Finder-click feature because, in my drive to get the best performance, there was a case where I just optimized them out of existence. That’s been corrected.
Various bugs have also been fixed in the way Default Folder X handles Finder comments, cloud-synced folders, the icon of the Finder itself, and Save dialogs in macOS Sierra.
Release notes and download links are on the Default Folder X release page. Or if you’re already running Default Folder X, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar.
Version 5.6.4 of Default Folder X is available. It updates its tracking of cloud-sync services (OneDrive, Dropbox, Box Sync and Google Drive) to handle changes that Apple is requiring for macOS 12.3 compatibility. OneDrive and Box Sync were recently updated, and this resulted in Default Folder X’s Recent Files and Recent Folders menus no longer showing items that were synced to your Mac by those services. This update fixes that.
Default Folder X 5.6.4 also works around a bug in Chromium-based web browsers that rendered default folders inoperable if they depended on the type of file being saved. This impacted Google Chrome, Brave, Vivaldi, Opera and Microsoft Edge.
And finally, I fixed a bug in Default Folder X’s logic for expanding and minimizing Save dialogs depending on previous usage and whether the OK and Save buttons lie on-screen or not. It now works as it should in all scenarios and all applications.
Release notes and download links for Default Folder X 5.6.4 are available on the Default Folder X release page, or if you’re already running Default Folder X, by choosing “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar.
There’s a free update to Default Folder X available, bringing it to version 5.6.3. This release adds a few notable exceptions to DFX’s general rule of “if something is hidden, I won’t show it in your recent files or folders”.
Background
Default Folder X has always followed the principle that it should respect your privacy choices. To that end, if you open a file or folder that’s stored within a folder that’s been hidden, it assumes that there’s a reason that folder is hidden and it shouldn’t show the world the thing that you just opened. Generally, that’s what you want. If you hid that huge folder full of photos you took on an ill-considered party weekend in Vegas, your Recent Files menu won’t suddenly be filled with them after you’ve opened a bunch while trying to figure out what the heck your buddy Jason was wearing on his head that Saturday night.
The Problem
The hiccup in this system arises because Apple has chosen to hide some folders on your system by default. Most notably, the Library folder within your home folder is hidden. That’s generally a good idea, since you don’t want to know about its zillions of mystery files storing cached information, preferences, miscellaneous application data and the like. Unfortunately, there are a few things stored in the Library folder that you do care about – namely the attachments included in Mail messages and Messages conversations.
The Solution
In version 5.6.3, Default Folder X now makes special exceptions for attachments that you open from Mail and Messages. Even though they’re in a hidden location, they’ll show up in your Recent Files menu because there’s a reasonable chance that you’ll want to get back to them later.
Similarly, the cloud sync service Box Drive recently changed the default location of its synced Box Drive folder so that it’s stored within your Library folder. That, too, will now be treated as an exception by Default Folder X when it’s tracking cloud-synced files and folders. Anything that arrives in your Box Drive folder will be shown in your Recent Files and Recent Folders menus as it should be.
Other Changes in 5.6.3
In addition to the changes to recent-item-tracking, this release includes a number of bug fixes. One particularly vexing one for some folks was this situation:
where the Save, Cancel and Delete buttons are below the bottom of the screen. While you can move the dialog by dragging the parent window’s titlebar – or use the Return, Esc or Command-Delete keys to activate the button you want – this situation is confusing. It’s caused by Default Folder X trying to “help” by maximizing the dialog that first appears, which originally looks like this:
To fix the problem, Default Folder X now detects this situation and leaves the “do you want to keep this” dialog at its smaller size if there’s not room for it to fit on-screen.
Finally, version 5.6.3 corrects several other less egregious user interface issues. Full details are in the release notes on the Default Folder X Release Page. You’ll also find download links there, or if you’re already running Default Folder X, just choose “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar.
Well, the launch of Default Folder X 5.6 for Monterey has been a little rocky if you’ve been using some particular features.
Oops…
The biggest compatibility problem has been with Monterey’s new “Automatically hide and show the menu bar on desktop” setting, which caused Default Folder X to put its controls for Open and Save dialogs in the wrong place on the screen – sometimes covering up the actual file dialog 🙄. There were also issues for some people using Default Folder X’s buttons in their Finder toolbars – if you Command-dragged them to different locations in the toolbar, the buttons would keep moving back to their default positions every time you restarted your Mac.
These problems have been fixed in version 5.6.2, along with a rare situation where the Finder would continually relaunch after you logged in. And on the more benign side of things, Default Folder X’s controls will no longer get in the way of Quick Look previews in Open dialogs.
My apologies for these bugs, and for the rapid succession of the 5.6.1 and 5.6.2 updates. I’m trying to balance the need for getting these fixes out quickly with some patience to make sure there are no other lurking problems, or worse yet, bugs introduced in the process of fixing others.
At any rate, full details are available on the Default Folder X Release page. If you’re already running Default Folder X, this free update is available by simply choosing “Check for Update” from its menu in your menu bar.
Yes, yes, I know Apple hasn’t released the final version of Monterey yet, but I’m fairly confident that there won’t be changes in the full release that will cause compatibility problems. Of course, there’s always the slim chance – if so, you’ll find me out back, kicking myself for jumping the gun. But I hate getting email from customers saying “Help! Default Folder X stopped working!” if they happen to upgrade before updating to a compatible version of DFX. It’s an unpleasant experience for all you bleeding-edge upgraders out there 😉
Anyway, in addition to support for Monterey, Default Folder X 5.6 delivers compatibility improvements with Photoshop, Affinity Designer and its sibling apps, MoneyDance, Flying Logic and PDF Studio Pro. There are also fixes for handling situations where Google Drive or Dropbox folders are hidden, and small refinements in many other areas.
I also rewrote the code for the popup path menu that appears above the list of files in Open and Save dialogs. It had some annoying little graphical glitches depending upon the version of macOS you were running and whether you were in Light Mode or Dark Mode – those should be sorted out now.
A full list of changes is available on the Default Folder X Release Page, along with download links for your chosen language (as long as it’s English, Japanese, French, German or Danish 😁).
