Mac Show Library Folder In Finder
May 30, 2019 Despite the fact that Apple keeps the Mac Library folder hidden from users, it’s good to learn how to show the Library folder on Mac. You may need to access the Library folder when you need to clear cache, remove the app’s leftovers, edit preference files manually, etc. Jan 12, 2020 You can access the hidden Library folder without using Terminal, which has the side effect of revealing every hidden file on your Mac. This method will only make the Library folder visible, and only for as long as you keep the Finder window for the Library folder open.
By default, the User Library folder is hidden in Mac OS 10.7 and above. We'll cover a few different methods to easily access this hidden folder. The User Library is home to many 'under the hood' files and folders that correspond to the various Apps and system processes in your computer. To unhide your Library folder in macOS Sierra, launch Finder and navigate to your user Home folder (you can jump directly to your user folder by select Go Home from the Finder’s menu bar. Oct 17, 2018 How to View Folder Sizes on Your Mac Using Finder. Surprised that nobody has mentioned the fact that it is IMPOSSIBLE to show folder size in list view now on Windows 10.
The user library folder in Mac OS is usually hidden. If you are on mac OS Sierra, Mac OS High Sierra and Mac OS Mojave, you will not be able to see the library. But when you come across the need to access this folder, you will start wondering how to find library on Mac. We will let you know about the steps that you have to follow in order to locate the Library folder on Mac.
Now you must be wondering why the ~/Library folder in Mac is hidden. This folder contains a lot of important files and data about the Mac user accounts. The data helps the proper functionality of the apps that you have installed on the Mac.
Therefore, it is recommended for you to keep the ~/Library folder untouched. If you are an ordinary Mac user, there’s no valid reason for you to gain access to the content that is available in this folder. Therefore, you are encouraged to keep it untouched at all times.
Read more:How to Uninstall Apps on Mac?
But when you come across the need to access the ~/Library folder for any reason, you will need to figure out how to find hidden library folder on Mac. Here are the steps that you will have to follow in order to get the job done.
Accessing the Library folder in macOS Sierra and macOS Mojave
If you don’t want your Mac to always show the Library folder, but you only need to access it for one time, you can think about accessing it through Go Menu. If you can’t find Library on Mac, you need to follow the below mentioned steps to get the job done.
- From the macOS Finder, visit “Go” menu.
- Now you need to select “Library” from the list.
- It is also possible for you to enter Command + Shift + G from the macOS Finder, so that you will be able to jump to the ~/Library folder immediately.
In case if you are in an older version of Mac OS, you need to hold down the Option Key, instead of Shift Key.
How to show the ~/Library file in macOS Sierra and macOS Mojave
When you come across the need to access the ~/Library file on a regular basis, you will need to make it show at all times. Changing some of the settings in your Mac will assist you to get the job done. Here are the steps that you have to follow for that.
Show Library Folder Mac
- First of all, you should visit macOS “Finder”.
- Then you must access user’s “Home” folder.
- From there, you need to pull down “View” menu and then select “Show View Options”.
- You should now select Show Library Folder in the settings option.
This will help you to display the ~/Library folder at all times. However, you must keep in mind that the settings change you do is personal to the user accounts. If you log in to your Mac from another user account, it will not be possible for you to see this change.
You will also be able to use the command line in order to reveal the ~/Library directory. You can go to the terminal and enter the following:
Now you will be able to see the Library folder on your Mac.
All files and folders that you encounter when browsing the Finder in OS X should be displayed in regular font and icon color; however, there may be times when this is not the case, and one or more folders may appear grayed out and otherwise faded. When this happens, you will not be able to open the folder, and unlike other folders that may show a small entry triangle next to them in list view, these will not have options for viewing what is inside.
This display usually means the folder is not accessible at a low level, and this in turn is likely from either a fault in the filesystem entry for the file, or damage to your Mac’s hard drive formatting. This damage may happen from an interruption in a file or folder copying process, such as might happen from a power failure, crash, hard-reset, forced-cancel, or sudden disk unmount. Transfer photos library from one mac to another. This can also happen if you are using an unsupported storage setup, such as a software RAID array (especially those from third-parties), in which case you might see many (if not all) of your folders duplicated (see below).
Otherwise accessible folders may appear grayed and be inaccessible (click image for larger view).
Regardless of the reason, the result is you cannot open the folder, and other programs may not be able to open it either.
Overcoming the problem
This problem should be distinguished from the viewing of hidden folders in the Finder. OS X contains a number of hidden folders to keep your system looking clean, but there are hidden settings that can be activated to show these folders. When done, the folders will appear grayed; however, unlike this problem, they will be accessible. Nevertheless, for starters, open the Terminal utility (in Applications > Utilities) and run the following command to disable this hidden folder view (if enabled):
One potential cause for this issue is if the interruption caused the system to improperly set the folder’s creation or modification dates. Since the fix for this is relatively easy, this should be the first step you try for recovering the lost folder:
- Open the Terminal utility (in Applications > Utilities)
- Type the following command, followed by a single space (this space is important). The first eight digits here represent the date and time, in this case being January 1, 2015, with the trailing zeros being hours, minutes, and seconds, indicating midnight. This is a relevant date and time for a folder to be created:
- Copy and paste, or drag and drop, the grayed-out folder from the Finder to the Terminal window, so its full path is entered after the previously typed command (again with a space between the last number and the pasted file path). If you cannot select the file, then drag its parent folder to the Terminal window, followed by deleting the trailing space and then appending a slash followed by the folder name (i.e., “/foldername”) to the folder path.
- Press Enter to run the command, which will update the access and modification time stamps for the file.
Drive Repair Tools
If the above approach does not work, then your best bet to recover your drive is to reformat it and restore your Mac from a backup; however, if for some reason you need to preserve your drive (e.g., you do not have a backup), then alternative approaches include using drive utilities in an attempt to repair your drive. Apple’s Disk Utility can be used to run a general fix on your drive (when done in Recovery Mode); however, for directory corruption issues, Alsoft DiskWarrior and some other third-party tools may be useful. With these tools, you can attempt a directory rebuild, or filesystem repair routine, and see if these will fix any errors and make the folder and its contents available again.
Recovering data from the folder
Find Folders On Mac
Hopefully you have a backup of your files so you can safely format your drive if needed; however, if not then before formatting to clear the problem, you might be able to recover the data stored in the problematic folder by using a sequence of Terminal commands:
- In the Finder, create a folder named “Temp” on your Desktop
- Select the problematic grayed-out folder, and press Command-C to copy its path.
- Open the Terminal utility
- Type “mv -v” followed by a single space, and then press Command-V to paste the copied folder path.
- Press Delete once and then type “/* ” with a single space following the asterisk.
- Locate the new Temp folder on your Desktop, and then similarly select it and press Command-C to copy its path.
- Paste the path in the Terminal, so the full command will look similar to the following:
With this command assembled, pressing Enter should move the folder’s contents to the new Temp directory. You should see each file listed as it is moved, and when done the Terminal will drop you back to the command prompt. You can now back up the files, and then consider formatting your drive and restoring your files.
Managing Software RAID arrays
Mac Show Library Folder In Finder Mac
If this problem is happening for all folders on a software RAID array setup and resulting in all folders showing up in grayed-out duplicate, then the problem is very likely with your RAID configuration, and you will need to fix it either using the configuration utilities for your array, or by backing up your data, destroying the array, and rebuilding it. If the problem continues, then your RAID array might have a faulty drive, in which case you might look into replacing it, or optionally moving to another RAID setup that might be more compatible with your drives and your Mac.