MacOS – How to temporarily disable the Finder application

applicationsfindermacos

I am trying to incorporate the use of CLI commands in my daily workflow to learn them better. I have tried the seemingly popular solution of force-quitting Finder from the Apple menu, but it isn't very difficult to relaunch it by simply clicking on Trash or a folder on the Desktop. I am unsure as to what extent Finder manages macOS operations, but is there a way to disable it that makes it harder to relaunch?

System: MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2014), running macOS Mohave 10.14.4

While I can decide to religiously refrain from using Finder, I have noticed that making things harder to reach is the fool-proof way to curb the muscle memory that has developed over time, just as the best way to start learning hard things is to reduce friction and make them more accessible.

I wish to make it so that the command line is my only way to get around, and if there's a way to force this without much damage I'd be happy to give it a shot 🙂

Best Answer

You should move away from force-quitting Finder.

Use graceful quitting:

    defaults write com.apple.finder QuitMenuItem -bool YES
    killall Finder

You now have a regular "Quit" command, not in the Apple menu but in the Finder application menu with corresponding keyboard shortcut cmd+q.
This makes the Desktop clutter disappear and Finder won't launch if clicking on the backround picture or the Trash.
This is a nice and easy option, and it should be enough!

Bonus: if you do this for 'enforcing more CLI usage/skills', then that means more keyboard centric activities? ➞ Turn on Dock hiding (System Preferences ➞ Dock ➞ Automatically hide and show the Dock). Then use cmd+Tab to switch between active applications. This further minimises chances for a 'mis-click' on the Finder icon that would cause an unwanted relaunch.

For the case presented as is in the question the above is quick & easy and a non-running Finder is reversed easily with one single click of the mouse (or for those wanting to improve their CLI skill with a open -a Findercommand in Terminal…)

Related Question