The Finder Toolbar - Add Items to the Finder Toolbar

The Finder Toolbar - Add Files and Folders to the Finder Toolbar

There’s a handy toolbar located across the top of the Mac’s Finder window. The Finder toolbar is usually populated with a collection of useful tools, such as the forward and back arrows, view buttons for changing how the Finder window displays data, and other goodies.

You probably know that you can customize the Finder toolbar by adding tools from a palette of options. But you may not know that you can also easily customize the Finder toolbar with items that aren’t included in the built-in palette. With drag-and-drop simplicity, you can add applications, files, and folders to the toolbar, and give yourself easy access to your most commonly used programs, folders, and files.

I like a tidy Finder window, so I don’t recommend going overboard and turning the Finder toolbar into a mini Dock. But you can add an application or two without cluttering things up. I frequently use TextEdit for jotting down quick notes, so I added it to the toolbar. I also added iTunes, so I can quickly launch my favorite tunes from any Finder window.

Add Applications to the Finder Toolbar

1. Start by opening a Finder window. A quick way to do this is to click the Finder icon in the Dock.
   
   
2. Expand the Finder window horizontally to make room for new items by clicking and holding the bottom right corner of the window and dragging it to the right. Release the mouse button when you’ve enlarged the Finder window by about half of its previous size.
   
   
3. Use the Finder window to navigate to the item you want to add to the Finder toolbar. For example, to add TextEdit, click the Applications folder in the Finder sidebar.
   
   
4. When you locate the item you want to add to the Finder toolbar, click and drag the item to the toolbar. Be patient; after a short time, a green plus (+) sign will appear, indicating that you can release the mouse button and drop the item onto the toolbar.
   
   
5. If you dropped the item into the wrong location on the toolbar, you can rearrange things by right-clicking any blank spot in the toolbar and selecting ‘Customize Toolbar’ from the dropdown menu.
   
   
6. When the customization sheet drops down from the toolbar, drag the misplaced icon in the toolbar to a new location. When you’re satisfied with the way the toolbar icons are arranged, click the ‘Done’ button.
   
   
7. Repeat the above steps to add another application, file, or folder to the Finder toolbar.