Desktop icon description too short

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Level 1

9 points

Desktop icon description too short

I'm using OS Big Sur (11.6.2) and made the mistake of opening Time Machine. When I closed it, the desktop icons all rearranged themself on the right side of the screen AND drastically reduced their description to just one line (11 characters max), which is very limiting. I've tried everything I can think of to go back to a two-line description (prior to the 11.6.2 update), or at least add more characters. I can rearrange the icons back to where they were before (which is a pain), but I can't figure out how to lengthen the icon's description.

MacBook Air

Posted on Jan 15, 2022 7:21 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 15, 2022 8:31 PM in response to MacBook51

MacBook51 wrote:

I'm using OS Big Sur (11.6.2) and made the mistake of opening Time Machine. When I closed it, the desktop icons all rearranged themself on the right side of the screen AND drastically reduced their description to just one line (11 characters max), which is very limiting. I've tried everything I can think of to go back to a two-line description (prior to the 11.6.2 update), or at least add more characters. I can rearrange the icons back to where they were before (which is a pain), but I can't figure out how to lengthen the icon's description.

If you are on the Desktop...Command J opens the View Options.

You can make some changes here.

Also see Stacks:

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/organize-your-desktop-with-stacks-mh35846/mac

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Answer 2

Barney-15E

Level 10

116,722 points

Feb 6, 2022 6:30 AM in response to Anfre75

My desktop icons names have been abbreviated. How can I bring them back.

This thread answers that question. "Description," in this case, is the Name.

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Answer 3

MacBook51 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 18, 2022 1:35 PM in response to MacBook51

Thank you, but I've changed the size of the icon multiple times using the View Options you describe. The wording (number of characters) under each icon becomes fewer and fewer as the icon decreases in size, to the point of being meaningless. For example, setting the desktop icon size to 44 X 44 produces an icon for a Pictures folder with this "Pi...res" under it, which tells you nothing about the folder. I'm trying to get a small icon and a reasonable number of descriptive characters.

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Answer 4

MacBook51 Author

Level 1

9 points

Jan 18, 2022 4:17 PM in response to Barney-15E

That worked. I was setting the grid spacing as tight as possible, which reduced the wording size. I don't like desktop icons spread out as much, but at least I can read the description better. Thanks

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