Showing Mac OSX Lion Finder’s Missing Status Bar

Aug 2, 2011 | 49 comments

I thought Apple removed Mac OS X Lion’s ability to display the number of Finder items in a folder/disk and the amount of space available on the disk. I didn’t realize how often I referred to these numbers!

Here’s where to turn the status bar back on: In the Finder, select View > Show Status Bar

49 Comments

Scarpa on August 11, 2011 at 10:26 am

Thank you very much!
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Barrie G on August 12, 2011 at 5:28 am

And thanks from me too.
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Shiplo on August 14, 2011 at 6:01 pm

Thank you! This had me scratching my head for a while!
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Martin on August 16, 2011 at 2:25 pm

Thank you!! This should be on by default if you ask me… :/
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- Mike Beato on August 16, 2011 at 2:27 pm
  
  I agree, Martin!
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Sasha on August 17, 2011 at 12:13 am

I award you 10,000 Internet points! You are my hero!!!!!
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Jimmeh on August 18, 2011 at 5:37 am

Thanks for this. I was looking for this too. I thought “why would they remove this feature?” A great way to keep track of your disk space and avoid catastrophe. I check this all the time.
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Ricardo on September 26, 2011 at 11:56 pm

Legend! thanks for this. Kept going to View Options without even realising it was on that same menu option lol
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Jordan on September 27, 2011 at 3:18 pm

This was a well missed feature. Thanks!
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LynneM on October 4, 2011 at 10:59 am

Thanks . . . I needed that!
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gilberto salazart on October 11, 2011 at 9:19 pm

I really appreciate this tip !!
this missing status bar was driven me crazy!

THANKS!!
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Sugith on October 15, 2011 at 10:04 am

Why change a default in the first place? Oh well, thanks for providing the answer!
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- Mike Beato on October 15, 2011 at 10:13 am
  
  I was wondering the same thing!
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Jessica on October 16, 2011 at 6:47 pm

Thank you so much! I was just beginning my 500’th rant at my suffering boyfriend about another fail on the part of Lion and was so happy to see this.
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- Mike Beato on October 17, 2011 at 11:10 am
  
  Glad I was able to help smooth out your relationship! 😉
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Dave Knapik on October 18, 2011 at 8:55 pm

Cheers! As a developer, I gotta have my path bar, too!
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cdean on October 20, 2011 at 10:51 pm

You’ve saved my life. Oh my stars. <3
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Craig Matthews on October 30, 2011 at 2:51 pm

Thank you very much. This being missing was very irritating.
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Alethea Fitzpatrick on November 1, 2011 at 10:35 pm

Hooray – thank you!
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Ahmad Humeid on November 19, 2011 at 4:14 pm

Thanks.. I kept looking for it under view options!
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Douglas Snyder on December 1, 2011 at 3:48 pm

I missed that display, thank you very much. These changes just for the sake of change drive me crazy.
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Christine on December 9, 2011 at 9:24 am

Thank you… the new Lion OS leaves a lot to be desired from a company that prides itself on UI and design.
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Dezign on December 15, 2011 at 12:51 pm

Thanks a lot, was wondering where it had gone 🙂
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Jack Gescheidt on December 28, 2011 at 3:51 pm

Thanks, Mike! New to Lion and, like so many others have said before me, this is an odd feature to leave off. A Google search took me to you straight away and your SIMPLE remedy. Again as others have said here, weird this is not a Mac default setting.

So credit where credit is due – to YOU.

Thanks,
Jack Gescheidt
TreeSpiritProject.com
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- Mike Beato on December 28, 2011 at 4:57 pm
  
  Thanks for the positive feedback, Jack!
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Ian on January 16, 2012 at 1:47 am

Just a note to say thanks for posting this. Daft that this blindingly obvious feature was switched off in Lion.
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Franziska Kunze on January 18, 2012 at 10:46 am

Thank you so much! I was going insane! And I too hadn’t realized how much I depend on this little status bar….
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MichaelB on January 25, 2012 at 8:53 am

Thank you! Lion is turning out to be Apple’s Vista. Hate it!
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Adam SheF on February 4, 2012 at 10:41 am

Cheers! Thanks for the tip!
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laura on February 11, 2012 at 11:55 pm

thank you! this was JUST starting to drive me a little crazy.. big sigh of relief!
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Michael Stelly on April 17, 2012 at 7:24 pm

Jeesh. No kidding. Guess you don’t really appreciate some things until you think they’re gone. Thanks for the tip.
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Jose L Salcido on May 2, 2012 at 4:05 pm

Thanks, You save me from shoot a bullet in my head!
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Matt on May 10, 2012 at 4:55 pm

Ah! Lifesaver. I was freaking out over here. Thanks!!!
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G Man on June 15, 2012 at 5:42 am

Thanks so much!
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Erik on June 16, 2012 at 5:00 am

Thanks! I thought this was gone for good. this option should be on by default!
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Neil on July 26, 2012 at 7:11 pm

Thanks for this info. It really should be on by default. Who makes theses silly decisions heh? 🙂

Cheers,
Neil.
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Andrew J on November 1, 2012 at 5:39 pm

This has been annoying me for over 12 months until today, when I saw the status bar on someone’s Mac running OS Lion – Thought it had gone forever! Anyway thanks to people like you, a quick google search has finally sorted it. THANKS!
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ahmad on November 13, 2012 at 12:20 am

thank u forever
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Mike King on December 17, 2012 at 9:23 pm

Perfect! Thank you sir!
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Suresh Menon on December 26, 2012 at 11:26 am

Thanx to you for this excellent tip…. Being cursing everybody at Apple for not making it a default option.

Thanx again
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josh on January 9, 2013 at 10:05 pm

i didn’t think there were enough people thanking you so I had to say….
THANK YOU VERY MUCH

This is one of many things that apple should of left as a default setting
(now that I know where it is, seems so obvious)
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David on January 12, 2013 at 8:12 pm

Thanks for posting this, it was very helpful!
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Ben Linford on January 19, 2013 at 10:48 am

This is an absolute godsend!
I’m trying to compare a massive number of items in a folder on a (painstakingly slow) network drive, against a not so slow one.
The spinning beach ball is all too happy to pop-up so viewing the info panel is just not viable on the networked version of the folder.
Thanks a bunch!
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Naomi on January 19, 2013 at 9:57 pm

THANK YOU! I’ve upgraded for lightness and speed (MacBook Air) but lost a lot of disk space in the process. I REALLY need this.
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Harsha on August 12, 2013 at 12:41 am

Thank You!
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Mick Sands on August 15, 2013 at 4:54 pm

Mike, I believe you’re my new time vampire! Soooo much good information in one place, and all that in your head, dang.

I hope I didn’t miss it but is there a way to set the view options as a preference rather than having to go through the steps with each window one opens? In finder, if I don’t have anything selected, the above mentioned options aren’t available.

When and if, please post. And, as this is old, even if you don’t, thank you, thank you, thank you!
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- Mike Beato on August 15, 2013 at 5:06 pm
  
  Mick – No, you didn’t miss anything. Once you switch it in the “View” menu, it should stay set that way. No Finder preference is required.
  
  Glad you found my site useful!
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Mick Sands on August 15, 2013 at 5:52 pm

You’re absolutely right, switching it in the “View” menu has set it to stay that way for all finder windows. Don’t I have egg on my face. Thank you.

I hate needing to leave for the office as I can’t wait to get back and “fix” all I’ve previously believed to be not fixable – even dealing with speeding up my early 2008 Mac Pro, which I love.
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Matt Heff on August 28, 2013 at 3:33 am

I’m chiming into this thread a couple of years late because I’m quite behind with my OS maintenance – just upgraded several steps to Mountain Lion and this issue has been plaguing me with regrets for the last month. Like others I don’t understand why it’s not the default.

I can only surmise that without it, the window has a “cleaner” look, which is a ridiculous approach to a finder redesign. In their race to provide as much flash as the next guy, Apple seems to have forgotten the strategy that’s really made their devices so attractive – “Mac’s make it easy”

Thanks for your invaluable and timeless post 🙂
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