You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Airdrop Crashing Finder (12.6.5)

Just installed 12.6.5 on my 2015 macbook pro- now I can't receive airdrops, and any attempt to open the airdrop folder in finder freezes finder and requires a force-relaunch. I've attempted a safe boot, still has the issue there. Can't find any discussion of how to fix. Phone is a 13 Pro on the latest IOS.

Earlier Mac models

Posted on Apr 30, 2023 10:55 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on May 5, 2023 10:20 AM

NOTE: in recent macs, the process is much much easier, as one can simply erase the contents and leave the base system alone. I don't think this can be done with the 2013 Mac Pro, though, so the following are the traditional instructions (it can take a while).


1) I suppose you know how to use Time Machine.

2) Make sure the backup is up to date.


3) Download Monterey from here:


How to download macOS - Apple Support


4) Make a bootable installer on a USB thumb drive


Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


5) Start your mac using that installer drive created in step 4.

Choose Disk Utility, select the WHOLE drive, and choose Erase, selecting APFS as the format with GUID Partition Map


6) Quit Disk Utility, and proceed with the installation


7) When asked, elect to migrate "from another mac, drive or Time Machine backup".

8) select your backup drive, and MOST IMPORTANT: check ONLY the user accounts you want to migrate, and NOT applications, settings or other files.

(If you check everything, you just get back to where you started!)


Similar questions

12 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 5, 2023 10:20 AM in response to tobygoldst

NOTE: in recent macs, the process is much much easier, as one can simply erase the contents and leave the base system alone. I don't think this can be done with the 2013 Mac Pro, though, so the following are the traditional instructions (it can take a while).


1) I suppose you know how to use Time Machine.

2) Make sure the backup is up to date.


3) Download Monterey from here:


How to download macOS - Apple Support


4) Make a bootable installer on a USB thumb drive


Create a bootable installer for macOS - Apple Support


5) Start your mac using that installer drive created in step 4.

Choose Disk Utility, select the WHOLE drive, and choose Erase, selecting APFS as the format with GUID Partition Map


6) Quit Disk Utility, and proceed with the installation


7) When asked, elect to migrate "from another mac, drive or Time Machine backup".

8) select your backup drive, and MOST IMPORTANT: check ONLY the user accounts you want to migrate, and NOT applications, settings or other files.

(If you check everything, you just get back to where you started!)


May 1, 2023 3:58 AM in response to tobygoldst

I haven't seen this before. Try deleting Finder preferences. Corrupted preference files can cause all sorts of trouble, maybe this is one such case.


In Finder, press Command-Shift-G and paste

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist


Drag the file to the trash, and relaunch the Finder.



If the problem persists, there may be other issues. Please run Etrecheck and post its full report here. Use the "additional text" button and paste the report into the text box.

May 5, 2023 1:16 AM in response to tobygoldst

There is a bunch of old stuff in this system.

I can see that this machine has been upgraded in place since 2015.


Now this does not help in case there is a hardware issue, but you could try making a full backup, erase, install and then migrate only the user accounts. This would give you a clean system without any of the cruft accumulated over the years. It is quite common for an old kext or daemon to not work well with a new OS and suddenly cause crashes or weird behavior.


Airdrop Crashing Finder (12.6.5)

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.