Mac 101: Applications in the Finder toolbar

Last year (pre Mac 101) we told you about the ability to customize your Finder toolbar with folders for quick access, but you can also put applications there to use with drag and drop operations. For instance, in my Finder tool bar I have AppZapper, ImageWell, and Path Finder. This way I can easily uninstall applications, do simple image edits (especially resizing), or reveal the file in Path Finder just by dragging things onto the appropriate icon. This can be a real time saver for any applications you use regularly, particularly by drag and drop.

To customize your Finder toolbar, just right-click on an empty area of the toolbar and choose "Customize Toolbar..." You'll want to have another Finder window open to your Applications folder and then you can just drag and drop application icons from the other Finder window onto the toolbar of the window with the customize sheet open.

Update: As several folks have rightly pointed out you don't need to use the "Customize Toolbar..." command, though I was under the (perhaps mistaken) impression that Apple officially recommended doing it this way.

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Productivity Tips and tricks Mac 101

Last year (pre Mac 101) we told you about the ability to customize your Finder toolbar with folders for quick access, but you can also put...

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Karl Cook

You can use CMD+drag to remove items from the Finder Toolbar with a puff of smoke. Same also goes for extraneous icons in the menu bar!

April 14 2007 at 9:13 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

niclet

As you say Peeter : don't forget that Command key is an powerful and essential key in OS X. You can straightforward customize, reorganize and remove things in most Finder and other application objects: window, toolbar, Dock, menubar, etc.

April 14 2007 at 3:01 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Peeter

And you can change their order once the apps are in the toolbar by command-dragging them where you want them - no need to open customize toolbar for this either.

April 14 2007 at 12:41 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Neurotic Nomad

This is a great tip. I already keep VLC, BitRocket, and TextWrangler in the sidebar. This is even cooler!

Oh, while I'm here... HELP!

I'm switching FROM the Mac to Windows (for 30-ish days), and I need some Mac-friendly Windows advice.

http://neuroticnomad.wordpress.com/2007/04/13/switching-from-mac-to-xp-home-day-3-uncontrollable-mouse-and-an-itunes-dilemma/

Any dual platform users out there?

If not, thanks anyway. I look forward to more tips!

April 14 2007 at 12:41 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

jopari

Actually, you don't even have to have customize toolbar open-just drag the application onto the bar, wait a moment or two, then drop it where you want it. To remove said shortcut, simply ctrl+click and select "Remove Item".

April 14 2007 at 11:23 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Lloyd Hobden

Sweet, I'd completely forgotten about being able to do that!

Looking forward to more from 101.

April 14 2007 at 10:28 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply

Ooh, that's pretty neat. On a similar note, it was only recently that I discovered you could drag applications to Finder's sidebar: I'd always assumed (and never thought to try otherwise) that it was just folders.

April 14 2007 at 10:03 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply