How to Turn On the Finder Path Bar and Status Bar

Step by step

1. 5 sec

   Turn on the Path Bar

   Open a Finder window, then choose View > Show Path Bar. A strip appears along the bottom of the window showing every folder between the drive and the item you are looking at. Double-click any segment to jump straight to that level.

   Note: The Path Bar answers the question where am I, which the Finder otherwise refuses to answer plainly in any other part of the window.
2. 5 sec

   Turn on the Status Bar

   Choose View > Show Status Bar. A thin line appears above the Path Bar giving the number of items in the folder and the free space remaining on the volume. In icon view it also carries the slider that sets icon size.

   Note: Free space here is the figure the volume reports. On an APFS disk that number can include purgeable space, so treat it as approximate.
3. 15 sec

   Add the Tab Bar, Preview, and Sidebar

   Three more toggles sit in the same View menu. Show Tab Bar, at Shift + Command + T, keeps tabs visible with only one open. Show Preview, at Shift + Command + P, opens a right column with a large thumbnail and full metadata. Show Sidebar is Option + Command + S.

   Note: In the Preview column, click Show More under the metadata block to get dimensions, camera settings, and codec details without opening the file.
4. 20 sec

   Set view options and make them stick

   With a folder open, press Command + J. The View Options window sets sort order, icon size, grid spacing, text size, and which columns list view shows. Click Use as Defaults at the bottom to apply the same arrangement to folders that have no saved setting.

   Note: Use as Defaults only reaches folders you have never arranged by hand. Anything you already customized keeps its own settings and ignores you.
5. 30 sec

   Show extensions and fix the search scope

   Open Finder > Settings > Advanced. Tick Show all filename extensions so every file states what it is. Below that, set When performing a search to Search the Current Folder if you are tired of every search sprawling across the whole Mac.

   Note: The other switch worth a decision on that pane removes items from the Trash after thirty days. Decide once whether you trust yourself with it.
6. 5 sec

   Drag files onto a Path Bar segment

   Drag a file from the window down onto any folder name in the Path Bar and the Finder moves it there. Hold Option as you drop to copy instead. It is the shortest route to filing something two levels up without opening a second window.

   Note: This is the reason to turn the Path Bar on even if you never read it. It is a drop target that costs you no screen space.