Changing Finder's View Options with Only the Keboard

Command-J brings up the Finder's View Options, but how do I change any of them without taking my hands off the keyboard and using the mouse?

Thanks.

Regards,
Jim

I don't think you can... One can almost do anything by keystrokes or trackpad gestures, but I don't
think this is one of those things, curious...

SM

Most of the view options already have keyboard shortcuts - see the View menu.

I believe the OP is only referring to the options available when CMD+J is pressed.
There are some options which are in the drop down menu and correspond with certain keystrokes, but not all of them.

For instance changing the symbol size in finder, or changing the background color of the Finder window.

SM

True, not everything is available through keyboard shortcuts. I suppose then I have to ask how often actually change those settings.

Every day, when I browse through folders, I want to change the sort options. For example, one minute I want to sort by date modified, then I want to sort by size, and then I want to sort by file type.

How do I do this in the Finder using only the keyboard?

Thanks.

Regards,
Jim

Now, the things you mention in your last post, they can all be set with a keystroke.

^ + ⌥ Option + 2 for instance is sort by type of file.

SM

Cool! Thanks.

Now how do I do those things in a reverse sort order?

Wel, you got me there... but I'll give you this link, which will probably have the answer

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2470

SM

Mac 101: The Finder says: "You can change the sorting from ascending order to descending order and back again by clicking on the attribute column title."

I didn't find in the article anything about a keyboard shortcut to change the sorting from ascending to descending and back again.

Hopefully, somebody reading this thread will know a trick for doing this (perhaps using Quicksilver??)

If you're going to insist on doing everything using the keyboard, you're going to need to turn on the accessibility options under Universal Access (or Accessibility if you're on Mountain Lion). What you're looking for is "Full Keyboard Access."

Control+Command+1/2/3/4/5 changes the sort by options.

This is defined here:



Is that what you're after, or am I missing something?

cwa107 said:

Control+Command+1/2/3/4/5 changes the sort by options.
Is that what you're after, or am I missing something?

Click to expand...

Not quite. Another commenter pointed out that Control+Option+Command+1, etc. changes the **sort** options. (Not to be confused with the "Arrange by" options.)

What I haven't worked through, yet, is how to toggle between an **ascending** sort and a **descending** sort using only the keyboard.

Somebody else pointed me to the accessibility options, but that hasn't worked out for me yet. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right place.

(It may seem silly to some, but I really, really prefer using the keyboard for those actions I do multiple times each day.)

J

jtucker said:

Not quite. Another commenter pointed out that Control+Option+Command+1, etc. changes the **sort** options. (Not to be confused with the "Arrange by" options.)

What I haven't worked through, yet, is how to toggle between an **ascending** sort and a **descending** sort using only the keyboard.

Click to expand...

Gotcha.

Somebody else pointed me to the accessibility options, but that hasn't worked out for me yet. Perhaps I'm not looking in the right place.

(It may seem silly to some, but I really, really prefer using the keyboard for those actions I do multiple times each day.)

J

Click to expand...

Not at all. I'm sure it's possible, we're just missing something.

I run TotalFinder as I like the way it simply grafts functionality onto the existing Finder, rather than replacing it entirely. I'm having a look at the documentation now to see if it offers the option, as I haven't found any option native to Finder itself.

There used to be a commonly used acronym in Mac circles "FTFF", or "Fix The Freakin' Finder"... and I believe that's apt here. Finder has always been a weak file manager at best and is one of those Mac eccentricities that conflicts with Apple's dubious claim of "The World's Most Advanced Operating System".

Nada for TotalFinder... if there's a way to do it through Finder natively, I just don't see it.

cwa107 said:

I run TotalFinder as I like the way it simply grafts functionality onto the existing Finder, rather than replacing it entirely. I'm having a look at the documentation now to see if it offers the option, as I haven't found any option native to Finder itself.

There used to be a commonly used acronym in Mac circles "FTFF", or "Fix The Freakin' Finder"... and I believe that's apt here. Finder has always been a weak file manager at best and is one of those Mac eccentricities that conflicts with Apple's dubious claim of "The World's Most Advanced Operating System".

Click to expand...

TotalFinder sounds interesting. I'll hold off buying it, though, until I squeeze all the functionality I can out of the Finder.

Yeah, Apple's triumphalist tendencies are interesting to observe. "Most advanced OS!" Prettiest OS, maybe, but most advanced!?!? "It just works!" Not so much with iOS 6 Maps, eh?