Am I using Pathfinder incorrectly?

Question

Here is what's going on: The graphic on the left does not have a fill, while the graphic on the right does have a fill.

Here's what I am trying to do: My end result is that I would like the graphic that doesn't have the fill to closely resemble the graphic on the right, even without a fill covering up the extra lines. To get the graphic on the left to look how I would like, I would need to remove the parts of the shape that have a red line over them.

When I use Pathfinder to try and remove the unwanted lines, it produces a result that ends up removing far too much.

Does anyone have an idea of how to accomplish this removal cleanly and/or without Pathfinder?

Edit: I should also mention that these graphics are made up of 4 individual rounded rectangles that are not merged / united together.

Answer 1

Pathfinder doesn't work on strokes well, if at all. You're essentially trying to remove live strokes and Pathfinder isn't really good for that. You would need to expand the strokes for Pathfinder to work effectively.

You'll have better luck using the Shape Builder Tool. Just select the art and click-drag on the areas you want to combine.

(4 stroked, unfilled, rounded shapes)

_{I'm merely hitting Undo a few times in between iterations.}

Answer 2

Pathfinder has 8 tools in it. For this task I recommend you use Divide:

First Expand and Ungroup the shapes. Make sure they have the same fill and stroke.

Select all and hit Pathfinder>Divide.

Ungroup them.

Delete the unwanted parts.