Finder not responding and unable to force quit.

Question

Hello,

Since yesterday, I have a problem with Finder which is not responding anymore. In fact, all the icons on my desktop have disappeared. I’ve already tried to relaunch Finder by right-clicking on its icon in the dock and clicking on "Relaunch." But every time I do this, a window appears telling me: "On its previous launch, Finder was forced to quit while reopening windows. Would you like to try reopening its windows again?
If you choose not to reopen the windows, you might have to open and position the windows yourself." The spelling mistakes really come from the open window, by the way. u_u

The window offers me two buttons:
Don't reopen and Relaunch.

But I can't choose because as soon as I move my mouse cursor over this window, it starts to spin in a multicolored wheel and I can't do anything, even when trying to click on the buttons. The multicolored wheel continues to spin on my desktop as well.

I even tried to force quit Finder using Activity Monitor, but as soon as I do that, the window proposing to not reopen and to relaunch Finder appears again, and it does the same thing when I try to force quit Finder via the Apple menu.

I can't even Shut Down or Restart my Mac normally (via the Apple menu). I’m forced to press the power button located on the back of my computer for 5 seconds to turn it off.

I also can’t empty my trash. I’m on Mac OS X (10.10.2) Yosemite. iMac 27 inches.

Please help me.

Thank you in advance.

Configuration: Mac OS X (10.10.2) / Safari 8.0.3

@nnie · Accepted Answer

Hello,

Do you still have access to your applications via the dock? And do you have Onyx?
If you answered yes to both questions, launch Onyx and perform a permissions repair and a launch services rebuild.
You can download Onyx here.

To shut down your iMac, press

Cmd Shift Q

: this will prompt you to log out, and then you'll get to the login screen: there you'll have the option to shut down. It’s more “proper” than forcing a shutdown with the power button. Meanwhile, of course, until things are back in order.

--
Be patient: I have a 10-hour time difference...

Anonymous user · Answer

Hello,

It seems that the disk needs to be repaired.
Onyx can handle permission repairs and launch services, but it cannot repair the disk since the Mac needs to start from another volume for that.

So, since under OS X 10.10, it needs to be started from its recovery partition, this is done by holding down both cmd and R keys continuously during the Mac's startup.

Then, you will find yourself in front of a window offering OS X Utilities, where you choose Disk Utility, and after selecting the hard drive in the left part of the Disk Utility window, you click on the "Repair Disk" button.

In the same vein, you can also click on "Repair Permissions."

Once everything is done, you need to exit Disk Utility and then exit the OS X Utilities and restart normally.

See details here: https://www.commentcamarche.net/faq/36405-entretenir-et-reparer-mac-os-x-10-7-os-x-10-8-os-x-10-9-os-x-10-10-lion-mountain-lion-mavericks-et-yosemite

Best regards.

P.S: Hello @nnie :-)

--
To get an appropriate response, always provide your exact system configuration
Have a good day :-) - Francis

PauMilou · Answer

I just had the same problem detailed by Xetradesign (I'm using OS X El Capitan 10.11.1) it was impossible to relaunch Finder, nor to restart or shut down the MacBook, and all my icons and files on the desktop had disappeared.
I found the advice here very useful but I didn't have to install ONYX. I switched users and on a "guest user" session I was able to shut down the MacBook.
When turning it on again, all the icons and folders reappeared.

NapoX · Answer

Hello,
I’ve been having a similar issue for a while.
When I shut down my Mac, the Finder stops responding and the desktop icons disappear. I can’t shut it down normally; I have to force it off with the button or I have to restart the Finder every time before shutting down, and then it shuts down properly.
I tried changing the user session at startup and it shuts down without any problems then.
Where does this problem come from? Is there an application preventing the shutdown?
Thank you.

NicoStereo · Answer

Hello everyone!

I also have this problem:
When trying to shut down, restart, or log out using the Apple menu or other keyboard shortcuts, everything shuts down except the Dock, and then nothing happens.
The only way to turn it off (without holding the power button) is to switch users and then click on Shut Down and enter the login and password for the session that is still open....

For your information, I have a MacBook Pro (15-inch, mid-2012) running OSX El Capitan 10.11.1.

I have tried:
- installing Onyx and using all its features
- repairing the disk using Disk Utility (in Applications but also by restarting while holding CMD+R)
- creating another user account, but the problem is the same

Does anyone have a solution to fix this issue?
Thank you in advance for your advice :)

Finder not responding and unable to force quit.

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