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Under the General section of a file's File Info, there is a checkbox for Stationery Pad and Locked. The Locked option is pretty straightforward, but what does Stationery Pad do?

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Nathan Greenstein
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Kevin Yap
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  • I have absolutely no idea what I should tag this, so if anybody has a better suggestion, feel free to change it. – Kevin Yap Apr 08 '11 at 18:06
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    Funnily enough, if I translate the text used by that option in the Finnish OS X to English, it's roughly "Work template". I think even just "template" would describe the option better than "stationery pad" – Jari Keinänen Apr 09 '11 at 11:25
  • This is a really nice OS feature. Just discovered its use. No need for complex /template folders and duplicate files everywhere. Just a master for each type and copies made as needed. Surprised not to hear of this more. –  Mar 30 '12 at 07:23
  • Just for a reference, this question is answered at http://superuser.com/questions/96245/what-is-the-stationery-pad-setting-in-os-x-finder – zeliboba Feb 24 '15 at 21:37

1 Answers1

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Basically, it tells an app opening the file to open a copy.

You do this on files that you want to use like templates. Since the app is given a copy, you'll never accidentally change the original.
Basically, it automatically copies the file into its original location (as 'name copy') and lets you work on the copy.

Nathan Greenstein
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