Library Folder Not Showing In Finder 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.

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. 2020-2-26  Documents folder not visible in Finder on macOS. Ask Question Asked 3 years, 7 months ago. Active 1 year, 6 months ago. Viewed 49k times 17. The Documents folder on my Mac (macOS Sierra 10.12 beta) is not visible under my user in Finder. I can see the folder is there through Terminal. But in Finder, I can't see it.

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.

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.

Library Folder Not Showing In Finder Mac
  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.

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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.

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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.

Library Folder Not Showing In Finder Machine

(Thanks to OS X Daily)