When you've got a bunch of files from a Stack displayed in Grid View, it can be hard to spot the particular one you're looking for, especially if many of them look identical (such a collection of text files or word processor documents).
Luckily, there's a highlight you can switch on, that puts a whiter background around the file you're mousing over. It makes it slightly easier to ensure you click on the correct file.
The highlight appears normally if you use the arrow keys to move around a Grid, or if you type Command and the first letter of one of the files displayed. But this trick switches it on permanently, so that it is always in action whether or not you use these keyboard shortcuts.
Read on for all the commands.
Switching the highlight on and off is easy. You can either type a short pair of commands command into Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilte-stack -boolean yes
killall Dock
killall Dock
(Repeat that with "no" instead of "yes" to put things back the way they were.)
Or, if you'd rather stay away from Terminal, use Alcor's Secrets prefpane to switch it on and off (go to Dock, and check "Hightlight stack items on hover"). Secrets does come with some warnings that you could break things terribly if you're not careful, which is true. But you'll be careful, won't you?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
7-17-2008 @ 10:53AM
itchytooth said...
This is a great effing tip!
Reply
7-17-2008 @ 10:54AM
IrishDomer08 said...
That didn't work for me...
Reply
7-17-2008 @ 11:00AM
DaveR said...
Make sure you write it exactly if you're retyping and not copy-and-pasting. I typed it as "hilite" when it's actually "hilte" the first time. Once fixed, it worked..
7-17-2008 @ 10:57AM
Rafe H. said...
I really want to be able to quickview items in a stack. Any ideas how I can do this?
Reply
7-17-2008 @ 11:04AM
Zoli said...
Count me in for this request too!
7-17-2008 @ 10:57AM
SinnMan said...
This is an awesome tip. I love it. My applications folder is huge and this makes it much easier.
Reply
7-17-2008 @ 11:02AM
Chris said...
Also, if you click on your stack and then hit the Spacebar it will highlight the first item in the stack with this highlight. You can then arrow through the stack.
Reply
7-17-2008 @ 11:03AM
djfred said...
Great tip. Thanks.
Reply
7-17-2008 @ 11:21AM
David said...
Now THAT'S a great tip! I was just thinking last week how frustrating it is when I have tons of stuff in my Downloads folder. Now I can find stuff!
Reply
7-17-2008 @ 12:07PM
Big John said...
You don't have to press Command to use the type-to-highlight. Just open the Stack and start typing straight away.
Reply
7-17-2008 @ 1:51PM
Henry P said...
hey, what is the app that you use to get the dock off center
Reply
7-17-2008 @ 3:41PM
Giles Turnbull said...
There are several ways of doing it. The aforementioned Secrets prefpane is one of them. Also apps like Tweak Freak and the like.
7-17-2008 @ 5:43PM
Eric said...
I have two Stacks I use regularly, and they contain mostly text files... I have never had trouble clicking on the correct one.
Reply
7-18-2008 @ 4:36PM
M E said...
Amen Eric
7-19-2008 @ 2:58AM
fini said...
Awesome tip, I couldn't get the terminal command to work, but Secrets did it perfectly. I'm actually kind of mad now, I bought that last Mac Heist Bundle and it gave me Mac Pilot, which pretty much is exactly the same as Secrets, o well I guess the other two apps in the bundle made up for it, even though I will probably never use Lineform.
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8-22-2008 @ 4:49AM
Lachlan Hunt said...
There is a terrible delay with the highlight following the mouse that makes this unusable. I don't recommend turning it on.
Reply