Found a problem? Look first at the known problems and at the questions that come back: yours may be answered there. If it is not, report it by e-mail to info@wizit.org. WizMac Explorer is given as it is, with no guarantee and no support contract. We still read our mail.
1. Known problems
These are the problems we know of in version 1.5.0, the one on the product page. Each says what you see, what to do, and whether a version fixes it. The list changes as we learn more, and it needs no new version of the app.
On a Mac with an old macOS, the app quits as soon as it opens
What you see. You open the app, and it quits at once. Nothing says why.
What to do. Update macOS if you can (System Settings › General › Software Update), then open the app again. The app needs an Apple Silicon Mac too: see Does it run on an Intel Mac? From 1.6.0, macOS itself says that the app needs a newer macOS, instead of the app quitting.
Fixed? In 1.6.0, which is not out yet.
A folder with tens of thousands of files stops the window for a few seconds
What you see. You open a folder of 60 000 files, press Select All while it is still loading, move thousands of items to the Trash, or delete 60 000 files for good: the window can stand still for one to four seconds, and sometimes less. Moving thousands of items to the Trash has no progress window and no Cancel. Files that another app deletes from the folder you have open leave the list one by one, which takes seconds for 60 000 files.
What to do. Wait: the window comes back by itself, and nothing is lost. A folder of a few thousand files is not affected.
Fixed? Not yet.
A search with a ? in it can take minutes
What you see. You type a pattern such as a?.txt in the search box and press Return. The results are right, but the search is slow in a big folder such as your home folder: Spotlight does not read ? as a joker, so the app walks the folders itself. A file with a real ? in its name can make the search show that file only.
What to do. Use * where it does the job: a*.txt is answered by Spotlight in about a second. Press Esc to stop a search that takes too long.
Fixed? Not yet.
Undo of a copy that replaced a folder puts the old files in the Trash too
What you see. You copy a folder into a folder that holds a folder of the same name, and choose Replace: the two merge. Then you choose Undo. The whole merged folder goes to the Trash, the files that were there before the copy too.
What to do. Nothing is lost: everything is in the Trash. Open the Trash, right click the folder, choose Restore, then delete the files of the copy you do not want.
Fixed? Not yet.
A rename in the list keeps a space at the end, and a refused rename says nothing
What you see. You rename an item in the list (F2, or a click on its name) and type a space at the end of the name: the item keeps that space. In a folder you may not change, the old name comes back, with no message.
What to do. Type the name again without the space. For a folder you may not change, rename the item in Finder, or make the folder writable first.
Fixed? Not yet.
Compress leaves out a file dated before 1980, or with a very long name
What you see. A file dated before 1980 stays out of the zip, and a message names it: old.txt: ZIP does not support timestamps before 1980. A file whose name has more than about 235 letters, compressed on its own, gives File name too long and no zip: the name of the zip adds the date and the time to it.
What to do. For the date, right click the file and choose Reveal in Finder, open Terminal, type touch and a space, drag the file from Finder into the Terminal window and press Return: the file gets today’s date. For the name, rename the file shorter, or compress the folder that holds it.
Fixed? Not yet.
A link that leads nowhere cannot be copied or moved
What you see. You copy or cut a symbolic link whose target is gone, and paste: nothing happens, and no message says why. A symbolic link is what ln -s makes in Terminal; a Shortcut made by the app is not one.
What to do. Copy or move it in Finder.
Fixed? Not yet.
A shortcut made by the app has a plain picture outside the app
What you see. A shortcut made with Create shortcut shows the picture of its original in WizMac Explorer. Finder and the other apps show the plain picture that macOS gives an alias: a blank page with an arrow, or a small Terminal symbol.
What to do. Nothing: the shortcut works. Only its picture differs.
Fixed? Not yet.
2. Questions that come back
Does it run on an Intel Mac?
No. WizMac Explorer is for Apple Silicon only: the M1 Macs and newer. On a Mac with an Intel chip the app does not open. The Apple menu › About This Mac says which chip you have.
The Trash looks empty, and I know it is not
macOS guards the Trash, so the app needs Full Disk Access. A yellow bar above the list says This app cannot read this folder, and its link opens the right page of System Settings. If it does not, open System Settings › Privacy & Security › Full Disk Access, press + and add the app from your Applications folder. Then quit the app and start it again: the permission only counts on a fresh start.
The permission stays after an update: macOS ties it to the signature of the app, and from version 1.0 every version carries the same one. The move from 0.9 to 1.0 needed it once more: remove the old WizMac Explorer line with −, add the app again with +, and start it again. Turning the switch off and on does not work. The manual has the detail: Permissions after an update.
macOS asks if the app may open my Desktop, Documents or Downloads
That is normal. The first time the app opens your Desktop, Documents or Downloads folder, macOS asks for permission, once for each folder. The app reads these folders only when you open them. The first time you open a network disk in the left panel, macOS asks too. Say yes. If you said no by mistake, System Settings › Privacy & Security › Files & Folders lists the app and lets you switch the folder on again.
3. Report a problem
In the app, choose Help › Report a Problem…. It opens a window holding the report, ready to fill in. Four headings: what you did, what you expected, what happened, and your Mac, already filled in with the version of the app, the version of macOS and the chip.
- Copy report puts the whole report on the clipboard. Paste it into an e-mail to info@wizit.org. This always works.
- Open Mail App asks macOS for your mail app and hands it a draft. Some Macs send e-mail links to a browser instead of a mail app, and then nothing opens. Use Copy report in that case.
When the app finds an error or a crash, the report holds one more part, What the app found: the version of the app, Python and Qt, the language, each error with the places in the code of the app it went through, and the last commands you gave (paste, refresh, key Delete). It holds no file name and no folder name: a path becomes <path>.pdf, and only the extension stays. Your home folder is ~, your user name is <user> and the name of the Mac is <mac>. You can change or delete any of it before you send it.
Nothing goes out alone. The app never sends the report: you read it, and you send it yourself. There is no bug tracker to sign up to. E-mail is the way: info@wizit.org. The manual has the detail, and the privacy policy says what the app sends: nothing.
See also: WizMac Explorer · Manual · Privacy policy · Terms of use