Mac How To Show Hidden Library Folders

The Library Menu item is hidden by default on Macs, to prevent the possibility of inexperienced users deleting important files in the Library Folder. In this article, you will find different methods to reveal the hidden Library Menu and access the Library Folder on your Mac.

Mac How To Show Hidden Library Folders On Mac
How To Show Hidden Library Folder On Mac
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Mac Show Hidden Library Folder
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Show Hidden Library Folder On Mac

Before going ahead with the steps to Access the Hidden Library Folder on your Mac, you need to be aware that /Library Folder contains important Data and Files related to Mac User Accounts. Hence, make sure that you are accessing the Library Folder for a good reason and you do know as to what you are trying to achieve.

Access Hidden Library Menu Option On Mac. Left-click your mouse anywhere on the screen of your Mac. This will reveal the Go Option in the top menu bar of your Mac. Next, click on the Go option in the top menu-bar of your Mac. While you are still on the Go option, press and hold the Option. You just need to do the following: Open the Finder. Go to your Macintosh HD folder (access this from Devices in the left column). Hold down Cmd + Shift +. All the hidden files will become visible. (dot) a second time to hide the files again. For the “Show Library Folder” option to appear in the Finder’s Show View Options menu, you have to first make sure the Finder window is displaying the contents of your home folder. If you open a Finder window on any other directory, or you access the Show View Options item from the Desktop, you will not see the Show Library Folder option because the Library folder is not located in the directory you are viewing. By default, the User Library folder is hidden in Mac OS and above. Won't need to get into this important folder, and it was Apple's idea to hide the folder, to. Using the Show Hidden Files Keyboard Shortcut is incredibly simple, here's how it works: From the Finder of Mac OS, navigate to any folder. Oct 03, 2018 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.

Access Library Folder On Mac

The Library Folder on your Mac contains Preference Files, Caches, and Application Support Data.

While regular Mac users may not find the need to access the Hidden Library Folder, advanced Mac users will at times come across the need to access files inside the Library Folder for troubleshooting and other purposes.

One example of the need to access the Library Folder on Mac would be to rebuild the Database Files in the Library Folder, in order to fix Launchpad related issues like Apps Missing From Launchpad or deleted Apps showing up in the Launchpad.

Before going ahead with the steps to Access the Hidden Library Folder on your Mac, you need to be aware that ~/Library Folder contains important Data and Files related to Mac User Accounts.

Hence, make sure that you are accessing the Library Folder for a good reason and you do know as to what you are trying to achieve.

Access Hidden Library Menu Option On Mac

Follow the steps below to access the Hidden Library Menu option on your Mac.

1. Left-click your mouse anywhere on the screen of your Mac. This will reveal the Go Option in the top menu bar of your Mac. You can also click on the Finder Icon in the Dock of your Mac to activate the Go Option.

2. Next, click on the Go option in the top menu-bar of your Mac.

3. While you are still on the Go option, press and hold the Option key on your Mac and then click on the Library option that appears when you press down the Option Key.

Note: Press the Alt Key in case you are using a Windows keyboard with your Mac.

4. Clicking on the Library Menu option will take you straight to the Library Folder on your Mac.

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.

1. 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.

2. Next, click on the Go option from the top menu-bar on your Mac and then click on Go to Folder… option in the drop-down menu (See image below).

3. In the search window that appears, type ~/Library, and click on the Go button.

This will immediately take you to the Library Folder on your Mac.

Permanently Unhide the Library Menu Option On Mac

You can permanently unhide the Library Menu Option in the top-menu bar on your Mac by using the Terminal Command. The process is reversible and you can easily go back to the default hidden Library Menu Setting by using the Terminal command once again.

1. Click on the Finder icon in the dock of your Mac to activate the Go option in the top Menu bar of your Mac.

2. Next, click on the Go option in the top menu-bar and then click on the Utilities option in the drop-down menu.

3. On the Utilities window, open the Terminal App by clicking on it.

4. Next, type chflags nohidden ~/Library/ and Press the Enter key to submit your command for execution.

Once the command is executed, you will see the Library Option clearly visible and permanently unhidden in the top menu-bar of your Mac.

As mentioned above, you can always go back to the default hidden Library option on your Mac by executing a simple command in the Command Prompt Window.

1. To hide the Library option, type chflags hidden ~/Library/ in the Command prompt window (See image below)

2. After typing the Command, hit the Enter key on the Keyboard of your Mac to execute this Command.

Once the Command is executed, you will see the Library Menu option becoming hidden.

FonePaw - Solution - Mac - Show Hidden Files/Folders

There can be hundreds of reasons why we need to hide certain files on the Mac computer, either for privacy or for security. Your Mac also has its secret files to hide, which are usually the system data like the application support files, other access and preferences information, for example, the ~/Library folder.

Those files or folders are hidden by default for Mac's smooth running, but in case you need to view them for examining or repairing, here we will offer you several methods to show the hidden files and folders on Mac, which can work on macOS Mojave, macOS High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, and more.

Just a head-up: you should make sure that you know what you are doing when making changes to those system hidden files, or else changing important system files could cause trouble to your Mac.

Related Reading:

I tried checking the value of LDLIBRARYPATH using echo$LDLIBRARYPATH, but nothing showed up.It seems that LDLIBRARYPATH is not set, and moreover I am not even sure if it is used on darwin? I have created my own libraryusingar ruv.o filesAfter this I try to compile a test program using,g -pg -O -Wno-deprecated -ansi -pedantic -o test test.C-DANSIHEADERS -DGHAVEBOOL -I.I/ALLINCLUDEDIRS -lmylib -llpsolve51-lm -L.And the compilation works fine.But when i try to run the executable./test, I get the following errormessage:dyld:./testgrid can't open library: liblpsolve51.dylib (No such fileor directory, errno = 2)Trace/BPT trapThe library liblpsolve.dylib is NOT located in the current directory. Cmake add library path. On posting to a newsgroup, I was told that I need DYLDLIBRARYPATH instead.

Method 1: See Hidden Files and Folders on Mac with Shortcut

One of the simplest ways to view the hidden files/folders on Mac is using the keyboard shortcut to reveal the hidden files. But this method requires you remember the saving path of them.

Access hidden ~/Library folder with shortcut

Step 1: Open Finder.

Step 2: Expand the Go menu.

Step 3: Press Option and the Library folder will be revealed.

See other hidden files/folders with shortcut

Step 1: On the Finder menu, click on Go > Go to Folder….

Step 2: Type in the saving path that you put the secret files/folders in, as well as the file name, for example, '~/Desktop/SecretFiles'. And then hit the Go button or press Enter key.

Step 3: Open Finder window, click on a different folder first.

Step 4: Click on the folder you saved the secret files, and then press Command + Shift + Period ('.') key. Then the hidden files will appear. (Note: most of the default hidden files are named starting with a '.'.)

Method 2: Show Hidden Files in Finder with Terminal

If you don't remember, or don't know the exact path where the secret files are, you can access them through Terminal:

Step 1: Launch Terminal by searching it in Spotlight, or from Finder > Utilities.

Step 2: Type in: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE. Click Enter. Then type: killall Finder. Click Enter.

Step 3: Right-click on the Finder icon in the Dock, and choose 'Hide'.

Step 4: Click on Finder icon again to launch it. All the hidden files/folders, no matter the system ones or those you hid them deliberately, are supposed to show up now. Locate the one you are looking for.

TIP: After checking the secret files, if you want to hide them back again. In the Terminal window, execute these two commands and then the secret files/folders will vanish again as you wish.

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder

Mac How To Show Hidden Library Folders On Mac

Method 3: Unhide Hidden Files with Terminal

If you once hid certain files in Terminal with the command containing 'hidden', to unhide them is quite simple: How do i open old iphoto library.

Step 1: Open Terminal window and type in 'chflags nohidden '. Don't forget a space after the last word.

Step 2: Drag and drop the hidden files/folders to the Terminal window.

Step 3: Press Enter key to run the command. And then you'll find the previously hidden data is visible now.

How To Show Hidden Library Folder On Mac

Another way is to go back to the earlier hidden command and revise it:

Step 1: In the Terminal window, press the up arrow key to scan all the previous commands.

Step 2: Locate the earlier hidden command. Press the left arrow key to move to the word 'hidden' and change it to 'nohidden '. Again, don't forget the last space.

Step 3: Hit Enter key to run it.

Method 4: Reveal Hidden Files/Folders Using Hidata (If you hid them on Hidata before)

Create Hidden Folder Mac

If you used Hidata to hide secret files before, this smart Mac data management tool can also help you unhide them back easily:

Step 1: Click on Hidata icon to launch it.

Show Hidden Library Folder Mac

Step 2: Enter the password and press Enter key to unlock.

Step 3: All the hidden folders will show up in the left side-bar. Locate the secret file(s) you want to unhide.

Step 4: Click on the blue circle icon at the far-right side of the file name. Toggle it from blue to grey. When it is blue, the file will be hidden; while when it is toggled on grey, the hidden file will show up on your Mac normally.

Mac Show Hidden Library Folder

There is also another more convenient way to show the hidden list in Hidata, as Hidata also has a shortcut in the menu bar:

How To Show Hidden Files

Click on the Hidata shortcut.
In the pull-down dialog, enter your passcode and click the right arrow button to unlock it.
Here shows the list of all the hidden files on your Mac.
Click on the blue circle icon next to the file name. Toggle it from blue to grey in order to make the secret file(s) appear.

Do the methods above help you successfully discover the secret files/folders on your Mac? Any feedback or better solution is welcome to comment. If you find the guide useful, please give us a thumb-up and share it with more people!

Show Hidden Library Folder On Mac

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