Dec 12, 2016 How to Show /Library Folder in MacOS Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra. From the Mac OS Finder, go to the Users home folder. Pull down the “View” menu and choose “View Options”. Choose “Show Library Folder” in the settings options for the User home folder. Nov 03, 2013 Show Hidden Library and User Library files and folder in OSX Mavericks 10.9 November 3, 2013 9 Comments From OSX 10.9 Mavericks, 10.8 Mountain Lion and 10.7 Lion, the /Library and /Library are hidden from the Finder – to show these directories in the GUI, launch Terminal from Applications/Utilities and run the command below with sudo.
Just like the Windows operating system, the MacOS operating system has a hidden Library folder full of settings you shouldn’t really touch. Deleting some or all of these settings will at best force you to reinstall certain apps, and at worst, cause the whole system to collapse and require a complete reinstall.
But there may be times when accessing the Library folder is necessary. For example, many apps put backups in the Library folder and you may want to back up the backup. Or you might be customising your Mac, which will need access to certain library folders.
Can't find photo library folder on mac. If you use iCloud Photos, photos and videos that are outside the Photos library aren’t stored in iCloud and won’t be accessible to any other Mac or device that uses iCloud Photos. If you disconnect the device where the files are located, or move or rename the files in the Finder, Photos won’t be able to.
- Dec 13, 2016 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.
- If you're using a pre-Sierra version of macOS, there are ways to keep the hidden /Library folder visible. The easiest way is to drag the hidden Library icon from the Finder window to the Finder.
- New technologies at the heart of the system make your Mac more reliable, capable, and responsive — and lay the foundation for future innovations. MacOS High Sierra also refines the features and apps you use every day. It’s macOS at its highest level yet. Easily organize, edit and view your photos in Photos.
- Dec 13, 2016 How to Unhide and Make Library Folder Visible in macOS Sierra By Mahesh Makvana December 13, 2016 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.
- May 17, 2012 How to make your Mac's Library folder visible. But there is a faster way to make the Library folder visible. For most Mac users, the Library folder remains out of sight, out of mind.
Here is how to get there and not cause your Mac to collapse in a cloud of dust in the process.
What Is The Library Folder On MacOS?
The library folder is the area of your MacOS computer where app settings are stored. When you install a program, a folder is created in the Library for all of the essential settings. This can be anything from plugins, preference files and log files.
It’s hidden because basically some people are just plain clumsy and quite often don’t know what they are deleting. It’s only when it’s too late when they realise that something they just deleted should have been kept.
So you could say that Apple is protecting you against your own worst impulses!
How To Find The Hidden Library Folder On MacOS
There are two ways to get to the hidden Library folder if you are confident enough of not triggering a nuclear apocalypse. But the second way is only really feasible when you know where to look.
First Method (The Easiest)
Go to Finder and drop down the “Go” menu. You’ll see that the Library folder is not listed.
To make the Library folder appear, press the “Alt” key (also known as the Option key) at the bottom left of your keyboard. The Library folder will now appear.
Click on the Library folder option to be taken straight to the folder.
The problem though with this method is that this is very temporary. As soon as you take your finger off the alt key, the Library folder will disappear again.
Second Method (Not Difficult)
Mac El Capitan
Once you know the path to the folder (by following the previous method), you can then use the path to go directly to the Library folder.
Make Library Visible Mac High Sierra Download
At the top of the Library folder, you will see the exact path (location) of the folder on your computer.
I have covered over my username in the screenshot, but the path is :
With that in mind, go back to Finder’s Go menu and at the bottom, you’ll see this option :
Choosing “Go to Folder” will bring up a box where you can type the path to the Library folder. Hitting the “enter” key will then take you straight there.
Even better, until you input the path to a different folder, the path to the Library will remain in the “Go to Folder” box.
When it is gone, dropping down the menu arrow on the right hand side will show you a list of previous folders you went to, and the Library one will be there too.
Conclusion
There used to be a way to keep the Library folder showing permanently. But as of High Sierra, the Terminal command no longer seems to work.
However, keeping the folder permanently visible isn’t a good idea since you might delete a system-critical file. Besides, as you have just seen, it is not difficult at all to go to the folder when you need it.
From OSX 10.9 Mavericks, 10.8 Mountain Lion and 10.7 Lion, the /Library and ~/Library are hidden from the Finder – to show these directories in the GUI, launch Terminal from Applications/Utilities and run the command below with sudo and enter your admin password when requested:
to hide again:
You can apply this to any directories in the filing system – so to see the hidden contents of the private folder including /etc you would apply:
But you cannot hide/show defined invisible files/folders that are preceded by a “.” with chflags
To show all hidden files and folders, that start with a ‘.’ , back to Terminal in OSX 10.9 Mavericks:
Getting back to cleanliness:
To show all hidden files and folders, that start with a ‘.’ , back to Terminal for earlier versions of OSX 10.8 and prior:
Getting back to cleanliness: