User 1: “I am facing problem with newly saved files since I updated my MacBook Air to Yosemite. Newly saved files are not appearing in Finder window. Even I changed the view from list to icon type and still files don’t show up. It’s really annoying me.”
User 2: “Hi, I have been experiencing this issue for a while and it is really irking me a lot. Mac finder started to go unresponsive. It doesn’t show files and have gray like highlight on the folder name. I re-launched it many times but still have the same issue.”
User 3: “When I used Finder on external drive, I noticed that many or all files/folders in volume have just disappeared. But sometimes I can see few files and other times they will be in invisible state. This happens suddenly without any indication and I am panicked. I find this problem very nerve-wracking”
User 4: “I have a Mavericks system, which is working perfectly for more years. But now finder doesn't show up any files. When I open, it shows the side bar but no files. I tried to reinstall a fresh copy of OS X and recover with time machine but nothing fixed the issue.”
Usually Mac users face these sorts of situations after they upgrade or update OS X. The primary work-around for this problem is to ensure whether your files are present on the Mac machine or not. If they exist, are they saved after last work or not?
In order to verify that you need to: open the application that holds your missing file (for instance MS PowerPoint) > then click on File > opt Open > navigate to saved location > see whether the file is there in that folder > if it is there, try to open it > check the file completely
Now try to fetch the file in Finder. If finder fails to display the file then it seems like the Spotlight index is damaged. The Spotlight index is nothing but the database used for finding and accessing files quickly on Mac. Hence any damage to Spotlight may result unusual problems and behaviors on your system. And to repair the Spotlight you need to reset/rebuild/re-index its index.
How to reset the Spotlight index?
- In Spotlight System Preferences go to Privacy tab
- Hit the Plus button
- Hold Shift-Command-C to reveal your hard drives
- Press Command key and choose drives which you need to add into the selection
- Click on Choose button to add them to Privacy list
- Finally hit OK when it asked
Manual way to re-index Spotlight:
Open Terminal and type sudo mdutil –i on /
Wait for the completion of re-indexing process. Now try to use finder to see your files.
If you couldn’t find files either using Finder or File –Open option then it seems your files are lost and to locate missing files on Mac you can try Yodot Mac File Recovery application.
Missing file recovery tool:
Yodot Mac File Recovery is the most recommended software to use for recovering missing or disappeared files when Finder not showing them. The program can restore files after any data loss or deletion scenario without modifying anything on your Mac machine.
How to find missing files on Mac using Yodot?
- Get access of Yodot Mac File Recovery using “Download Now” button
- Choose “Lost File Recovery” mode
- Select volume from where files are disappeared
- Click on “Mark All” or “Skip” button
- Identify and mark your missing files in “File Types View” or “Data View”
- Click on “Save” key and mention safe location to save your files
Advantageous notes:
- Don’t forget to save vital files on multiple locations (including external drive) after you worked on them
- Install adequate drivers after completion of OS upgrade or update process
