The Finder icon sits permanently on the left edge of your Mac’s dock. When you click it, by default it opens the Recents page, which shows all the files you’ve recently downloaded or saved.
If you normally open the Finder to access any other folder, such as Downloads or Documents, you can easily set that folder as the default instead. After that, when you click the Finder icon, that folder will open instead of the Recents page, saving you a click.
From now on, when you open a new Finder window, it will always open the folder you selected instead of the Recents folder. This is just one of many tips you may want to use when getting started with the Finder.
Finder Management on a Mac
For many Mac users, clicking the Finder icon just to get to the Recents page before navigating to the folder you actually want is a hassle. Thankfully with the above tips you can go straight to your preferred folder and save a few clicks in the process.
In addition to this, feel free to explore the Mac’s Finder preferences to see several options to further customize its appearance and usability to your liking.
Click the Finder icon, then press Cmd + Comma (,) to open the settings. You can also click on the word Finder from the top menu bar and select Settings.
Under the General tab, click the drop-down menu under New Finder Window.
Choose a recommended folder such as Desktop, Documents or iCloud Drive. To select something else, click Other, select the relevant folder, and then click Select.