OS X Sierra, "Pictures" folder hijacked by an application - how to fix?

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A crummy application (MacFamilyTree) somehow hijacked my system's "Pictures" folder. It thinks it's an application now, and has acquired an 'Open with:' panel in the GetInfo window. There's no way to select "Finder" as the application to open the folder. Is there a way I can restore its "Folder" identification? The 'Kind' should show "Folder". Instead it shows whatever filetype is specified by the assigned application.

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Lanse Stover

Posted 2017-08-14T15:39:50.470

Reputation: 3

Answers

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It's been turned into a package by MacFamilyTree. Packages are actually just folders but with special sauce that Finder uses to make them appear as a monolithic item. So, uou can't turn it back into a folder because it is actually already a folder.

Just throw it in the trash, empty trash, and make a new Pictures folder.

jsd

Posted 2017-08-14T15:39:50.470

Reputation: 368

Thanks! I was able to transfer everything to a new folder except the 113 GB of the "Photos Library". Doesthat need some special treatment? I have adequate disk space for the transfer. (Sorry for the dumb question!) – Lanse Stover – 2017-08-15T23:07:07.867

Photos Library is another "folder disguised as a package" thing. When you say you weren't able to transfer it, what happened exactly? Did you get an error message? – jsd – 2017-08-16T02:48:02.993

All solved! The copying issue was a system time-out problem since the file was so large. Got that done. Then I couldn't delete the original "Pictures" folder... a little sleuthing revealed that it's one of the folders the Mac OS protects with an 'ACL entry' to prevent accidental deletion. I found the terminal commands to execute the delete, and now all is good! Thanks for your help. – Lanse Stover – 2017-08-16T14:31:27.817

Asked: 2017-08-14T15:39:50.470

Viewed: 52 times

Active: 2017-08-14T17:15:26.543