Mac – On what basis does the Finder update the file copy progression bar

file-transfermac

I want to know that the progression of the progress bar in OS X is based on which factors by the Finder?

  • Time (passing or estimated)
  • Number of files remaining
  • Size of files remaining

If possible, can we change the factor used in any way to match our choice?

finder copy window

Best Answer

To make a somewhat educated guess

  • The bar shows "time spent" vs. "overall time expected"
  • "overall time expected" is somewhat dynamic, depending on current throughput. So if you start of with a lot of small files (which usually take longer than a large one) transfer seems to speed up later (and vice versa)
  • I'm not aware of any way to change this

PS: And no, I don't have a reference for that, just years of observation

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