Accidentally deleted download folder from dock

[Gregg2]

I used PPT a week ago, but not there is a semi-transparent question mark over the icon in the dock. When I search, I can't find it on the computer,

Yeah, that's what it's telling you. Do you have the Office installation disc(s)? That's what you need to restore it. I'm not sure if you can install one piece of the suite or not. Backup first, then find the Remove Office application. Run that, then reinstall Office.

 

[case451]

similar issue

So i deleted the downloads folder, this is the second time it has happened and the first time was just as annoying, only i got a new hard drive a while back and have been happy with the original settings until now.

When downloads is in the doc from day 1, it is a beautiful little view of what has recently been downloaded popping up seven or so little pictures in what seems like an arc or downloads and if you double click this folder, it opens finder as expected. When this is removed (as I did with my first hard drive and just recently this one too) and replaced with the downloads folder as all of you have so suggested, clicking it once for a quick view is now a fat block of downloads, not sampling anything, just giving me the brick of it all.

Does anyone know how to reset the original downloads dock functionality of a quick view?

Thank you.

edit: it would be the second i finish writing this i finally do some exploring.... right clicking allows you to choose between things such as "grid" and "fan" and fan is what i was looking for. Cool story bro.

 

[estonico]

Problem with apparence of the dowload folder fixed

For Those Who Cannot See The Replaced Download Folder As Default Style

--> Right Click On The Folder In The Dock / View Content As : Fan

 

[yermad]

i also accidentally deleted my downloads folder from the dock, but i dragged it back to where it was successfully. however, whenever i download something new, it doesn't appear on the stacks as the most recent one; i now have to go to my actual downloads folder and look for the item. i tried changing around the 'sort by' options, but nothing seems to work. can anyone help me??

 

[Gregg2]

A long shot, but finding out if it helps is harmless.

go to HD/Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences

There will be two plist files in there for the Dock. One is com.apple.Dock.plist (the other one is listed right before or after)
Drag those to your Desktop, then Restart.

What happened?

 

[Macntime]

Hi,

I also moved the download folder off the dock by accident. I searched for it and dragged it back there, but now when I download anything, it doesn't pop up in that folder anymore. It just downloads and then disappears into the abyss of my computer. I can search for the file I downloaded, but it's a pain. I tried restarting but no luck.


Any ideas?

Thanks!

Is it possible that you are expecting the file to be at the end of the list (closest to the icon on your dock) but you have the list sorting by name or something other than date?

If this is the case, you can click and hold on the Downloads folder on the dock and a menu will come up where you can select sort by Date Added. This will conveniently show the last thing you downloaded. Also, I keep my View content as set to Fan.

Hope this helps.

 

[zuanzico]

Hi,

I also moved the download folder off the dock by accident. I searched for it and dragged it back there, but now when I download anything, it doesn't pop up in that folder anymore. It just downloads and then disappears into the abyss of my computer. I can search for the file I downloaded, but it's a pain. I tried restarting but no luck.


Any ideas?

Thanks!

===========
Try right click on the downloads folder at the dock and select "sort by date created", then "View content as Fan" and "Display as stack".
-Z

 

[stephmce]

How to return 'Downloads' to original settings on your dock

After reading the first page of this thread, I became frustrated with the know-it-alls that smugly answer questions without fully understanding the question, therefore provide no help at all. Several others have answered the questions but they're in different posts. So here is a comprehensive answer on what to do when you accidentally delete the 'downloads' folder from your dock. I hope this helps:

*In Finder, click on your 'Users' folder
*Click and drag 'Downloads' onto your dock
*Right-click the 'Downloads' icon you just added to your dock
*Under 'Sort by', click 'Date Added'
*Right-click the 'Downloads' icon again
*Under 'View content as', click 'Fan'

Et voila. Good as new.

 

[riscarra]

After reading the first page of this thread, I became frustrated with the know-it-alls that smugly answer questions without fully understanding the question, therefore provide no help at all. Several others have answered the questions but they're in different posts. So here is a comprehensive answer on what to do when you accidentally delete the 'downloads' folder from your dock. I hope this helps:

*In Finder, click on your 'Users' folder
*Click and drag 'Downloads' onto your dock
*Right-click the 'Downloads' icon you just added to your dock
*Under 'Sort by', click 'Date Added'
*Right-click the 'Downloads' icon again
*Under 'View content as', click 'Fan'

Et voila. Good as new.

OMG YOU BROUGHT ME TO LIFE. thank you so much
this is what i actually searched for

 

[GGJstudios]

Restoring Folders to the Dock

 

[simpl3girl]

OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!

I've only had this Mac for a little over a year and it's my first computer, so I've been really scared to play around with it incase I messed it up, so when I made the same mistake people in this forum did, I FREAKED OUT.

So after reading some of the posts and followed the instructions I still couldn't figure out what to do. So when someone said to go to "User" I was like, "Wtf? What's a user?" So I looked around, gave up and looked in "Finder."

Is that the same thing? Because I dragged it from there and it seems to be working now.

But yeah, I would never have known to do that without your help, and I would have looked like a complete blonde going into the e-store at my school and asking how to get the folder to work like it did before.

So yeah, just wanted to say thanks, the information was very useful, and now I know where to go for all my future troubles. Going to the apple website for help was too complicated. >.<

 

[ttarsha]

Josh

I had this exact same problem. Go to finder and drag the download folder to the empty space in the dock. Then, to make it look like the original, double click on the stack and make sure it is displayed as a 'stack', view content is 'grid", and sorted by 'date added'. It will not look exactly like the pre made stack

 

[Gregg2]

I had this exact same problem. Go to finder and drag the download folder to the empty space in the dock. Then, to make it look like the original, right click on the stack and make sure it is displayed as a 'stack', view content is 'grid", and sorted by 'date added'. It will not look exactly like the pre made stack

This is an old thread, but, fixed that for you anyway.

 

[msbeffs]

Putting Download folder back in dock

I found the answer here on this forum, and was so excited I registered so I could comment on how helpful the thread was, but when I came back to look for it could no longer find those particular instructions. Basically I have been trying to drag my downloads folder to the dock for about 45 minutes now, but what I didn't know is that you have to drag the folder all the way to the very right of the dock ( if you have the dock on the bottom of the screen). It has to be right between last icon and the trash (just be sure you don't put in in the trash bin). There is also a dotted line that is very hard to see that some of the answers said that you could put it to the right of the dotted line, but mine would not stay in dock until I dragged it all the way to the right between last folder in dock and trash bin. Sorry this is so long, but hope it helps someone.

 

[Gregg2]

I I have been trying to drag my downloads folder to the dock ... but what I didn't know is that you have to drag the folder all the way to the very right of the dock ( if you have the dock on the bottom of the screen). It has to be right between last icon and the trash (just be sure you don't put in in the trash bin). There is also a dotted line that is very hard to see that some of the answers said that you could put it to the right of the dotted line, but mine would not stay in dock until I dragged it all the way to the right between last folder in dock and trash bin.

That's strange. Any spot to the right of that dotted line should accept a folder.

 

[celticdeva]

have download folder back but download go into Preview

This forum was a great help yesterday as I was able to bring back my accidentally deleted downloads icon from the dock. Only now when I download it goes into the Preview folder and can't access it (won't open).

I am still getting the little window that shows the download progress. I went to Preferences and my folder still shows downloads going into the download folder.

Please help! My Mac is version 10.6.8

Thank you!!!

 

[Gregg2]

This forum was a great help yesterday as I was able to bring back my accidentally deleted downloads icon from the dock. Only now when I download it goes into the Preview folder and can't access it (won't open).

I take that to mean that new downloads are going into the Preview folder instead of the Downloads folder. I don't have a Preview folder. Did you create it, or is this by chance not really a folder? (terminology can bite you) But then, downloads do have to go into a folder somewhere.

 

[celticdeva]

I take that to mean that new downloads are going into the Preview folder instead of the Downloads folder. I don't have a Preview folder. Did you create it, or is this by chance not really a folder? (terminology can bite you) But then, downloads do have to go into a folder somewhere.

Thanks Gregg. The Preview folder (icon in dock) came with the computer. I had to look up it's purpose: Apple's PDF and graphic viewing program.

I have no use for it really since I can open everything I want from the download folder. I did download a graphic yesterday to see if the download folder was working, that's when I noticed it going into the Preview folder. (again after I restored my download icon to dock)

Just want my download folder back to normal Thanks for helping!!

 

[Gregg2]

Ok, we have to get some terminology down, or we'll never get anywhere. This Preview icon that came with the computer... Is it to the left of the dashed white line in the Dock? (The line is faint, but it recedes in perspective; looks like a lane line on an expressway.) If it is to the left of that line, it is not a folder. That icon is a shortcut/alias/pointer to Preview, the application. To test that, with no files open, click the Preview icon (left click). At a minimum, this should change the bold text in your menu bar at the top of the screen to say Preview. This means you've opened the application. It might even open a blank document. You can now right click the icon and choose Quit. Once you've done this, post back and we can continue the "class".

 

[celticdeva]

Ok, we have to get some terminology down, or we'll never get anywhere. This Preview icon that came with the computer... Is it to the left of the dashed white line in the Dock? (The line is faint, but it recedes in perspective; looks like a lane line on an expressway.) If it is to the left of that line, it is not a folder. That icon is a shortcut/alias/pointer to Preview, the application. To test that, with no files open, click the Preview icon (left click). At a minimum, this should change the bold text in your menu bar at the top of the screen to say Preview. This means you've opened the application. It might even open a blank document. You can now right click the icon and choose Quit. Once you've done this, post back and we can continue the "class".

I'm not a computer chick so the terminology eludes me, hahaha! I followed your instructions and have concluded it is a short cut icon. It is to the left and by L clicking it said Preview at the top of screen in bold. So far so good

Thank you!!!!

 

[Gregg2]

Ok, with that established, we know that you can't put things in there. It's not a folder. So, am I to conclude that what happens when you download a file is that it opens in Preview? Again, if that's the case, Preview will show up at the upper left in the menu bar. Now, this would be normal behavior for many types of files that you download. Give some examples of suffixes, that is, what comes after the '.' in the file name? (.pdf, .jpeg, etc.) [that last one is not a suffix example]

 

[celticdeva]

Ok, with that established, we know that you can't put things in there. It's not a folder. So, am I to conclude that what happens when you download a file is that it opens in Preview? Again, if that's the case, Preview will show up at the upper left in the menu bar. Now, this would be normal behavior for many types of files that you download. Give some examples of suffixes, that is, what comes after the '.' in the file name? (.pdf, .jpeg, etc.) [that last one is not a suffix example]

Yes, once I restored my download folder on the dock, anything I download (which I tried a few .jpgs) goes into the preview "folder". I've held off downloading anything else (docs/music) until everything returns to the download folder.

The only time I seem to be able to open the preview folder is when something goes in it. I just tried and the only that comes up is the bold name at top of screen. Only want the downloads to return to download folder-don't know why the computer changed things (probably because I deleted the download folder) and why it won't return to its original state of mind.

Thanks for your help! etc....don't know that folder (joking!)

 

[Gregg2]

Ok, with that established, we know that you can't put things in there. It's not a folder. So, am I to conclude that what happens when you download a file is that it opens in Preview? Again, if that's the case, Preview will show up at the upper left in the menu bar. Now, this would be normal behavior for many types of files that you download. Give some examples of suffixes, that is, what comes after the '.' in the file name? (.pdf, .jpeg, etc.) [that last one is not a suffix example]

Yes, once I restored my download folder on the dock, anything I download (which I tried a few .jpgs) goes into the preview "folder". I've held off downloading anything else (docs/music) until everything returns to the download folder.

The only time I seem to be able to open the preview folder is when something goes in it. I just tried and the only that comes up is the bold name at top of screen. Only want the downloads to return to download folder-don't know why the computer changed things (probably because I deleted the download folder) and why it won't return to its original state of mind.

Thanks for your help! etc....don't know that folder (joking!)

Well, I'm trying, but we didn't move forward this time. Since we've established that the Preview icon is not a folder, let's call it the shortcut. Now, back to my question in bold above. What follows the question is intended to help you answer it. You did mention that some of the downloads are jpeg files. As I said, it is normal for those to open in Preview.

 

[celticdeva]

Well, I'm trying, but we didn't move forward this time. Since we've established that the Preview icon is not a folder, let's call it the shortcut. Now, back to my question in bold above. What follows the question is intended to help you answer it. You did mention that some of the downloads are jpeg files. As I said, it is normal for those to open in Preview.

No, pictures never opened in Preview. Everything I downloaded always went into the download folder.

Having said that I just tried saving a photo by right clicking on it and "save to download folder" I did and it's not there. I tried accessing it in Preview and could not open that. I tried saving the photo again as "save photo as" and directing it to download folder. It said the photo already existed but yet I can't find it.

It is real annoying for me when everything I tell it to do (go to download folder) doesn't work.

If I had found my new picture in Preview I could have dragged it into my download, was able to that only once, but now can't even do that.

Thank you again for your help!!

Follow Up: The pic (jpg) I couldn't find...I did. I had to go to File>Find>Search this mac> from there I dragged the photo into the download folder.

 

[Gregg2]

I'm afraid I'm out of ideas.

If I had found my new picture in Preview I could have dragged it into my download, was able to that only once, but now can't even do that.

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse, but that statement seems to cast Preview in the role of a folder. Do you have an actual folder by that name in addition to the icon on the Dock? Maybe someone else has an idea for you...