Users Library Mac

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 support data and such when troubleshooting. The folder is hidden by default in macOS Sierra, but it only take a few moments to access it, or make it so that the folder is always visible.

User Library Manager

Before we begin, we want to say that it’s usually a good idea to leave things in the users ~/Library folder alone, unless directed to by support personnel. The folder contains caches, application support data, and preference files, and if you screw around in there too much, you could really screw things up. We DO NOT recommend it. Now that our butts are covered, here’s how to find and display your User Library folder.

  • Dec 11, 2012 OS X Mountain Lion and Lion have got the Library folder hidden. To show it, hold Option key and select Go Library, or open Terminal and type: chflags nohidden /Library. To go to the folder you've mentioned, select Go Go to Folder and type /Library/Application Support/Microsoft/User Templates/My Templates.
  • Dec 20, 2018 Your user library instantly populates in your user folder; Unhide Folders to See User Library and a Heck of A Lot More! Another command we can leverage is the Unhide Keystroke of Command+Shift+Period. This action makes any hidden files or folders visible in your Finder, including the user library and all other hidden files.

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. Jul 22, 2011 Fortunately, this is easy to reverse and if you wish you can switch the behavior and instead show Library all the time with a quick terminal command. This tutorial will detail four different ways to access the User Library folder in Mac OS X from Mt Lion and beyond. Jan 04, 2020  How to Move Your iTunes Library. (and Mac users) will have to find an alternative method to copy files between two different machines. You can copy them from the source PC to.

Opening the User Library Folder in macOS Sierra

If you just need to access the user ~/Library folder on occasion, you can get into it by using the Finder “Go” menu.

  1. From the Finder in macOS, (Click anywhere on the Desktop where there isn’t already an app window, and you should see “Finder” appear in the upper left hand corner of your display, up near the Apple icon), click the “Go” menu item, and then hold down the SHIFT key on your Mac’s keyboard.
  2. Click on “Library” in the drop-down list. (If you release the SHIFT key, the “Library” option will disappear from the menu. Now you see it, now you don’t.)

If you’re not much of a mouser, you can just hit the key combo of Command + Shift + L, and a Finder window will appear showing the ~/Library directory of the active user account.

Always Show the User Library Folder in macOS Sierra

If you are an advanced user, you might want to always display the user ~/Library folder in your user Home directory. It just takes a few clicks to enable this option.

  1. In Finder, go to the Users’ home folder
  2. Click the “View” menu and then click “View Options”
  3. Click the “Show Library Folder” option in the Settings options for the User home folder, as shown below.

Following the above steps will change the settings for only the current user. Any other users will also have to follow the above steps while logged into the machine.

These steps also work with Mac OS X El Capitan and Yosemite. In earlier versions of OS X, a command line entry was required to perform the same magic.

Access Users Library Mac Finder

(Thanks to OS X Daily)

Problem to be Solved

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.

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.

User Library Mac

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!

Jan 12, 2020  How to Make the Library Visible Permanently. Launch Terminal, located in /Applications/Utilities. Enter the following command at the Terminal prompt: Press Return. Once the command executes, you can quit Terminal. The Library folder will now be visible in the Finder. Should you ever wish to set. But rest assured, regardless of your version of OS X, your personal Library folder is right where it’s always been, at the root level of your Home folder. It’s just that, starting in Lion, and continuing in Mountain Lion, Mavericks, and Yosemite, Apple has made the folder invisible. May 30, 2019  How to find the Library folder on Mac (macOS Sierra, Mojave or Catalina) Get the Library folder – Way 1. Open Finder window. Click Go in a Menu Bar → select Go to Folder. Or use the Cmd+Shift+G key shortcut. Mac find location of library.

Or you could use quotes like this:

Now Your Library is Visible on Your Backup Volume

Show Library Folder Mac

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