Unable to change the default directory in Finder? I'm struggling with a problem involving my Finder opening to the incorrect directory every time it is opened. I've deleted the com.apple.plist file located in ~/Library/Preferences several times, I've gone in and manually set the opening directory value to my Documents folder in the plist, but it refuses to obey any changes I make. 

I have no idea how it continually opens to this remote directory in my Documents. It should always open to Documents as set in Finder Preferences. I am unable to find alternative instructions for solving this problem when the plist isn't working.

I am running OS-10.11.5 - Can someone help me fix this?
Here are some quick suggestions. On newer OS, the files storing plist are not the final source of preferences. Instead, you will need to issue a delete command to the preference system that runs and contains a working copy of your changes.

defaults delete com.apple.finder


That should remove the preferences and then you would need to log out and log in to flush those deletions to disk. Next you would look at deleting any .DS_Store files in the folders or views where you had the wrong initial view. When you log in, you might then need to open the Finder preferences, use the general tab and re-set the initial folder view for new finder windows. Lastly, if there is corruption on the filesystem (rare - but could affect things), you might restart into Recovery HD and run Disk Utility to repair the boot volume.