User Level Library Folder Mac

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Learn how to access the hidden Library folder in your Home folder on your Mac so you can tweak app settings and access app files.

Jan 08, 2015  Mac OS X contains two Library folders:. A user level Library for each user at /Users/yourusername/Library or /Library. A top level Library folder at /Library. The user level Library contains items like settings for Mail, Safari, and many third party apps; calendars, address book, emails, etc. A significant amount of unique, user data is stored in that folder. Can't see user library files in macOS X 10.7 and later - Method 2 Hold down the Alt (Option) key when using the Go menu. The user Library folder is listed below the current user's home directory. Note: After you open the Library folder, you can drag the Library icon from the top of that window to.

Inside the home folder on your Mac is a Library folder that stores app-specific files and settings, personal settings, and some data. The files and settings in the Library folder should be left alone for the most part. But, you may want to tweak the settings for an app, which may require accessing the Library folder. Or, maybe an app backs up data to the Library folder and you want to copy that to an external drive.

As of Mac OS X Lion (10.7), the Library folder in your home folder is hidden by default. That doesn’t mean you can’t get to it. It’s hidden so you don’t accidentally delete settings and data, damaging apps in the process. So, if you decide you want to access the Library folder, be very careful.

Today we’re going to cover different ways of accessing the hidden Library folder in your home folder and how to make it permanently available in Finder.

What is the Path to the Library Folder?

The Library in your home folder is written as ~/Library. The tilde (~) character is a shortcut for your home directory. For example, on my Mac, that would expand to /Users/lorikaufman/Library.

Access the Library Folder Using the Go to Folder Option

If you want to access the Library folder only occasionally, you can use the Go to Folder option in Finder.

Open Finder or just click on the desktop. Head to Go > Go to Folder, or hit Cmd + Shift + G.

Type:~/Library in the Go to the folder box on the dialog box and click Go or press Enter.

If you have one or more Finder windows open, the Library folder opens in the currently active window. If no Finder windows are open, a new one opens to the Library folder.

Access the Library Folder Using the Terminal

If you prefer using the command line, you can access the Library folder using the Terminal.

Go to Utilities > Terminal in the Applications folder. To access the Library folder directly in the Terminal, type:cd ~/Library at the prompt to switch to the Library folder.

You can type:ls at the prompt to get a detailed folder listing. You can work with the files in the Library folder directly on the command line. Just be careful.

You can also use the Terminal to open the Library folder in a Finder window. Type:open ~/Library at the prompt and hit Enter.

Access the Hidden Library Menu Option in Finder

The Library folder is available on the Go menu in Finder, but it doesn’t show on the menu by default.

To temporarily show the Library option on the Go menu, open the menu and press the Option key. The Library folder shows up between Home and Computer on the Go menu. Keep the Option key pressed while you move your mouse down the menu and select Library.

If you’re using a Windows keyboard with your Mac, press the Alt key.

Show the Library Folder Permanently in Finder

If you access the Library folder often, you can permanently show the Library option on the Go menu and the Library folder in your Home folder.

Open Finder and head to your Home folder using the left pane or by pressing Cmd + Shift + H. Then, go to View > Show View Options, or hit Cmd + J.

A dialog box displays with options you can set for your Home folder. Check the Show Library Folder box at the bottom of the dialog box. The Library folder now shows up in your Home folder in Finder windows and the Library option becomes permanently available on the Go menu.

When you permanently show the Library folder in Finder, you can hit Cmd + Shift + L to open it in a Finder window, in addition to selecting the Library option on the Go menu.

Happy Tweaking, But Be Careful

The Library folder is hidden by default for a good reason. So, before tweaking settings and changing files in the Library folder, make sure you know what you’re doing.

Look at the folder structure of a typical OS X installation. Open a Finder window and click the icon for your hard drive (which is typically called Macintosh HD) in the Sidebar. You should see at least four folders: Applications, Library, System, and Users. Within the Users folder, each user has his own set of folders containing documents, preferences, and other information that belongs to that user and account.

From the top: The Computer folder

The Computer folder shows all the storage devices that are currently connected to your Mac. The following steps show how you can start at the Computer folder and drill down through the folder structure:

1. To find the Computer folder, choose Go→Computer or press Shift+Command+C.

   The Computer folder in this example is called Bob L’s MacBook Pro, and it contains a hard-drive icon (Mavericks HD) and a Network icon, with which you can access servers or other computers on your local network.

2. Double-click the icon that holds your OS X stuff.

   Technically, this drive is called your boot drive. If you haven’t changed it, it’s probably called Macintosh HD.

3. Check out the folders you find there.

   You should see at least four folders (unless you’ve added some; if you installed the Xcode programming tools, for example, you have more).

The Applications folder

You can access the Applications folder, located at the root level of your boot drive, by clicking the Applications icon in the Sidebar, by choosing it in the Go menu, or by pressing Shift+Command+A. In this folder, you find applications and utilities that Apple includes with OS X.

Fonts (and more) in the public Library folder

The Library folder, at the root level of your OS X hard drive, is like a public library; it stores items available to everyone who logs into any account on this Mac.

Leave the /System/Library folder alone.Don’t move, remove, or rename it, or do anything within it. It’s the nerve center of your Mac. In other words, you should never have to touch this third Library folder.

By and large, the public Library subfolder that gets the most use is the Fonts folder, which houses many of the fonts installed on the Mac

Finally, the Library in the Users folder is where OS X stores configuration and preferences files shared by all users.

If your Mac is set up for multiple users, only users with administrator (admin) privileges can put stuff in the public (root-level) Library folder.

Accessing User Level Library Folder Mac Os

The System folder

The System folder contains the files that OS X needs to start up and keep working.

Leave the System folder alone.Don’t move, remove, or rename it or anything within it. It’s part of the nerve center of your Mac.

The usability of the Users folder

When you open the Users folder, you see a folder for each person who has a user account on the Mac, as well as the Shared folder.

The Shared folder that you see inside the Users folder allows everyone who uses the Mac to use any files stored there. If you want other people who use your Mac to have access to a file or folder, the Shared folder is the proper place to stash it.

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There’s no place like Home

From the Users folder, you can drill down into the Home folder to see what’s inside. When the user logs on to this Mac, his Home folder appears whenever he clicks the Home icon in the Sidebar, chooses Go→Home, or uses the keyboard shortcut Shift+Command+H.

Your Home folder is the most important folder for you as a user — or at least the one where you stash most of your files. It is strongly recommend that you store all the files you create in subfolders within your Home folder — preferably, in subfolders in your Home/Documents folder.

When you open your Home folder, you see a Finder window with a little house icon and your short username in the title bar. Seeing your short username in the title bar tells you that you’re in your Home folder. Every user has a Home folder named after his or her short username.

If your Mac has more than one user, you can see the other users’ Home folders in your Users folder, but OS X prevents you from opening files from or saving files to them.

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By default, your Home folder has several folders inside it created by OS X. The following four are the most important:

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• Desktop: If you put items (files, folders, applications, or aliases) on the Desktop, they’re actually stored in the Desktop folder.

• Documents: This is the place to put all the documents (letters, spreadsheets, recipes, and novels) that you create.

• Library: This Library folder is invisible in Mavericks. Rest assured that even though it’s hidden, it’s still one of the most important folders in your Home folder, containing Preferences, fonts available only to you, and other stuff that you expect to use.

• Public: Mac screensaver library. If others on your local area network use file sharing to connect with your Mac, they can’t see or use the files or folders in your Home folder, but they can share files you’ve stored in your Home folder’s Public folder.

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You can create more folders, if you like. In fact, every folder that you ever create (at least every one you create on this particular hard drive or volume) should be within your Home folder.