View Hidden Library Folder Mac Mojave

Dec 04, 2017  Or you might be customising your Mac, which will need access to certain library folders. Here is how to get there and not cause your Mac to collapse in a cloud of dust in the process. What Is The Library Folder On MacOS? The library folder is the area of. Feb 10, 2019  steps for Mojave: 1- add your username to the favorite from finder finder preferences sidebar add your home folder to the sidebar. 2- click on the home folder on the sidebar go to view menu click show view option or command+J click on show library folder. Oct 27, 2017  In this Apple Mac Tutorial, we take a look at how to show hidden files on a Mac. In Sierra and later there's a new super simple shortcut key (SHIFT+CMD+.) that you can use. Or in older versions.

Mar 19, 2020  Before this time we have seen how to hide/ Show hidden folders sequentially process. But from your Mac, Only show hidden folders on Mac running on macOS Mojave and earlier version. Else show hidden folder on Mavericks and Yosemite process is quite different; in those cases process has been same like. Step 1: On the Finder menu, click on Go Go to Folder. Step 2: Type in the saving path that you put the secret files/folders in, as well as the file name. Step 3: Open Finder window, click on a different folder first. Step 4: Click on the folder you saved the secret files, and then. May 01, 2019 Locating your Library Folder Open a Finder window. Select Go from the menu bar at the top of the screen. Hold down the Option key to reveal the Library folder option in the dropdown menu.

FonePaw - Solution - Mac - Show Hidden Files/Folders

There can be hundreds of reasons why we need to hide certain files on the Mac computer, either for privacy or for security. Your Mac also has its secret files to hide, which are usually the system data like the application support files, other access and preferences information, for example, the ~/Library folder.

View Hidden Library Folder Mac Mojave 2017

Those files or folders are hidden by default for Mac's smooth running, but in case you need to view them for examining or repairing, here we will offer you several methods to show the hidden files and folders on Mac, which can work on macOS Mojave, macOS High Sierra, Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, and more.

Just a head-up: you should make sure that you know what you are doing when making changes to those system hidden files, or else changing important system files could cause trouble to your Mac.

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View Hidden Library Folder Mac Mojave

Method 1: See Hidden Files and Folders on Mac with Shortcut

One of the simplest ways to view the hidden files/folders on Mac is using the keyboard shortcut to reveal the hidden files. But this method requires you remember the saving path of them.

Access hidden ~/Library folder with shortcut

Step 1: Open Finder.

Step 2: Expand the Go menu.

Step 3: Press Option and the Library folder will be revealed.

See other hidden files/folders with shortcut

Step 1: On the Finder menu, click on Go > Go to Folder….

Step 2: Type in the saving path that you put the secret files/folders in, as well as the file name, for example, '~/Desktop/SecretFiles'. And then hit the Go button or press Enter key.

Step 3: Open Finder window, click on a different folder first.

Step 4: Click on the folder you saved the secret files, and then press Command + Shift + Period ('.') key. Then the hidden files will appear. (Note: most of the default hidden files are named starting with a '.'.)


Method 2: Show Hidden Files in Finder with Terminal

If you don't remember, or don't know the exact path where the secret files are, you can access them through Terminal:

Step 1: Launch Terminal by searching it in Spotlight, or from Finder > Utilities.

Step 2: Type in: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE. Click Enter. Then type: killall Finder. Click Enter.

Step 3: Right-click on the Finder icon in the Dock, and choose 'Hide'.

Step 4: Click on Finder icon again to launch it. All the hidden files/folders, no matter the system ones or those you hid them deliberately, are supposed to show up now. Locate the one you are looking for.

TIP: After checking the secret files, if you want to hide them back again. In the Terminal window, execute these two commands and then the secret files/folders will vanish again as you wish.

  • defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

  • killall Finder


Method 3: Unhide Hidden Files with Terminal

If you once hid certain files in Terminal with the command containing 'hidden', to unhide them is quite simple:

Step 1: Open Terminal window and type in 'chflags nohidden '. Don't forget a space after the last word.

Step 2: Drag and drop the hidden files/folders to the Terminal window.

Step 3: Press Enter key to run the command. And then you'll find the previously hidden data is visible now.

Another way is to go back to the earlier hidden command and revise it:

Step 1: In the Terminal window, press the up arrow key to scan all the previous commands.

Step 2: Locate the earlier hidden command. Press the left arrow key to move to the word 'hidden' and change it to 'nohidden '. Again, don't forget the last space.

Step 3: Hit Enter key to run it.


Method 4: Reveal Hidden Files/Folders Using Hidata (If you hid them on Hidata before)

If you used Hidata to hide secret files before, this smart Mac data management tool can also help you unhide them back easily:

Step 1: Click on Hidata icon to launch it.

Step 2: Enter the password and press Enter key to unlock.

Step 3: All the hidden folders will show up in the left side-bar. Locate the secret file(s) you want to unhide.

Step 4: Click on the blue circle icon at the far-right side of the file name. Toggle it from blue to grey. When it is blue, the file will be hidden; while when it is toggled on grey, the hidden file will show up on your Mac normally.

There is also another more convenient way to show the hidden list in Hidata, as Hidata also has a shortcut in the menu bar:

  • Click on the Hidata shortcut.

  • In the pull-down dialog, enter your passcode and click the right arrow button to unlock it.

  • Here shows the list of all the hidden files on your Mac.

  • Click on the blue circle icon next to the file name. Toggle it from blue to grey in order to make the secret file(s) appear.

Do the methods above help you successfully discover the secret files/folders on your Mac? Any feedback or better solution is welcome to comment. If you find the guide useful, please give us a thumb-up and share it with more people!

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When you look at your desktop, or inside any folder for that matter, on your Mac you’ll see a number (one that will vary depending on how well-organized you are) of file and folder icons. What all of us have in common, however, is a huge range of system files that are hidden just out of view.

Easy way to show hidden files

Try Setapp to make all your files visible on a Mac. With the tools we offer, nothing gets lost in the shuffle.

Those of us who have lived online for long enough will remember the Delete System32 hoax, with which trolls encouraged naive PC users to delete their Windows 2000 system directory. It’s not a shock that, since those days, developers have taken more care to hide away files that are essential to their operating systems.

There are, however, times when you need to access those files. Most of them are hidden away in the ~/Library folder, but the truth is that the average Mac holds a treasure trove of files and folders that you either no longer need or may want to access for troubleshooting purposes.

Is it normal that 'System' takes up 90GB+ of storage? What does it contain? How to get your System folder under control?

Three Ways to See Hidden Files on Mac

There’s good news for anyone out there who’s looking to access hidden files on their Mac: you can do exactly that, in a number of different ways, by arming yourself with a little bit of knowledge. There are a couple of Finder augmentation and replacement apps, for example, that make the process as easy as clicking a single button.

Before kicking off, however, it’s important to highlight that you should play it safe when digging through hidden files on your laptop or desktop. Unless you know exactly what you’re looking for you can do some serious damage to your operating system, so you’ll want to proceed with caution. After all, these files are hidden for a reason!

See hidden files on Mac via Finder

As mentioned above, it doesn’t take much to make the hidden files on your Mac visible. In fact, you can check out all of the hidden files on your Mac by following just three easy steps:

  1. In Finder, open up your Macintosh HD folder
  2. Press Command+Shift+Dot
  3. Your hidden files will become visible. Repeat step 2 to hide them again!

This process will also work elsewhere, including your Documents or Applications folders. However, if you know what you’re looking for is in your ~/Library folder and would rather jump straight into that then you can take the following steps instead:

  1. In Finder, hold down Alt and click Go at the top of your screen
  2. Click on Library to open up the, normally hidden, folder

Be prepared for one very cluttered looking Desktop if you decide to uncover all the hidden files there. If you’re anything like the average Mac user, most of what you’ll find will be made up of system files and autosaved Microsoft Word documents!

Some users have reported success finding documents that they thought were lost forever after their Mac crashed without saving, which is always a useful tip to have in the back pocket.

Unhide files on Mac with Terminal commands

Terminal, a Mac command-line interface, is included in macOS by default and allows you to use command prompts to control your Mac instead of following a potentially complex series of instructions to do the same thing in Finder.

If you’re already familiar with using Terminal, then you might prefer to run the following script to reveal your hidden files:

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Enter the following: defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles true [Press Return] killall Finder
  3. To hide files again, change the “true” in the step above to “false”

It doesn’t matter too much whether you use Terminal or Finder to make the hidden files on your Mac visible, though you might prefer the latter if you’ve never run scripts on Terminal before, as both routes accomplish the same thing.

One reason you might opt to use Terminal is that it allows you to hide any file or folder on your Mac, which is a great way to avoid that sense of residual curiosity felt by others should they come across a password protected .rar on your desktop! To hide files, just:

  1. Open Terminal
  2. Enter the following: chflags hidden [Press Space]
  3. Drag files or folders to be hidden from Finder into the Terminal window, which will display their paths in Terminal
  4. Press Return to hide

To make your files visible again, just repeat the above steps using “chflags nohidden” in place of “chflags hidden.” Of course, the fact that anyone else who knows this trick can also use it to unhide your files means that this isn’t an adequate substitute for other security measures.

Mac photos updated library and now my pictures are gone. Apr 01, 2018  4. I doubled clicked on the 'Photos Library' and Photos app opened up and a small window pop up asking me if i wanted to switch from ' a day at the museum' to 'photos library'. I clicked yes, although I was terrified of loosing the remaining photos, and after it made the switch and Photos app re open all of my pictures appeared.

Use file managers to access hidden files

How to find the path of a file in Mac? Apps like DCommander and Forklift, both of which perform like native macOS apps and function as extensions of Finder, represent great choices if you’re at all uncomfortable using Terminal or digging around in your ~/Library folder.

Because these apps allow you to make hidden files and folders visible (or invisible) using shortcuts or clicking buttons within the apps, they make the whole process incredibly simple. In Forklift, for example, you can show hidden files by:

  1. Clicking View
  2. Selecting View Options towards the bottom of the dropdown menu
  3. Checking the box next to Show Hidden Files

There’s also a button in the toolbar to show and hide hidden files. DCommander has a similar function available, with a Show System Files command, but you need to add it manually to the app’s toolbar:

As you might guess from those subtle differences in terminology, we would suggest that Forklift is more suitable for someone looking for something that really looks and acts like Finder. DCommander, with a larger range of features and toolbar buttons enabled by default, is still intuitive but feels a little more dense.

View Hidden Library Folder Mac Mojave County

How to show library folder on mac mojave

Whichever you settle on remember that just because these apps make accessing hidden files easy it doesn’t mean that you can’t do some real damage if you start messing around with the wrong thing!

Try all these apps for free

Get a huge set of top apps for keeping your Mac in shape. Best utilities in one pack, give it a go!

View Hidden Library Folder Mac Mojave Mac

Leave hidden files to automatic cleanup

For some Mac users, the question of how to see hidden files is nothing more than succumbing to curiosity. For others, it’s a necessity for troubleshooting a piece of software or device that’s not performing as it should.

Somewhere in between are those in the pursuit of a few spare gigabytes as their hard drive rapidly fills up. If you’re one of those people looking to clean up useless hidden data then an app like CleanMyMac X might be exactly what you need:

  1. Open up the app and select Smart Scan
  2. Hit Scan
  3. Select Review Details underneath Cleanup to see how much System Junk you can safely delete
  4. Hit Run to remove those unneeded files

An app like CleanMyMac X will free up space just as effectively, probably more so, than you’ll be able to by randomly deleting hidden files and hoping for the best. If you do end up going this route then don’t consider learning more about hidden content a waste of time — at least you know what to watch out for if someone tries to troll you into deleting vital system files!

Best of all, DCommander, Forklift, and CleanMyMac X apps mentioned above are all available for a free trial through Setapp, a collection of more than 150 macOS apps from top developers all over the world.