Why Is My Library Folder Hidden Mac
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The Library folder for the users on a Mac is always hidden as Apple just doesn’t want you to access it as it thinks you don’t need access to it. However, macOS does provide an option to see this folder and access its contents, but you should only do that if you know what you are doing as a single mistake may mess-up everything in there.
Jan 12, 2020 Apple hides the Library folder by setting a file system flag associated with the folder. Any folder on your Mac can have its visibility flag turned on or off; Apple just chose to set the Library folder's visibility flag to the off state. If you don’t know why you’re doing something to a folder (other than the Fonts folder) in your Home/Library, don’t do it. There must be some good reasons why Apple decided to hide the Home/Library folder in OS X Yosemite, and one of them is to keep you from accidentally screwing something up. Access Library Folder On Mac Using “Go to Folder” Option. Another way to access the Library Folder on your Mac is by using the Folder Option on your Mac. Left-click your mouse anywhere on the screen of your Mac to reveal the Go Option in the top menu bar. You can also click on the Finder Icon in the Dock of your Mac to activate the Go option. More Mac Sites: Macworld; MacUser. By default, the /Library folder is hidden in Lion. This is a big problem to many of the readers of this site, as many hints involve this folder (especially any involving hidden preferences). Un-hide the User Library folder' hint.
We already have a guide that shows how you can quickly access the Library folder on your Mac, but what it doesn’t do is it doesn’t let you unhide the folder. That way, you can access the folder, but it will not always be visible in the file explorer – the Finder app – on your Mac.
There are actually three Library folders on the Mac. The Library folder you can see contains files that are accessible to all users but only changeable by administrators. Then there is the. With the release of Mac OS X Lion way back in 2011, Apple removed easy access to the user’s Library folder. Although arguably well-intentioned, this change was frustrating for longtime Mac power. Jul 23, 2012 The Bookmarks.plist is in your user/Library/Safari folder. To get there, you can either open a Finder window to that folder, then enter Time Machine. Or, you can enter Time Machine in the Finder, and use the cmd-shift-g (Go to Folder) command to enter the path, '/Library/Safari'.
Library Folder Hidden On Mac
So, if you really want to open the Library folder using the Finder quickly, you can’t do as the folder is not visible anywhere in the app. If you happen to access the folder occasionally, you should not have any issues as you can just use any temporary method to get access to the folder, however, if you happen to use the folder now and then, you will need a permanent solution to quickly accessing the folder.
In the guide below, we’re going to show you how you can unhide the Library folder on your Mac. That way, the folder will start to appear in the Finder beside the other folders, and you should be able to access it with a single click.
If that’s what you would like to do, here’s all you need to do to get that:
Using the Shift key to Launch the Folder
One of the ways to access the Library folder is to use the Shift key. When you hold down Shift on your keyboard, some extra options appear in your regular menus that let you access to some special content such as the Library folder.
Here’s how to use this method:
Get inside a Finder window so that you can access its options. Going to your Mac’s desktop is the best way to do that.
Once you are on the desktop of your Mac, you should see the Finder options on the top of your screen. What you need to do is find the menu labeled as “Go” and click on it.
As you can see above, the Library folder just doesn’t exist there although it does exist on your system. To enable it in this menu, hold down the “Shift” key on your keyboard, and the folder will appear in the menu. Clicking on the folder will take you to the current user account’s Library folder.
So, that was a nice way of accessing the Library folder as all it needed was a press on the Shift key and you were ready to go.
Unhiding the Library Folder Permanently on Your Mac
While the method above lets you access the Library folder for your user account, the option for the folder will go away as soon as let go of the Shift key. If you would like for the option to continue to be there, you need to do the following procedure to make it stick there:
Go to the desktop area of your Mac so that you are inside a Finder window.
Click on the “Go” menu at the top and select the option that says “Go to Folder.” This option allows you to jump to any directory on your Mac and you just have to input the path to the directory.
Enter in the following path into the box on your screen and hit “Go” to go there. Make sure to replace Mahesh with the username of your Mac’s account.
/Users/Mahesh/
When the user folder opens, and you can see your files, click on the “View” menu at the top of your screen and it will reveal the Finder’s view options. Click on the option that says “Show View Options” to see the settings that control what should be shown in the Finder windows. Alternatively, you can press the “Command + J” key combination to access the option.
The view options will appear on your screen, and you can now modify them however you want. What we’re interested in is the option that says “Show Library Folder.” You need to checkmark this option and it will make the Library folder to appear in the regular menu of the Finder app. Just checkmark the box and close the panel.
From now on, you should be able to access the Library folder from any window of the Finder app. To do that, you just have to pull down the Go menu and click on “Library,” and you should be inside the Library folder for your user account.
So, that was a permanent method to enable the Library folder in the Finder menu on your Mac. The option for accessing the folder should now always be visible in the Finder, and you are just a click away from getting to that folder on your machine.
Unhiding the Library Folder Using Terminal on Your Mac
Another way to enable the Library folder in the Finder is to use a command in the Terminal app. The command does exactly what you did in the above section, but this uses fewer steps as you just have to enter the command in the Terminal app and hit Enter and you are all set. Here’s how to do that:
Launch the Terminal app on your Mac by clicking on Launchpad in the Dock and searching for and clicking on “Terminal.” The app should launch.
When Terminal launches, type in the following command and press Enter.
chflags nohidden ~/Library/
As soon as you press Enter, the command will get executed, and it will unhide the Library folder in the Finder menus on your Mac.
You are all set.
So, above were some of the ways to access the Library folder on your Mac. The last two methods let you permanently enable the folder in the Finder, so you don’t need to hold down Shift key or do anything else to access the folder as the folder is now always visible in the Finder menus.
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Learn how to access the hidden Library folder in your Home folder on your Mac so you can tweak app settings and access app files.
Inside the home folder on your Mac is a Library folder that stores app-specific files and settings, personal settings, and some data. The files and settings in the Library folder should be left alone for the most part. But, you may want to tweak the settings for an app, which may require accessing the Library folder. Or, maybe an app backs up data to the Library folder and you want to copy that to an external drive.
Default location for both is /Pictures/.Right click the Library file & select Show Package Contents - that will expose the 'file' as the folder it really is.The Masters folder should be just inside. Not all contained folders will actually be populated, if old photos were ever deleted, the file structure remains.As pointed out in comments, if you need the copied structure to be readable natively on Windows, then you ought to format the target disk as ExFAT.Windows cannot natively read Mac OS Extended disks & would need 3rd party support. You can copy that to anywhere.It is sorted into years, then months. If you simply want the entire Masters structure copied to a new drive, then.first find your iPhoto or Photos Library file. Export entire mac photos library to windows.
As of Mac OS X Lion (10.7), the Library folder in your home folder is hidden by default. That doesn’t mean you can’t get to it. It’s hidden so you don’t accidentally delete settings and data, damaging apps in the process. So, if you decide you want to access the Library folder, be very careful.
Today we’re going to cover different ways of accessing the hidden Library folder in your home folder and how to make it permanently available in Finder.
What is the Path to the Library Folder?
The Library in your home folder is written as ~/Library. The tilde (~) character is a shortcut for your home directory. For example, on my Mac, that would expand to /Users/lorikaufman/Library.
Access the Library Folder Using the Go to Folder Option
If you want to access the Library folder only occasionally, you can use the Go to Folder option in Finder.
Open Finder or just click on the desktop. Head to Go > Go to Folder, or hit Cmd + Shift + G.
Type:~/Library in the Go to the folder box on the dialog box and click Go or press Enter.
If you have one or more Finder windows open, the Library folder opens in the currently active window. If no Finder windows are open, a new one opens to the Library folder.
Access the Library Folder Using the Terminal
If you prefer using the command line, you can access the Library folder using the Terminal.
Mac Library Folder
Go to Utilities > Terminal in the Applications folder. To access the Library folder directly in the Terminal, type:cd ~/Library at the prompt to switch to the Library folder.
You can type:ls at the prompt to get a detailed folder listing. You can work with the files in the Library folder directly on the command line. Just be careful.
You can also use the Terminal to open the Library folder in a Finder window. Type:open ~/Library at the prompt and hit Enter.
Access the Hidden Library Menu Option in Finder
The Library folder is available on the Go menu in Finder, but it doesn’t show on the menu by default.
To temporarily show the Library option on the Go menu, open the menu and press the Option key. The Library folder shows up between Home and Computer on the Go menu. Keep the Option key pressed while you move your mouse down the menu and select Library.
If you’re using a Windows keyboard with your Mac, press the Alt key.
Show the Library Folder Permanently in Finder
If you access the Library folder often, you can permanently show the Library option on the Go menu and the Library folder in your Home folder.
Show Hidden Folders Mac
Open Finder and head to your Home folder using the left pane or by pressing Cmd + Shift + H. Then, go to View > Show View Options, or hit Cmd + J.
A dialog box displays with options you can set for your Home folder. Check the Show Library Folder box at the bottom of the dialog box. The Library folder now shows up in your Home folder in Finder windows and the Library option becomes permanently available on the Go menu.
When you permanently show the Library folder in Finder, you can hit Cmd + Shift + L to open it in a Finder window, in addition to selecting the Library option on the Go menu.
Happy Tweaking, But Be Careful
Why Is My Library Folder Hidden Machine
The Library folder is hidden by default for a good reason. So, before tweaking settings and changing files in the Library folder, make sure you know what you’re doing.