Unhide the User Library Folder on a Mac

This article teaches you how to display a user's Library folder, which contains account info, keychains, fonts, and other crucial data so you can view its contents on your Mac.

10 Second Summary

1. Go to Finder.
2. Click on Go.
3. Click on Utilities.
4. Open Terminal.
5. Type chflags nohidden ~/Library.
6. Press Return.
7. Go to the Library folder.

Steps

All Versions of OS X

  1. Go to your Mac's Finder. Do this by clicking on your Desktop image or on the square, blue/light-blue smiley-face icon in your Dock.
  2. Click on Go. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
  3. Click on Utilities. It's the 11th selection in the second section of the Go drop-down menu.
  4. Scroll down and double click on Terminal. It's a utility application that uses Apple's version of UNIX to enter commands on your Mac.
  5. Type the following command line into Terminal. The command line is chflags nohidden ~/Library with no quotation marks or additional punctuation.
  6. Press Return on your keyboard. This runs the command that unhides the user library for the Mac's current, logged-in user. If the command was entered correctly, a line of syntax will show up below that says ~ username$.
    • You can hide the Library folder once again by typing chflags hidden ~/Library in Terminal and pressing Return on your keyboard.
  7. Go to Finder. Do this by clicking on your Desktop image or on the square, blue/light-blue smiley-face icon in your Dock.
  8. Click on Go. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
  9. Click on Computer. It's the sixth selection in the second section of the Go drop-down menu.
  10. Double click on your system drive. It's the square, gray icon shaped like a hard drive.
    • The default name is Macintosh HD, but it may have been customized.
  11. Double click on Users. It's a folder in the Finder window that contains the silhouette of a person.
  12. Double click on [User Name]. Select the folder for the current, logged-in user. When the user folder is open, the Library folder will be visible.

OS X Yosemite and Sierra

  1. Go to your Mac's Finder. Do this by clicking on your Desktop image or on the square, blue/light-blue, smiley-face icon in your Dock.
  2. Click on Go. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
  3. Click on Computer. It's the sixth selection in the second section of the Go drop-down menu.
  4. Double click on your system drive. It's the square, gray icon shaped like a hard drive.
    • The default name is Macintosh HD, but it may have been customized.
  5. Double click on Users. It's a folder in the Finder window that contains the silhouette of a person.
  6. Double click on [User Name]. Open the folder with the name of the user whose Library folder you wish to display.
  7. Click on View. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
  8. Click on Show View Options. It's second from the bottom of the drop-down menu.
  9. Check the box next to "Show Library Folder." It's the bottom-most checkbox in the dialog box.
  10. Click on Use as Defaults. The Library folder will now be visible in the selected user's folder.

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