01-27-2009, 07:45 AM

Hello folks.

At home my MacBook is connected to an external monitor with the dock and desktop icons displayed on that (and not on the MacBook screen).

During the day, it is disconnected and taken to work, and my dock and icons are shown (obviously) on the MacBook display.

When I move between setups, my icons 'leave spaces / gaps' between each other and move away from the order I placed them in - I like them all in a line, and where I left them.

As an example: I have my 'backup' folder sat under my hard disk icon, and have a 'music' folder sat underneath that. All other icons are temporary and filed as and when. If I switch display setups, I'll find gaps in between the icons, and potentially the 'backup' and 'music' folders no longer directly under my hard disk icon.

Is there any way to completely 'lock' the icons to their place on the desktop?


Thanks in advance, to what I appreciate is a very trivial question... but it really bugs me.

01-27-2009, 11:37 AM

Right click the desktop>show view options> then in the "arrange by" drop down menu select one that you want.

01-27-2009, 11:42 AM

Hi, thanks for your reply.

That's actually my point though, I have to keep doing what you note to keep them 'straight' and where I want them, they don't seem to stay put!

01-27-2009, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by kny

Hi, thanks for your reply.

That's actually my point though, I have to keep doing what you note to keep them 'straight' and where I want them, they don't seem to stay put!

Click on the Desktop. Then go to Show View Options

Use the dropdown menu to Arrange by: Snap to Grid (along with name, date, etc.). It should force any icons to stay neatly aligned the way you want them.

01-27-2009, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by kny

Hi, thanks for your reply.

That's actually my point though, I have to keep doing what you note to keep them 'straight' and where I want them, they don't seem to stay put!

Try dragging the com.apple.finder.plist to the trash, file located in ~/Library/Preferences
then either logging out and back in or relaunch the dock. Then try changing it, and see if it stays.

04-18-2009, 02:12 PM

When I right click my desktop (Macbook), nothing happens any more. No drop down. No icons show. I can change the background using the preferences pane, and I can see the contents of the desktop folder in the finder, but the desktop is gone. Any ideas how to get it back?

04-18-2009, 02:17 PM

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