Macbook Desktop icons arranging themselves from Browser?

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On my macbook when I drag an image from Google Chrome onto the desktop they arrange themselves into a grid. This only started to happen recently. I used to drag them and they would save where I located them. I have tried relaunching finder but it didn't work. When I go to finder view options and click arrange by none it still doesn't work. How do I change it back to the way it was? Please help.
 

bobtomay

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Right click on the Desktop

Sort By

None
 
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My experience has been that the above method is for temporarily changing the Arrange By settings. Using that method, the next time I open a window (in this case, the Finder) it reverts back to the "permanent" setting. But, when I change the settings in Show View Options, they stick.
 

bobtomay

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The above is for the Desktop only.

It does not set anything and will have no effect within Finder "windows".
 
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MacInWin

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Right click on desktop, make sure "Snap to Grid" is NOT checked (Under Sort By) .
 
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Again, my experience is that the right click method for changing setting in Finder, whether on the Desktop or in a Finder window, is a temporary change. To make it stick, use Show View Options. I will experiment with this a little when I have a chance.
 
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MacInWin

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toMACsh, I just tried Show View Options, and although it's not totally obvious, once you get to the menu, the changes are immediate on the desktop. For the OP, Right click on desktop, select Show View Options and at the bottom of the resulting menu box is a selection called "Sort by" and a box with something showing. Click on the box selection arrows and then choose how you want to see the desktop sorted. Change is immediate. "None" and "Click to Grid" are two of the options you may be interested in testing.
 
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And the change should be permanent. The Arrange By option with a right click might not stick through a Restart. I didn't have time yesterday to test that; probably won't today either.
 
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