- Unhide Library Folder Mac Sierra
- Where Is My Library Folder
- How To Unhide Files In Windows 10
- Open Hidden Library In Mac
Jan 03, 2018 Library folder is the folder on your Mac that is hidden by default. Since the folder is hidden by default, you will need to go into the settings panel to enable the folder and also make it visible in the folders list. Here are two of the ways to get access to the hidden Library folder on your Mac.
Sometimes there is a need to hide files on a Mac from other people's eyes. I'll share some effective ways to hide and unhide files and folders on your Mac with you today. First of all, we will take a look at some built-in Mac functions and after that, I will guide you through the process of how you can hide files and folder in one click.
For those who in hurry download Hider 2 app (it's free for download) the app will help you to hide and unhide files and folders on your Mac easily.
All other, let’s start!
For those who in hurry download Hider 2 app (it's free for download) the app will help you to hide and unhide files and folders on your Mac easily.
All other, let’s start!
How to Hide Files on Mac using Terminal
Let's see what ways the Mac OS offers us. They are completely free and quite effective. We’ll use the standard Mac app called 'Terminal' that can be found on any Mac (just open Spotlight and type 'Terminal' then press Enter to open the Terminal).
Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to hide files and folders on your Mac manually using Terminal:
- Open the Terminal window. After it opens, type the command I noted below (a space between the words is obligatory).
chflags hidden
- Next, drag-and-drop a file or a folder from the Finder into the opened Terminal window.
Unhide Library Folder Mac Sierra
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. It seems like every day I search Google for the command to show hidden files on Mac OS X, not to mention Googling for the command to then hide those hidden files a few minutes later. Today I decided to make a short and easy to remember alias to speed up the process. Access Your Hidden Library Folder With These Five Easy Tricks Tuesday, March 21st, 2017 Author: Tom Nelson. The Mac OS is chock full of hidden areas where data, information, or features have been secreted away from Mac users. Dec 12, 2016 The User Library folder is hidden by default in MacOS Catalina, MacOS Mojave, macOS High Sierra, and macOS Sierra, but some advanced users may wish to show and access the /Library/ folder, which contains preference files, caches, and application support data. 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.
The file/folder path will appear in the Terminal. The command is run by pressing Enter. It will make the file/folder vanish. The Finder won’t show such files anymore. But don’t worry, as the command doesn’t delete them, but hides.
How to Find Hidden Files/Folders on Mac OS X
There wouldn’t be any problems if you need to have a quick access to the hidden files or folders. Open the Finder, Click the ‘Go’ menu, and then tap on the 'Go to folder'.
Insert the folder path which we hide before into the dialog box, then press Enter or click Go. ‘~’ means your user folder. For example, if you have a folder with the name ‘SomeSecret’ on the desktop, enter ~/Desktop/SomeSecret. If this folder is located in Documents, enter ~/Documents/SomeSecret.
Now you know how to access the hidden folders even if they don’t appear in save dialogs or the Finder. All the files that were stored in that folder will be hidden, so it’s no chance that someone would open them accidentally in that way. You’ll see them only by typing the direct path in the Finder.
Let’s Learn How to Views Hidden Files on Mac via the Finder
Yes, you read this right. The Finder can’t show us hidden folders but offers such an option for files. Still, it’s not a graphical option, so you’ll have to work with the Terminal and restart the Finder.
Open a Terminal window and type the commands noted below. Press Enter after each command.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder
The first one tells Finder to make your hidden files appear and the second command restarts it. Once you’ve done, hidden files will become visible in the Finder. If you wish to hide those files again, run the following commands:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder
They disable the option of showing all your files and restart the Finder.
How to Unhide a Folder or File on Mac OS X Manually
Unhiding folders and files on your Mac are as simple as it can be! Run the same command that you used for hiding them, but change ‘hidden’ to ‘nohidden’. Or copy this text into a Terminal window:
chflags nohidden
If you know the exact path of the hidden folder or file, type it. If you don’t, try to display them in Finder in the way I mentioned above and drag and drop them into the Terminal.
By the way, you can use the arrow buttons to manage these files. Press the ‘Up’ key while you are using the Terminal to move through the previous commands and find the one that made the folder or file you need hidden. Use the ‘Left’ arrow key to move to the ‘hidden’ part of that command and shift it to ‘nohidden’, then press Enter.
Don’t forget to push Enter then folder or file becomes unhidden to save the changes.
In general, hiding folders and files on your Mac may be useful, if you share your working machine with others.
How to Hide Files and Folders on your Mac using the Hider 2 App
Now you know how to hide your secrets with the Terminal. However, there is another easier way to hide files and folders on your Mac. The app I talk about is calledHider 2. It has an excellent and thoughtful interface, so you’ll understand how to use it in a couple of minutes. Let's see how this works:
- At first, download Hider 2 (it’s free for Download) and install it on your Mac
- Open the app, go through the initial setup, select a name and a password for your Vault. You’ll use them for opening your secret file vault (you can also specify a hint that you would help you to remind the password in case you forget it).
Then the Hider 2 interface will appear. You’ll have an opportunity of adding and deleting files and folders there, as well as hiding or making them visible again.
Now let’s try to hide a folder and all files in it. For instance, I’ve created a folder called ‘My Secret Files’. Now we can try to click the plus button at the bottom of Hider 2 window and select the files on your Mac that need to be added to your secret vault.
After that, press Open button and notice that they’ve become invisible. The slider from the right side changed from ‘visible’ to ‘invisible’ state in the Hider interface. The files themselves appear to be gone from the folder now (they are invisible). That’s it! We have hidden the files we needed.
There is a special button called ‘Lock Hider’ (at the top left corner of the window) that closes the app and doesn’t give access to it without the password. Hence, no one will be able to access your vault. As you see hiding files on Mac can be much easier to use the special app then built-in functions of the Terminal.
Conclusions: How to Hide or Unhide Files and Folders on Mac
Of course, you can always use the Terminal to hide and unhide files and folders on your Mac, but the process seems to be long and uncomfortable. Moreover, you don’t have a list of all the hidden files, plus they aren’t located in one place.
Hider 2, on the contrary, stores all your files in one place. You can see a list of all your safely hidden files anytime you need. You can hide or unhide any folder or file in just one click. Hider offers an opportunity for storing your secret notes in one place as well. It’s very convenient.
The main disadvantage of Hider 2 is the fact that a paid version costs about $20. Still, it’s a one-time fee. I think it's worth it.
Where Is My Library Folder
Thank you for reading this article!
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.
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:
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.
How To Unhide Files In Windows 10
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.
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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