macOS Sequoia wraps copied pathnames in single quotes,

breaking pasted links in MacDown and other Markdown editors which expect unescaped paths.

Update

Let Codex/Astra loose in a macOS VM; it dug up a hidden Finder preference in seconds that restores unquoted, unescaped pathname copying:

defaults write com.apple.finder FXCopyAsPathnameQuoted -bool false

The clue surfaced in Finder's embedded strings:

strings /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder \
  | rg -i 'quot|escap|pathname|copypath'

Disassembly provided corroboration:

xcrun llvm-objdump --macho --disassemble --no-show-raw-insn \
  /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/MacOS/Finder \
  > finder-disassembly.txt

rg -n -C 12 'FXCopyAsPathnameQuoted' finder-disassembly.txt

The key appeared in both the Intel and Apple Silicon slices, in code consistent with preference registration alongside other Finder settings.

Verified in Sequoia, Tahoe, and Golden Gate. Takes effect immediately without restarting Finder. Multiple selections yield newline-separated paths.

To undo:

defaults delete com.apple.finder FXCopyAsPathnameQuoted

Previously

• Finder "Copy ... as Pathname" adds odd quotes

• MacOS Sequoia File Path Copy and Paste Working Awkwardly

• [REQUEST] Clean up quotation marks from file paths (new as of macOS 15)

Anthony Reimer provides an overview of the issue, followed by a helpful workaround:

1. Open Automator → Quick Action → Choose

2. Set "Workflow receives current" to files or folders in Finder

3. Add a Run AppleScript action with:

   on run {input}
     tell application "Finder" to get POSIX path of first item of (selection as alias list)
     return input
   end run

4. Add a Copy to Clipboard action

5. Save as Copy Unescaped Path (saves to ~/Library/Services/ and appears in Finder's context menu under Quick Actions)

6. Assign a shortcut via System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts… → Services → Files and Folders

❧ 2025-04-24