Unhide Library Folder On Mac

Problem to be Solved

May 01, 2019  In macOS, the library folder is used to store user account settings, preference files, app support files, caches, and other important data that allows your Mac to function as it should.

  • 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.
  • Sep 27, 2016 If you don’t want to open “Go To Folder” every time you want to access the Library, you can unhide the folder for good. To do this, open Finder, and head to your Home folder. You can do this by clicking the name of your username in the sidebar, or by pressing Command+Shift+H on your keyboard.

You’ve got a great backup of your OSX computer, and you need to get something back from the Library folder, say something in the Application Support subfolder. These instructions will show you how to do unhide the User Library folder on the external drive or even on a second Mac.

Credit goes to Steve Davidson for teaching me how to do this.

Let’s Start with a Remote Mac Because the Syntax is Simpler

On the remote Mac, enable Remote Login (https://www.podfeet.com/blog/how-to-set-up-a-mac-for-remote-login/) and use the ssh command to Secure Shell into the remote Mac. In this example, our local machien name is Podfeet-rMBP, and our remote Mac’s name is Core-i7-4.local.

Unhide Library Folder In Mac

I have the same user account on both but I used the allison@ the beginning to show you how to enter your user name if it’s different on the other Mac.

Note that the Library Folder is Not Visible

Here’s a screenshot of the remote Mac Core i7, and the Library folder is invisible.

Enter the chflags nohidden Command

User Library Folder is Now Visible on the Remote Mac

Next Let’s Repeat This On An External Volume

My backup drive has a nice long annoying name “Core i7 backup 2011 03 03”. As you can see I have a backup of my home (allison) directory but I can’t see the Library folder.

Repeat the chflags Command

In this case we have the same command but we have to navigate first to Volumes, then to the specific backup drive name (with those annoying spaces replaced with and space) and then to the user directory and then Library.

To be honest it might be easier to change the name of the volume not to have spaces than it is to type it this way!

Or you could use quotes like this:

Now Your Library is Visible on Your Backup Volume

How To Unhide Files In Windows 10

Important note – you only have to do this one time, every time you connect your external drive the Library will be visible.


Permanently Unhide Library 10 comments Create New Account
Click here to return to the 'Permanently Unhide Library' hint

Unhide Library Folder Mac High Sierra

The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.

A simple thing I did was to unhide the Library folder and then drag it into my Sidebar. Even if an update hides it again, it's just one click away.

Or make an alias of the '~/Library' folder called '~/Library .'

Mac restore iphoto library file

Unhide Library Folder On Macbook

I thought this was a big deal until I actually got Lion and found that option-clicking on the 'Go' Menu item it was there in the list. that's easy enough for me.

This should be the hint.

I simply can't imagine that a person needs to access that folder often enough to justify un-hiding it. You can easily access the Library when you need it by holding 'option' and choosing Library from the Finder's Go menu.

Unhide Library Folder Mac Mojave

As a software developer, I definitely need immediate access to this folder, preferable in the way I have always had access to it, by simply double-clicking the folder.

---
Mark
Economy-x-Talk
Have your own custom software created
http://economy-x-talk.com

How To Unhide Library Folder On Mac

This is interesting. I made my Library folder visible when I first installed Lion, and it has stayed that way through every update. I can't remember what method I used though.

Here's a launchd plist that will do the same thing, but without the need for AppleScript, login items, etc. Just drop it in /Library/LaunchDaemons and set the permissions properly.
<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC '-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN' 'http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd'>
<plist version='1.0'>
<dict>
<key>Label</key>
<string>local.library.nohidden</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/usr/bin/chflags</string>
<string>nohidden</string>
<string>/Users/*/Library</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
<key>EnableGlobbing</key>
<true/>
<key>StandardErrorPath</key>
<string>/dev/null</string>
</dict>
</plist>

Using the Option-Go menu is fine for the occasional use, but that doesn't work in File dialogs. VERY irritating that they reset this flag for updates or even feel the need to hide it in the first place.

User Folder Mac

All I do is run the command: $chflags nohidden ~/Library/ There is no need for //usr/bin/ (as mentioned in the previous hint) Then, browse to the folder in the Finder, drag it over into the sidebar, then do the command again. Only this time making it hidden: $chflags hidden ~/Library/ Then, it won't be visible in my ~ folder anymore, but it will still be perfectly accessible from the sidebar.