User Library Missing Mac

The Library Menu item is hidden by default on Macs, to prevent the possibility of inexperienced users deleting important files in the Library Folder. In this article, you will find different methods to reveal the hidden Library Menu and access the Library Folder on your Mac.

Access Your Hidden Library Folder With These Five Easy Tricks Tuesday, March 21st, 2017 Author: Tom Nelson. The Mac OS is chock full of hidden areas where data, information, or features have been secreted away from Mac users. Dec 30, 2016  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. Jan 12, 2020 It's not clear why Apple decided to hide the user's Library folder, but you have multiple ways to get it back: two Apple provides (depending on the version of OS X you are using) and one in the underlying file system. The method you use depends on whether you want permanent access to the Library folder or only when you need to go there. Perhaps you wanted to tweak something using a tip from Macworld, Mac OS X. Or—worse—data is missing. User has munged the contents of /Library—a user can have plenty of valid reasons. Dec 30, 2016 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. These steps also work with Mac OS X El Capitan and Yosemite. Please relocate your user library folder'. When I also drag my mouse over 'User Library' in Ableton it say's 'This folder is missing, if you know where the folder is, open the context menu by ctrl-clicking and select the locate folder option'.

Access Library Folder On Mac

The Library Folder on your Mac contains Preference Files, Caches, and Application Support Data.

Show User Library Mac

While regular Mac users may not find the need to access the Hidden Library Folder, advanced Mac users will at times come across the need to access files inside the Library Folder for troubleshooting and other purposes.

One example of the need to access the Library Folder on Mac would be to rebuild the Database Files in the Library Folder, in order to fix Launchpad related issues like Apps Missing From Launchpad or deleted Apps showing up in the Launchpad.

Before going ahead with the steps to Access the Hidden Library Folder on your Mac, you need to be aware that ~/Library Folder contains important Data and Files related to Mac User Accounts.

Hence, make sure that you are accessing the Library Folder for a good reason and you do know as to what you are trying to achieve.

Access Hidden Library Menu Option On Mac

Follow the steps below to access the Hidden Library Menu option on your Mac.

1. Left-click your mouse anywhere on the screen of your Mac. This will reveal the Go Option in the top menu bar of your Mac. You can also click on the Finder Icon in the Dock of your Mac to activate the Go Option.

2. Next, click on the Go option in the top menu-bar of your Mac.

3. While you are still on the Go option, press and hold the Option key on your Mac and then click on the Library option that appears when you press down the Option Key.

Note: Press the Alt Key in case you are using a Windows keyboard with your Mac.

4. Clicking on the Library Menu option will take you straight to the Library Folder on your Mac.

Access Library Folder On Mac Using “Go to Folder” Option

Another way to access the Library Folder on your Mac is by using the Folder Option on your Mac.

1. Left-click your mouse anywhere on the screen of your Mac to reveal the Go Option in the top menu bar. You can also click on the Finder Icon in the Dock of your Mac to activate the Go option.

2. Next, click on the Go option from the top menu-bar on your Mac and then click on Go to Folder… option in the drop-down menu (See image below).

3. In the search window that appears, type ~/Library, and click on the Go button.

This will immediately take you to the Library Folder on your Mac.

Library Folder Missing Mac

Permanently Unhide the Library Menu Option On Mac

You can permanently unhide the Library Menu Option in the top-menu bar on your Mac by using the Terminal Command. The process is reversible and you can easily go back to the default hidden Library Menu Setting by using the Terminal command once again.

1. Click on the Finder icon in the dock of your Mac to activate the Go option in the top Menu bar of your Mac.

2. Next, click on the Go option in the top menu-bar and then click on the Utilities option in the drop-down menu.

3. On the Utilities window, open the Terminal App by clicking on it.

4. Next, type chflags nohidden ~/Library/ and Press the Enter key to submit your command for execution.

Once the command is executed, you will see the Library Option clearly visible and permanently unhidden in the top menu-bar of your Mac.

As mentioned above, you can always go back to the default hidden Library option on your Mac by executing a simple command in the Command Prompt Window.

1. To hide the Library option, type chflags hidden ~/Library/ in the Command prompt window (See image below)

2. After typing the Command, hit the Enter key on the Keyboard of your Mac to execute this Command.

Once the Command is executed, you will see the Library Menu option becoming hidden.

Perhaps, OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard could be the last Mac OS that allowed easy access to user library folder. Thereafter, we saw a number of Mac operating systems wherein accessing user library was a hard task forever the power users.

Fortunately, in newer Mac versions, the difficulty in accessing this folder has considerably reduced. Apart from its security and optimized storage features, mac Sierra – the latest macOS version, is not different from these mac versions.

What You’ll Get from This User Library Folder?

Well, it’s the place where Mac power users cannot skip or avoid. It’ll contain preferences, files, cache, application support data and much more. But, for an ordinary or casual user, it should say that there is no space for them.

Mac Library Folder

Moving User Library Folder into Favorites in mac Sierra:

Method 1

1. Open your Finder Menu. Select Go -> Go to Folder.

2. A new Window “Go to Folder” will appear now. Enter “~/Library” in the text box (without quotes) and click Go.

3. Your hidden user library folder will be displayed now.

4. Locate the Library logo at the top of the window. Click it, drag and drop into favorites section. That’s it - your User Library will be permanently pinned into your favorites section from now onwards.

User Library Missing Mac Os

Method 2:

There’s always a second way – perhaps the easiest one. In this time, if you hold Option while opening Go menu in Finder, you’ll see the same Library option. From Mac Finder, if you press Command + Shift + L , you can immediately jump to this menu.

Method 3:

Delete User Mac

There’s a final method and it’s purely based on command lines. Open your Terminal and execute this command over there.

chflags nohidden ~/Library/

It'll make your hidden library folder into a public one.

Note: All these methods also work in Mac versions El Capitan and Yosemite. If any of these methods are not working, let me know us by your valuable comments.