Mac How To View Library Folder

  1. Jun 10, 2015 How to View and Access the “Library” Folder in OS X By Shujaa Imran – Posted on Jun 10, 2015 Jun 9, 2015 in Mac On your Mac there is a Library folder present inside your Home Folder.
  2. 2020-3-23  OS X Mavericks is no different, but with the release of 10.9, all Mac users have an easy option to permanently show the User Library directory without having to result to the command line or other tricks that were previously required for access to the /Library folder. Show the Users Library Folder Permanently in OS X Mavericks.
  3. 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.
  4. In this Tip's N Tricks article, I want to point out a very important tip for getting around one of Apple's more peculiar security precautions in Mac OS X Lion and Mountain Lion. By default, the User Library folder is hidden in Mac OS 10.7 and above. We'll cover a few different methods to easily access this hidden folder.

How to View the /Library Folder in macOS Sierra Friday, July 21st, 2017 Author: Steve Sande. Of the many files and folders that make up macOS Sierra, there’s probably none so important to maintaining the “personality” of your Mac than the /Library folder. Ever since Lion (OS X 10.7), Apple has hidden your personal Library folder (/Library) by default. In Lion and Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8), you could make the folder visible, but it required some work. 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. In Finder, go to the Users’ home folder; Click the “View” menu and then click “View Options”.

Of the many files and folders that make up macOS Sierra, there’s probably none so important to maintaining the “personality” of your Mac than the ~/Library folder. Inside this folder are many subfolders that contain preference lists (“plists”), database files storing a variety of important information, and many other files that maintain the state of macOS and of the individual apps that run on a Mac. Thanks to the importance of this folder, it’s normally hidden from view. Today we’ll show you a few ways to view the ~/Library folder.

Warning: Don’t play with the ~/Library folder if you don’t need to!
Before we go any further, it’s time for a warning. Don’t throw away or change anything in the ~/Library folder unless you know what you’re doing. Deleting individual files or folders found within ~/Library can cause individual applications or the operating system to malfunction.

When would you want to poke around in ~/Library? Perhaps you’re gaining knowledge about macOS as a developer and want to know how the operating system stores information. Maybe you want to clean out the remnants of an app that you haven’t had on your Mac for several years. In any case, it’s best to remember what your parents told you when you were a kid and were in a place filled with expensive and breakable things — “Look, but don’t touch!”

Mac How To View Library Folder On Mac

Method One: Our Friend, the Option Key
The first and easiest way is to use a trick that gives many of the items in the macOS menu bar “super powers” — hold down the Option key while clicking on a menu. In this case, Option-clicking the Go menu in the Finder adds a new menu item — Library — that opens the ~/Library folder (see image below):

As you can see from the image above, holding down the Option key while clicking on the Go menu in the Finder adds one item as seen on the right — the Library folder. Select that menu item and a window similar to the one seen below opens on the Mac screen:

Jul 27, 2019  Step #2 – On iTunes, click on the “File” tab, then the “Library” option, and lastly click on the “Organize Library” option. Step #3 – The notification box which appears will allow you to select from two options. Click on the “Consolidate Files” option, and click “OK”. Click on “Go Home”. Select the Music folder, and click the iTunes folder. You will see two files named “iTunes Library.itl and iTunes Music Library.xml,” delete both files from your Mac. If you’ve completed the above steps, then open your Mac and create your own music library. Mar 28, 2009  When you consolidate, any songs in the iTunes Library that are not in the iTunes Music Folder are copied to the Music Folder and the Library is updated to point to those new files. Files already in the iTunes Music Folder have no changes made to them: Consolidating your library - Mac Consolidating your library - Windows Consolidating only. How to consolidate itunes library on mac to iphone.

Mac Folder Icon

Of these folders, Application Support is quite critical as it holds information for the current user’s apps. You’ll see many “.plist” files; these are XML (Extensible Markup Language) files that can be viewed on the Mac by simply highlighting the file and pressing the space bar to bring up a Quick Look. There are also a number of log files (text-based), temporary files, app plugins, and database files (.db or .sqlite) that are critical to storing settings and data in your favorite apps.

Method Two: Command-Shift-Period
The second method works from any open Finder window, and it uses the keyboard shortcut Command-Shift-. (that dot indicates the period key). This is a fun command, as it makes any hidden files or folders visible in the Finder. On the left in the image below you see my Home folder. Pressing Command-Shift-. makes hidden folders and files appear as shaded icons, shown on the right:

Pressing Command-Shift-Period makes hidden files and folders visible (right image)

See that Library folder in the center of the list on the right? Even though it is shaded, it can be double-clicked to open and view everything that’s in the folder. What’s more, some of the files that are not visible in the ~/Library folder when using Method One appear when using Method 2.

A required application library failed to load photoshop mac. This can happen whenever you install a new app, update an app, or upgrade your copy of OS X.

One other thing to note: Command-Shift-. makes these files and folders visible until the next time you use the command or reboot the Mac. If you’re poking around in the ~/Library folder on a Mac that other people may use without having their own logins, be sure to press Command-Shift-. one more time to set things back to hidden once you’re done. Note that Command-Shift-. also makes Library visible in the Finder Go menu without having to press the Option key…

Recents Folder Mac Delete

Just remember, anything you change or delete in the ~/Library folder can affect how your Mac or individual applications work, so use these methods to just view hidden files or folders. Don’t delete the files or folders in ~/Library unless you know what you’re doing.