[Readers question] Mac: Slider for icon size in the Finder window is gone

I just received a question from a reader who, after updating to macOS Catalina, is struggling with an attitude that has changed itself.

Before the update to Catalina, there was a “slider” in the Finder window at the bottom right with which I could change the icon size immediately, without going through display options. Now it's gone! Do you have any tips for me on how I can get this function out of my Mac again?

Problem: Attitudes sometimes have a life of their own

First of all: I have no idea why such display options change with a macOS update. I had a similar case with my Apple Mail where conversations were suddenly displayed in a block again, even though I had explicitly switched this off. But you don't have to understand everything ... it is enough if you know how to correct it.

Solution: Activate the status bar in the display

I had to experiment a bit myself until I finally found the place where you can show the slider. The bar that houses the slider is called the “Status Bar”. You can get them back into the Finder window via the “View” menu and the item “Show status bar”.

Of course, there is also a keyboard shortcut that can be used to show or hide this bar. This reads:

CMD+SHIFT+7

This can also be used to switch the small bar that controls the size of the icons on and off.

Important: Activate the symbol view - otherwise it won't work

An important point has just struck me: If you have selected the view of the Finder window as a list, the slider does not appear when you display the status bar, since the icon size cannot be changed there.

You have to switch to the symbol view (or to the gallery view) so that the slider is displayed.

Change the icon size briefly via display options

With the keyboard shortcut CMD + J, a small additional window with options for the display in the folder can be displayed in the Finder. This can be helpful if you only want to adjust the size of the icons for a short time without having the status bar constantly displayed.

Jen Kleinholz( Founder & Sir Apfelot )

Jens has been running the blog since 2012. He acts as Sir Apfelot for his readers and helps them with technical problems. In his spare time he rides electric unicycles, takes photos (preferably with the iPhone, of course), climbs around in the Hessian mountains or hikes with the family. His articles deal with Apple products, news from the world of drones or solutions to current bugs.