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Al Fasoldt's reviews and commentaries, continuously available online since 1983

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OS X 10.3 took away 'Favorites' list, but here's how to get it back


Jan. 21, 2004


By Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2004, Al Fasoldt
Copyright © 2004, The Post-Standard

   If you've recently upgraded to Mac OS X 10.3 -- the "Panther" version of OS X -- you might have wondered what happened to the Favorites list that earlier versions of OS X had.
   Fortunately, Favorites is still there if you know where to look. I'll tell you how to get it back this week.
   First, however, let me share my disappointment over the term "Favorites" itself. Mac OS X, the modern operating system for all new Apple computers, uses "Favorites" to refer to folders you use often. The term has nothing to do with Internet Explorer Favorites, which are Web shortcuts or bookmarks. Nor is it related to America Online Favorites, which are like high-octane Internet Explorer Favorites.
   Earlier versions of OS X gave you an easy way to add the current folder to your list of Favorites. They also let you pop immediately into one of those favorite folders from any file-browsing dialog. (File-browsing dialogs appear whenever you choose "Save" in a program, for example.)
   But Apple took that easy access to the Favorites list out of OS X Panther, hoping you and I would use the sidebar instead. The sidebar, the vertical toolbar at the left of file and folder windows, can hold just about anything. Drag an application or a folder to it and you'll create an instant alias that will launch the application or open the folder.
   But the Sidebar has an even more useful function. Items you put there are drag-and-drop targets. They're not just launch icons or folder-opening aliases. If you drag a folder there, you are creating a target that you can drag files or other folders to.
   See where I am heading? We now have a solution to the problem of the missing Favorites list. Apple didn't get rid of the Favorites folder; it simply removed the easy access you had to it. You can add it back in two steps.
   First, open your Library folder. (It's in your home folder.)
   Second, drag the Favorites folder out of the Library folder and drop it on the sidebar. Let go on a blank area of the sidebar. (You're not moving the Favorites anywhere, to don't worry about messing this up. Dropping something on the sidebar simply creates an alias.)
   Now you'll have your Favorites right at hand -- right at mouse, actually -- all the time. To add a folder to your Favorites, drag the folder to the Favorites icon in the sidebar. To open one of your Favorite folders, click the Favorites icon in the sidebar and double click the folder icon you want.
   Want even more flexibility? Put an alias to your Favorites folder on your desktop. Then, in any file-browser dialog, you're two clicks away from your most-used folders. Simply click the desktop icon in the file-browser (one click) and click Favorites to open the Favorites list (two clicks).
   A trick you might want to adopt is to name the alias for your Favorites something that will show up first in an alphabetical list. An old Mac trick is to put a space in front of the name. If that doesn't work for you, rename the alias with a "1" in front of the name, like this: "1 Favorites."
   Two more tips: To rename an item in OS X, forget the tricky click-and-hold maneuver. Just select the item, press the Return key and type the new name. If you've not sure how to put an alias of your Favorites folder on your desktop, use this universal technique for creating an alias: Drag the original folder out to its destination and let go while holding down the Shift and Cmd keys.
   Note that there are three important exceptions to this method of creating aliases. If you drag anything to the dock, to a window toolbar or to the file-and-folder window sidebar, you always create an alias.