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.
Sep 27, 2016 As you can see, the icon for the Library folder is faded, which means the folder itself is still hidden. Unhide the Library Folder Permanently. 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. Dec 12, 2016 And remember, the system level /Library folder is different from the user level /Library. How to Access User Library in MacOS Mojave, macOS Catalina, and MacOS Sierra. If you don’t need to constantly show the /Library folder on the Mac, you can just access it when needed by using the “Go” menu.
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:
- 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.
- Dec 27, 2019 Unhide User Library folder. This method is for Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, and Sierra. Older versions of macOS require a Terminal command to be run in order to permanently unhide the user Library folder.
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.
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.
How To Unhide Files In Download Folder
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:
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.
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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FonePaw - Solution - Mac - Hide & Unhide Hidden Files on Mac
There are plenty of ways to hide and show hidden files on macOS. For instance, you can hide files on Mac with Terminal by using various command lines, or move the files to the hidden Library folder or another user account. But none of these ways can be more effective and simple than the method that is being introduced here in this article.
FonePaw Hidata, an app designed for hiding documents, photos, videos, audio on macOS, is the best way to quickly hide and unhide Mac files.
It ensures a higher level of security for your hidden files - by transforming the hidden files to formats that are unreadable by macOS, Hidata can make your files completely invisible from your Mac without leaving a trace.
Mar 18, 2020 Get help with the Photos app on your Mac - If you're having other issues with Photos Make sure that you backed up your main Photos library. Quit Photos if it's open. Press and hold the Option and Command keys as you open Photos again. The Repair Library dialog appears. See library on mac. Apr 21, 2015 I successfully migrated from iPhoto library to this new Photos Library in April.17th, and everything seems okay except for some minor bugs. But from yesterday on, I started Photos and got this message 'Can't open Photos Library, try another.' If I try reading iPhoto or Aperture Library. Mar 18, 2020 If your Photos library won't open, or if Photos behaves unexpectedly, the Photos library repair tool might resolve the issues. Follow these steps to use the Photos library repair tool: Hold down the Option and Command keys while you open Photos on your Mac. In the dialog that appears, click Repair to start the repair process. Manually copy your library to an external storage device: Drag the Photos library (by default in the Pictures folder on your Mac) to your storage device to create a copy. If you have more than one photo library, be sure to back them all up.
Meanwhile, this file hider makes it easy for you to quickly access or show the hidden files on Mac. With the password you have set, you can view the hidden files on the app or unhide the hidden files in just one click.
Let's go through the steps to hide and unhide files on macOS Majove, High Sierra, Sierra with Hidata.
Recommendation:
Part 1: Hide Files on macOS Majove, High Sierra, Sierra
Step 1: Install Hidata
Get Hidata installed on your macOS. The file hider works with macOS 10.14 Mojave, macOS 10.13 High Sierra, OS X 10.12 Sierra, and OS X 10.11 El Capitan.
Download
To avoid inquiry from prying eyes, it is a good idea to not put Hidata on the desktop and Dock and to exclude the app from Spotlight Search (Go to System Preference > Spotlight > Privacy and drag the Hidata into it or add a folder that contains Hidata.)
Step 2: Set up Hidata
Open Hidata. For the first time it opens, you need to enter a new password twice and a password hint.
The password is used to access hidden files in the application, so it is very important for you to remember the password.
Step 3: Hide Files on macOS
After setting up Hidata, you will come to the homepage, where there are 3 folders to classify the hidden files: Media, Documents and Others. If you like, you can right click on the empty space and select Add Folder to create your own secret folder.
Hiding files is very simple on Hidata. Mac photo library management.
- Select a folder.
- Click + icon or Add button to add a file or folder to Hidata.
- Or drag and drop the file or folder into the dashed line blank.
Once the file or folder is added, it will show up with a blue button next to it, which indicates that the file is successfully hidden from macOS.
After you have all the private files and folders hidden, close Hidata. Then no one can see or find the hidden files on your Mac.
If you would like to see or show the hidden files, check out Part 2.
Part 2: Show Hidden Files on macOS Majove, High Sierra, Sierra
1. View Hidden Files on macOS
When you feel like opening or editing your hidden files, run Hidata. There are 2 ways to access your hidden files: one is through the app, and the other is through its shortcut in the Menu Bar on the top of your Mac screen.
Entering your password in either the app or the Menu Bar shortcut gets you to the hidden files.
If there are many hidden files, you can locate the one you need quickly by sorting the files by name, path, date added or searching the file in the search bar.
2. Unhide Hidden Files on macOS
When you change your mind and want to show the hidden files for editing, you can do it easily.
In the menu bar shortcut, find the files you want to unhide, turn its blue button to grey. The hidden file will be put back to where it was. Clicking the magnifier icon will take you to the location of the file.
In the app, toggle off the button beside the hidden file to unhide it. To unhide multiple hidden files at once, select all files, click the Hide button and select Unhide Selected Items.
Of course, after you are done with editing the files, you can hide the files again by toggling on the buttons.
As you can see, Hidata works much like a secret vault to store all the files and folders you want to hide. It is much safer than other methods because it actually makes your files disappear from macOS and no one can find the hidden files without your password.
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Safely hide audios, videos, images, documents and more on your iMac or Macbook.
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