Solution – OS X Lion Thumbnail Slider Missing or Not Working

In OS X Lion, I was very disappointed to see that they took the thumbnail resize slider out of Finder windows in the default install.  Thankfully, there is a simple solution…to that initial problem.

Status Bar Missing

The slider is a part of what OS X refers to as the Status Bar.  To re-enable the status bar, all you need to do is open a Finder window and choose View > Show Status Bar.

Show Status Bar

Once that’s done, your status bar (along with the thumbnail resize slider) will re-appear.

Slider’s Back

This setting should be retained whenever you re-open a Finder window.

…But It’s Not Working…

However, I’ve found that sometimes the slider itself just doesn’t work.  I can drag the slider back and forth, but the icons don’t change size at all.  The solution to this is simple, but not permanent.

You will notice that there is a quick key to the Show Status Bar menu option ( cmd / ).  When the thumbnail slider isn’t working, just push cmdtwice.  The first time, the Status Bar will go away, and the second time it will reappear.  Toggling the hide/show status bar option seems to reset the operating system’s perspective on the icons.  The slider should work now.

Did this help solve your problem?  Do you have a solution to making the slider work permanently?  Share in the comments!

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About Luke

My name is Luke, and I'm the Online Media Manager for a technology company, photographer, husband, and father. You can see a snapshot of some of my work at LukeCoburn.com. I cheer for the Red Sox and am completely in love with my wife and four little princesses.

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