How To Show Library Folder On Mac High Sierra
Dec 12, 2016 How to Show /Library Folder in MacOS Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra. If you access user /Library often you might want to just enable it permanently as a visible folder in the user home directory. This is a simple settings change that will cause MacOS Finder to always show the Library folder in the user home. Change permissions for files, folders, or disks on Mac Permission settings determine who can view and alter files on the computer. You change permission settings at the bottom of the Info window for a file, folder, or disk in the Finder. How to view a Mac's /Library folder. There are three ways to easily view your hidden /Library/ folder. In macOS Sierra Apple added a Finder keyboard shortcut that makes it possible to quickly.
- How To Show Library Folder On Mac High Sierra Mac
- Show Library Folder Mac High Sierra Terminal
- Library Folder On Mac Sierra
Updates
If you’re using a version earlier than macOS Sierra, see Show/Hide Hidden Files using Terminal Aliases to setup a toggle command via terminal. Thanks to Guido Schlabitz for making me aware of this new shortcut. Show/Hide Hidden Files the Long Way. The long way to show hidden Mac OS X files is as follows. Feb 10, 2019 Does anyone know how to show the Library folder in Mojave? The method that's worked for years in previous OSes (ever since they started hiding the folder), typing chflags nohidden /Library/ in Terminal, seems to no longer be working. Dec 30, 2016 How To: Show the User Library Folder in macOS Sierra Chris Hauk - Dec 30, 2016 While many Mac users may never need to access their User Library folder while running macOS Sierra — some advanced users, may need to get in there and access. Dec 09, 2018 So Apple made some weird changes (like they seem to do these days) and made it more difficult to enable your Library folder permanently. The technique to get this to work in High Sierra (10.13.4) like it used to in regular Sierra is to: 1) Drag your user folder from the finder window to the favorites sidebar on the left (unless it is already.
January 26th 2018: Added shortcut method available on macOS Sierra keyboard.
September 22nd 2016: Method of showing/hiding hidden files tested and working on macOS Sierra.
December 22nd 2015: Method of showing/hiding hidden files tested and working on Mac OS X El Capitan.
It seems like every day I search Google for the command to show hidden files on Mac OS X, not to mention Googling for the command to then hide those hidden files a few minutes later.
Today I decided to make a short and easy to remember alias to speed up the process. All I need do now is type showFiles and hideFiles whenever I need to show/hide OS X’s hidden files. Here’s how you can do it too.
The Quickest Way to Show/Hide Hidden Files
Since the release of macOS Sierra, when in Finder, it is now possible to use the shortcut:
Press once to show hidden files and again to hide them. If you’re using a version earlier than macOS Sierra, see Show/Hide Hidden Files using Terminal Aliases to setup a toggle command via terminal.
Thanks to Guido Schlabitz for making me aware of this new shortcut.
Show/Hide Hidden Files the Long Way
The long way to show hidden Mac OS X files is as follows:
- Open Terminal found in Finder > Applications > Utilities
- In Terminal, paste the following:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES - Press return
- Hold the ‘Option/alt’ key, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch.
Relaunch Finder by right clicking the Finder Icon whilst holding the ‘Option/alt’ key
This will show all hidden files. To hide them again, follow the same steps but replace the Terminal command with:
It’s not the longest set of instructions or the biggest command to commit to memory but if you’re doing this a lot, it’s worth spending a few minutes now to save yourself a lot more time in the future.
Show/Hide Hidden Files using Terminal Aliases
A Terminal alias is a name or shortcut for one or multiple commands. Using an easy to remember alias, we can turn the above four step process into just one.
An alias can be made temporarily (just for the use of one terminal session) or permanently. As we want this to be a shortcut used now and in the future, let’s make it permanent:
- Open Terminal found in Finder > Applications > Utilities
- In Terminal, paste the following:
sudo nano ~/.bash_profile - Enter your Mac’s administration password if required, then hit return
- At the bottom of the open .bash_profile file, paste the following:
alias showFiles='defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES; killall Finder /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app' Below that, paste the following:
alias hideFiles='defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles NO; killall Finder /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app'- Press ctrl + O and hit return to save the file
- Press ctrl + X to exit the file and return to the command line
- In Terminal, paste the following:
source ~/.bash_profileto refresh your profile and make the aliases available
Now when you want to show hidden files, all you need type in Terminal is showFiles, then hideFiles when you want to hide them.
If you want to modify the behaviour or alias names, let’s take a closer look at the commands you just added:
alias tells Terminal we’re adding a new alias.
showFiles is the name of the alias. Change this to what you wish.
We then give the alias two commands. The first being:
This is the command to show hidden files and is ended with a semi-colon ; so we can then use the second command:
This will relaunch the Finder (to replicate the step of holding the ‘Option/alt’ key then right clicking the Finder icon in the dock).
Conclusion
Unhide library folder mac. With the aliases set up, all you need do in the future is type showFiles and hideFiles to show and hide Mac OS X’s hidden files respectively.
Aliases can be used to speed up your interaction with the Terminal. Set up an alias for navigating to your most used directories, to commit to a GitHub repo and so on.
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.
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.
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.
How To Show Library Folder On Mac High Sierra Mac
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:
Mac keyboard shortcut for library downloads. Use Library keyboard shortcuts to streamline your work in Motion. Sudo chflags nohidden /Library/ /Library/ To hide Library again: sudo chflags hidden /Library/ /Library/ System Preferences keyboard shortcut. Apple’s System Preferences is a dialog I go to often. But it doesn’t have a default universal keyboard shortcut. So let’s make one, using control+command+comma. (I use my middle finger to reach. Oct 23, 2016 In the Keyboard Shortcut field, define the shortcut that you would like to use to get to the library folder on your Mac quickly. Make sure this shortcut is not already used on your Mac with other items. When you are done, click on “Add” to add the shortcut to the list. Dec 05, 2019 By pressing certain key combinations, you can do things that normally need a mouse, trackpad, or other input device. To use a keyboard shortcut, press and hold one or more modifier keys and then press the last key of the shortcut. For example, to use Command-C (copy), press and hold the Command key, then the C key, then release both keys.
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.
Show Library Folder Mac High Sierra Terminal
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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Library Folder On Mac Sierra
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