Mysterious Dancing Icons

[PGB1]

I have an oddity with El Capitan that I finally remembered to inquire about here (after searching the internet & coming up empty). I hope you all don't mind if this is an elementary question that a normal person could have figured out....

The icons for files & folders on my desktop like to change positions all on their own.
The file can be open or closed. It does not matter. One can move, or several can. On occasion, closing the file makes it move. They don't move in a visible drag path; rather they vanish & reappear in their new spot. Sometimes it is pretty cool to see a bunch of files vanish & reappear somewhere else.

To better illustrate, if Folder A is in the near the center of the desktop, it may all of a sudden jump to the left, or top or bottom or somewhere in between.
Sometimes several will stack upon one another.
One thing I did notice is that when I turn the computer off the icons are in their same place when I turn it back on.

Apparently they are either alive or there is a mysterious guiding force doing tricks.
Do you all have any guesses why this is happening? Do I need a Ouija board to contact the poltergeist or should I call my parish Priest?

Thanks Much!
Paul
PS: If nothing else, this will be inspiration to keep the desktop empty!

 

[chscag]

Try right clicking an empty spot on your desktop and then select "Sort by", "Snap to Grid". The icons should align themselves and stay that way. If not, call your parish Priest....

 

[PGB1]

Thanks Very Much, Chscag! I appreciate your advice.
It worked like a charm & the icons are now on lock-down right where they belong.
Enjoy This Day!
Paul

 

[Rod]

I would caution you about keeping actual files or folders on your desktop. Especially long term.
It is the easiest way to lose data I know of.



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[PGB1]

Thanks Rod.
Actually I use it temporarily while working on a project, but your comment has me thinking that I should have a "In Progress" folder in documents instead.
Thanks Again,
Paul

 

[toMACsh]

Thanks Rod.
Actually I use it temporarily while working on a project, but your comment has me thinking that I should have a "In Progress" folder in documents instead.

Good idea!

 

[pm-r]

I would caution you about keeping actual files or folders on your desktop. Especially long term.
It is the easiest way to lose data I know of.

Hmmm…??? I have read such comments for years but have never read of any reasonable explanation or reason and I've never had a file or folder disappear for my desktop that couldn't be accounted for.

But maybe good advice for some with some sloppy mousing skills and possibly some dementia.



- Patrick
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[Slydude]

Hopefully someone in the brain trust can confirm what I am about to say/correct any errors.

In the early days of the Mac OS the Desktop was actually a folder, At one point I think folders were limited to 51 items unless some of them were in folders. My guess is that most of the problems people had with storing files on the Desktop were the result of:

1. Mousing errors made by the human
2. As the number of items on the Desktop approached the limit for folders things got a little "wonky" and all kinds of weird behavior could occur.

I've currently got about 45 - 50 items on the Desktop and they've been there for quite a while. No issues so far but I do go through and clean up / remove items periodically.

 

[pm-r]

If I'm not mistaken, in Mac OS X usage the user's "Desktop" has always been a folder and in the old OS days, we were given the Desktop DB and Desktop DF files, usually normally invisible that kept the desktop more or less together, and did have some limitations now that you mention it, and also needed to be rebuilt occasionally.

The other thing I've never noticed is any users Mac being slowed down that's often stated by having too many items left on the Desktop, unless the user get's their Mac into such an extreme Desktop clutter as this:
http://computers.tutsplus.com/tutorials/why-you-shouldnt-store-files-on-the-desktop--cms-21721

Then I think Apple also modified the user's optional desktop use with the introduction and employing OS X's Mission Control and Spaces features, neither one I really actually used.

But AFAIK, the users desktop is still controlled by their user Desktop folder even with recent OS X versions, and no limits other than any other normal folders.

Edit:
Then again, there is this to consider…

 

[chscag]

To add a bit of nostalgia here.... I've seen and worked with Windows users who put literally "everything" on their desktop. And when I would ask them why... their answer was always; "because it's easier to find stuff that way". ;P

 

[Slydude]

The slowdown was really evident on older machines and in the pre OS, The more icons on the desktop the slower things got (presumably due to the need for all those icons to be redrawn any time there was a change). Not sure that is as much of an issue with modern machines.

 

[Rod]

I'm not sure you have to have any degree of dementia to lose a file on the desktop. I recall an OP who contacted this forum regarding a lost thesis which he had on his desktop. He received some criticism from members of this forum for keeping the only copy of this document on the desktop. It was quite clearly pointed out that the desktop is not a "safe" place to keep the only incidence of such a valuable document.
I admit that user mousing errors are usually to blame but they are easy to make and not always immediately obvious.
This is especially true on a laptop where people reduce the size of the icons to fit more on.
It is also well recognized that all items on the desktop need to be stored in RAM in order for Quick Look to open them thus slowing down the performance of the device especially on startup.
There are two really good ways to overcome this tendency to store items on the desktop (I don't mean temporary items).

If you like having things one click away, you could change the folder that Finder opens to by default;

1. Launch Finder
2. Click Finder and select Preferences.
3. In the General tab, look for the drop-down below New Finder windows show and select one of the available options, or Other to use a custom folder.

Additionally, you could drag some of your most used folders to the right side of the Dock (near the trash can) to pin them there for quick browsing. This simply creates a shortcut to the folder, gives you viewing options and leaves the original folder in Documents or wherever you choose.

 

[PGB1]

To add a bit of nostalgia here.... I've seen and worked with Windows users who put literally "everything" on their desktop. And when I would ask them why... their answer was always; "because it's easier to find stuff that way". ;P

I know someone very near & very dear to me who does exactly that on her Mac. But, she doesn't question why I store my stuff how I store it, I don't question her methods. She finds everything she wants instantly, even if it is stacked under something. Wish I had such a memory!

For fun, I looked at my offsite storage to see how Desktop was handled: As file or as folder?
They have it as a folder with files & folders inside. But, only actual files & folders that are on the desktop. Icons for things that are not actually on the desktop, such as network or local drives, are not in the folder.

 

[Slydude]

I hope that my earlier comments about mousing errors and user losing files does not imply that I thought it was the users fault. I simply meant that is very easy for the kind of errors that I'm thinking of to occur. I know, because I've made them numerous times – both on the Desktop and in other folders as well.

 

[Rod]

I have taken it a step further using a free app called "Clean" by Rinik Software which removes all files and folders (except in my case labelled items) from my desktop every 24 Hrs and places them in a nominated folder.
This simple little app allows a number of options for actions and in my case I keep a shortcut to the Clean folder next to my Downloads folder on the dock.
At least once a week I have a look in this folder and move items to their appropriate places.

 

[Rod]

Then there is this quotation from chscag,

"Glad to hear you recovered OK. I usually do not recommend keeping a lot of files or folders on the desktop for several reasons:

1. They can be easily accidentally erased or moved.

2. Lots of files and folders on the desktop while convenient, can delay the boot up process and generally slows things down.

If you're a former Windows user, keeping a lot of stuff on the desktop is a habit that's hard to break."

Found in this forum on this page, http://www.mac-forums.com/os-x-operating-system/251338-cant-restore-desktop-files-time-machine.html

 

[IWT]

For anybody who likes the idea of keeping things "handy" On the Desktop, there is a way of achieving this without the risk of data loss.

Go into Finder > Documents and create a Folder called "Desktop Stuff".

Now drag that Folder into the Dock to the right of the vertical marker (ie in the same section as downloads, applications etc). This will create an alias.

Every time you feel that get the urge to save something on the Desktop, just drag and drop it on the "Desktop Stuff" Folder in the Dock. Keep as much as you want in there.

One click and you have access to all your data.

And if you delete the Folder by accident, no problem. It was only an alias. Original data still in Documents. And Time Machine will back this up too.

Ian


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[pm-r]

If you want such a folder to open up like a normal Finder folder and not as some sort of "stack", make a true alias of the folder in your Documents folder and drag the alias folder to the Dock.

Personally I can't usually stand the stacks idea and presentation method…



- Patrick
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[PGB1]

Sylvester mentioned accidentally deleting files from the desktop. I've done it, too. Yay backups!
Thanks for the great idea Ian & the customization Patrick. I have a couple of alias icons in that place to the right of the vertical bar (whatever it is called) for 2 files I use often, but are many clicks away in Finder. (Lazy bum that I am...)

 

[toMACsh]

...to the right of the vertical bar (whatever it is called)

Dock divider?
Dashed line?
???