External drive icon keeps moving on Mac desktop in macOS 15.5 Sequoia

Hi everyone,

I have been experiencing a problem with Mac OS 15.5 sequoia but know it started before this update. I am not sure but I believe it may have started with the previous version of the OS.

The problem I have is that my hard disk is mounted on the desktop but it keeps moving from the usual place on the upper right hand corner of the screen to other locations. I have found another thread discussing this issue and have tried several of the solutions they presented but not a single one has worked for me or made any difference.

Does anyone know of a solution to this problem? Has Apple release a fix for this issue?

Thank you in advance for any help you can share.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Hard drive icon keeps moving.

Mac mini, macOS 15.5

Posted on Jul 7, 2025 12:28 AM

27 replies

den.thed

Level 10

88,750 points

Aug 24, 2025 05:52 PM in response to apple_customer

At this point I recommend that you do two things.

1) Update the Mac mini to the latest macOS 15.6.1 Sequoia version.

What's new in the updates for macOS Sequoia - Apple Support

2) Send Feedback directly to Apple.

Feedback - Mac mini - Apple

Feedback - macOS - Apple

Limnos

Level 10

423,905 points

Aug 24, 2025 07:40 PM in response to apple_customer

When exactly is it moving? If it is happening between restarts then it may be related to an issue I found with windows to folders on external drives not reappearing after a restart*. The OS may be setting up your files and folders on the internal drive on the desktop first, as they were before. It remembers things on the internal drive. Then once that is done it is finding a place for your external drive but it is regarding it as something it has never seen before and putting it in a random location.

*I'd post a link to it but the Communities software is currently having issues showing us our posting history. I posted in the past 24 hours about this if you search this forum.

Aug 28, 2025 01:42 PM in response to den.thed

Hi den.thed,

First, I can't thank you enough for all your help and the many replies with suggestions on how to fix this problem. I really appreciate your help.

I did update to the latest version of Sequoia and thought for a brief while that it had solved the problem. However, I turned the computer off at night and when I turned it back on the following day the drive had moved again.

As for the feedback to Apple, I will consider your recommendation. I am just not sure it will do anything. Apple has become just like Microsoft and I don't mean it as a compliment.

Aug 28, 2025 01:45 PM in response to Limnos

Hi Limnos,

I appreciate your help but feel the information on this thread is not correct. For some reason the moderator changed the title of my post and mentioned I am experiencing a problem with my external drive. This is not the case. The icon I referred to on my original post is the icon to my one and only internal hard disk. Having said this, I have also connected external drives to this computer and their icons also move. In other words, icons to hard disks or hard drives, whether internal or external don't stay where I place them.

den.thed

Level 10

88,750 points

Aug 28, 2025 05:06 PM in response to apple_customer

I concur with Limnos. It sounds like other stuff is getting moved to where the external drives belong, before the external drives mount and show up on the desktop.

How many other Folders, Files, App's and other stuff do you have cluttering up your desktop..?

Personally I only have Drives and Temporary Files like Screenshots on my desktop.

The Temporary stuff gets either Filed or Trashed when I done with it.

Aug 28, 2025 07:48 PM in response to den.thed

Hi den.thed,

No, this is not an accurate description of what I am experiencing. First the problem is not with the external drive but the internal one, the only drive installed on my Mac. It doesn't also happen to external drives whenever I mount them but the problem I reported was/is related to the internal drive. For some reason the moderator has changed the title of my topic and included the word external in it rather than internal.

In addition, nothing is moved to the location of the drive's icon, internal or external. The icon moves from the upper right hand corner of my screen to another location and that spot remains empty - nothing takes its place. The same happens to the external drive's icon whenever I have one connected. Both icons, internal and external, are moved to a different location and the place they occupied on the screen remains empty.

I have changed grid size, changed icon size and changed text size but nothing seems to work. In all fairness, I have never (I have been using the Mac since it was released more than 40 years ago) experienced an issue like this one and can't remember grid size, icon size and text size interfering with the organization of desktop files and/or icons on my screen.

den.thed

Level 10

88,750 points

Aug 29, 2025 10:02 AM in response to apple_customer

Sorry I can not replicate that problem.

Are you using multiple displays, mirroring with another display (TV) or running something like a game, that is causing the main displays resolution to change...?

Aug 29, 2025 03:51 PM in response to den.thed

Hi den.thed,

I am not using multiple displays, only a single Dell 43" 4K monitor. This is the only monitor I have and the same one I have used for a while with previous versions of Mac OS.

As for games, I don't play them and don't have a single one installed in my computer.

Old Toad

Level 10

214,284 points

Aug 29, 2025 04:47 PM in response to apple_customer

I've been having the same problem with a new Mac Mini M4 with a 32" LG 4k minter. I've tried all of the suggestions that den.thed, ibirdvat, leroydouglas and others have proposed with no success. I had my Dock on the right side of the screen and the drives across the top. When I try to adjust icon size and spacing they jump vertical after a reboot.

So I've come up with a "fix". I've created alias for each of the drives and have added special icons to them as well as the actual drives:

I've unchecked External Drives in Finder's General Settings pane. This works fine. I do have to do some mucking around if a EHD gets unmounted an I have to remount it but can use either Disk Utility or an app called EjectBar. I use it to unmount disk images for apps or video DVDs that I might use. It's not ideal but it works for me.

Just some food for thought.

den.thed

Level 10

88,750 points

Jul 12, 2025 09:28 PM in response to apple_customer

You're welcome.

Jul 15, 2025 08:16 PM in response to den.thed

den.thed,

It still doesn't work. Despite the changes in grid spacing and the size of the text, the drive's icon is still moving.

Aug 28, 2025 04:13 PM in response to apple_customer

den.thed,

Yes, it's still moving even after the upgrade to the latest OS. I've also changed the size of the text and grid spacing per your recommendations.

External drive icon keeps moving on Mac desktop in macOS 15.5 Sequoia