Other Sites

Mac OS Finder aliases are duplicates of file icons, essentially links to files located anywhere else on your hard drive masquerading as file icons. When you double-click on an alias, the original file will open, or execute its function. If you drag a file to a folder alias, the dragged file is deposited in the original folder, where ever it is, not in the alias itself. You can create an unlimited number of aliases of any file, and place them anywhere you please.

This facility has a number of advantages. Aliases take up only a minimum of hard drive space, so there is essentially no disadvantage to creating and placing them wherever it is convenient. They can eliminate the need for rooting through layers of nested folders to find files you frequently need to access. An alias of application or utility placed in the Apple Menu makes that item quickly available with a mouse click.

For example, you can put an alias of your hard drive or System Folder in the Apple Menu and access its contents by way of Apple Menu submenus. As I explained in another Mac Basics installment last week, the Mac OS Launcher uses aliases, and you can make your own, custom launcher by placing application aliases in a pop-up folder on the desktop and having them display as one click buttons.

By putting an icon of an item in the Startup Items folder (in the System Folder), that item will open automatically when you start your Mac. It may also be even more convenient to keep aliases of frequently used programs, folders, control panels, or documents right on the Desktop. You can put an alias of the Trash in any folder, which can be a real time saver.

To create an alias of any file, just highlight the original by single-clicking on it, and press Command M on the keyboard or select Make Alias from the File Menu. The alias will appear in the Finder beside the original file, and will be have the same name in italics with the word "alias" appended. However, you can re-name the alias anything you like if desired, and drag it anywhere on your hard drive. In Mac OS 8.5 and later, a small arrow appears in the lower left corner of an alias icon, indicating that the file is an alias.

An alternate method of creating an alias is to hold down the Command and Option keys while dragging an icon image out of its window to another location. In this instance, the alias will have exactly the same name as the original file (no "alias" suffix). You can also create aliases buy Control clicking the original file icon and choosing Make Alias from the contextual menu that appears.

Other ways to create aliases are to Command-drag an icon out of the Sherlock Items Found window, or by dragging an icon to the Mac OS Launcher window (in which case the icon alias will be created in the Launcher Items folder in the System folder).

If you need to find the location of the original file (Mac OS 8 and later), click on the alias and press Command R or choose Show Original from the File Menu .

Aliases sometimes become unlinked (or "broken") from their parent files. When that happens, you can just drag the alias to the Trash and create a new one, or with later versions of the Mac OS you can also repair the broken alias by clicking the "Fix Alias" button in the dialog box that it appears when you attempt to use a broken alias. Just use the navigation dialog box that comes up to find and reconnect to the original file. You can even connect an existing alias to a different root file by using the Select A New Original button in the alias's Get Info General Information window.