When your Finder can´t find things, you´ll start getting strange errors while you´re on your desktop. This means it´s time to rebuild your desktop! Rebuilding should be part of your monthly maintenance routine, and should be your next "fix" (after quitting the Finder) if you start getting Finder errors.
1. Restart your Mac with Extensions Off (hold down the shift key while you restart).
2. Once you get the "Extensions Off" message, hold down the Command and Option keys until you get a dialog box asking if you want to rebuild your desktop.
3. Click OK.
4. Wait for the rebuild ... be patient, don´t start clicking about until it´s done!

Note: If you have partitioned your hard drive, the machine will automatically ask you if you want to rebuild the desktop on each partition. Click OK.

For information on third-party utilities that will rebuild your desktop, check out this tip!

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