#Hidden files mac for free
#Hidden files mac how to
#Hidden files mac free
#Hidden files mac mac

You can also use the Go menu in the Finder to go directly to the Utilities folder.

Open Terminal from the Utilities folder in Applications or by searching for it using Spotlight.

If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can use the Terminal command line interface to view hidden files and folders.

#Hidden files mac how to

How to make macOS show hidden files using Terminal Check the box labeled Show Library Folder at the bottom of the window.Click on the View menu and choose Show View Options.If you want to keep ~/Library visible but don’t want it clogging up the sidebar in Finder windows, do this: That will create a shortcut to it that will persist. The quickest is to drag the Library folder to the Finder’s sidebar. It’s easy enough to run through the steps above again to make it visible when you need to, but if you want it permanently accessible, there are a couple of ways to do it. With both these methods, your Library folder will disappear again when you close the Finder window. In the window that opens, type “~/Library”.Click on the Go menu and choose Go to Folder.Click on it.Īlternatively, do this to view your Library folder: You should see that in the dropdown menu, Library appears below Home.Open a new Finder window and navigate to your user folder (Tip: if it’s not in the sidebar, go to the Finder menu, choose Preferences, click the sidebar and check the box next to your Home folder).There are a couple of methods for making your ~/Library folder visible. To re-hide, the files and folders, hold down Command-Shift.You should now see many files and folders whose name starts with “.” become visible. Click on Macintosh HD or whatever you’ve called your startup drive.

#Hidden files mac mac

Open a new Finder window and click on the name of your Mac under ‘Devices’ in the sidebar.If you still want to view hidden files on your Mac, you need to go to the Finder and do the following:

#Hidden files mac free

CleanMyMac X scans Mac, identifies all system junk, and allows quickly and easily free up gigabytes of disk space.

Usually, those files just sit there clogging up my hard drive.

I like the CleanMyMac X for allowing me to get rid of all the hidden files I no longer need.

#Hidden files mac for free

You can download CleanMyMac X for free here. That will make it easy to remove all the files associated with an application with one click. If your goal in viewing, for example, ~/Library is so you can manually delete application support files for a program you’ve uninstalled, consider using a dedicated uninstaller like CleanMyMac X. The data they contain could cause havoc if you delete or alter it and don’t know what you’re doing. If they were all visible, your Mac would look horribly cluttered.īefore you make your Mac show hidden files, it’s important to remember they’ve been hidden for a reason. In addition, there’s no practical reason for most users to see or access them. Mostly, though, it’s because they contain data critical to the smooth running of your Mac and that you shouldn’t interfere. There are several reasons files and folders are hidden. The files themselves contain data like access rights and privileges for files and folders, application support files, and preferences. You can’t use a “.” at the start of a regular file name otherwise, OS X will hide it. Even the convention of naming them starting with a “.” comes from Unix. The hidden files are a throwback to macOS’ Unix roots. This article will tell you how you can view hidden files on your Mac and make your Library folder visible. These Library folders are hidden because they hold things like preferences for apps that you don’t need to see. Many of these files are in your Mac’s main Library folder or in the ~/Library folder inside the User folder. Many of them are essential to keep your Mac at its best performance. These files and folders are all supposed to be there. Thousands of them in fact, in the form of hidden files and folders lurking on its hard drive or SSD. But to help you do it all by yourself, we’ve gathered our best ideas and solutions below. So here's a tip for you: Download CleanMyMac to quickly solve some of the issues mentioned in this article.