When you look at your desktop, or inside any folder for that matter, on your Mac you’ll see a number (one that will vary depending on how well-organized you are) of file and folder icons. What all of us have in common, however, is a huge range of system files that are hidden just out of view.
Best FTP client for Mac
Get ForkLift, a smart and efficient Finder alternative.
Easy way to show hidden files
Try Setapp to make all your files visible on a Mac. With the tools we offer, nothing gets lost in the shuffle.
Those of us who have lived online for long enough will remember the Delete System32 hoax, with which trolls encouraged naive PC users to delete their Windows 2000 system directory. It’s not a shock that, since those days, developers have taken more care to hide away files that are essential to their operating systems.
There are, however, times when you need to access those files. Most of them are hidden away in the ~/Library folder, but the truth is that the average Mac holds a treasure trove of files and folders that you either no longer need or may want to access for troubleshooting purposes.
How to find files via the OS X Terminal. If you need to search for files in OS X, one option it is to use the OS X Terminal application and some of its services. Funter has a built-in smart option which allows you to clean inactive RAM and speed up your Mac. Also, the app shows the system usage on your Mac and provides a brief data about: How much RAM memory is used. How much disk space is filled up by junk files, duplicate files, large and old files and unused apps.
Is it normal that 'System' takes up 90GB+ of storage? What does it contain? How to get your System folder under control?
Three Ways to See Hidden Files on Mac
There’s good news for anyone out there who’s looking to access hidden files on their Mac: you can do exactly that, in a number of different ways, by arming yourself with a little bit of knowledge. There are a couple of Finder augmentation and replacement apps, for example, that make the process as easy as clicking a single button.
Before kicking off, however, it’s important to highlight that you should play it safe when digging through hidden files on your laptop or desktop. Unless you know exactly what you’re looking for you can do some serious damage to your operating system, so you’ll want to proceed with caution. After all, these files are hidden for a reason!
See hidden files on Mac via Finder
As mentioned above, it doesn’t take much to make the hidden files on your Mac visible. In fact, you can check out all of the hidden files on your Mac by following just three easy steps:
This process will also work elsewhere, including your Documents or Applications folders. However, if you know what you’re looking for is in your ~/Library folder and would rather jump straight into that then you can take the following steps instead:
Be prepared for one very cluttered looking Desktop if you decide to uncover all the hidden files there. If you’re anything like the average Mac user, most of what you’ll find will be made up of system files and autosaved Microsoft Word documents!
Some users have reported success finding documents that they thought were lost forever after their Mac crashed without saving, which is always a useful tip to have in the back pocket.
Unhide files on Mac with Terminal commands
https://thundernew187.weebly.com/how-to-print-photo-mac-photo-app.html. Terminal, a Mac command-line interface, is included in macOS by default and allows you to use command prompts to control your Mac instead of following a potentially complex series of instructions to do the same thing in Finder.
If you’re already familiar with using Terminal, then you might prefer to run the following script to reveal your hidden files:
![]()
It doesn’t matter too much whether you use Terminal or Finder to make the hidden files on your Mac visible, though you might prefer the latter if you’ve never run scripts on Terminal before, as both routes accomplish the same thing.
One reason you might opt to use Terminal is that it allows you to hide any Bulk install mac apps. file or folder on your Mac, which is a great way to avoid that sense of residual curiosity felt by others should they come across a password protected .rar on your desktop! To hide files, just:
To make your files visible again, just repeat the above steps using “chflags nohidden” in place of “chflags hidden.” Of course, the fact that anyone else who knows this trick can also use it to unhide your files means that this isn’t an adequate substitute for other security measures.
Use file managers to access hidden files
How to find the path of a file in Mac? Apps like DCommander and Forklift, both of which perform like native macOS apps and function as extensions of Finder, represent great choices if you’re at all uncomfortable using Terminal or digging around in your ~/Library folder.
Because these apps allow you to make hidden files and folders visible (or invisible) using shortcuts or clicking buttons within the apps, they make the whole process incredibly simple. In Forklift, for example, you can show hidden files by:
There’s also a button in the toolbar to show and hide hidden files. DCommander has a similar function available, with a Show System Files command, but you need to add it manually to the app’s toolbar:
As you might guess from those subtle differences in terminology, we would suggest that Forklift is more suitable for someone looking for something that really looks and acts like Finder. DCommander, with a larger range of features and toolbar buttons enabled by default, is still intuitive but feels a little more dense.
Whichever you settle on remember that just because these apps make accessing hidden files easy it doesn’t mean that you can’t do some real damage if you start messing around with the wrong thing!
Try all these apps for free
Withings home app mac. Get a huge set of top apps for keeping your Mac in shape. Best utilities in one pack, give it a go!
Leave hidden files to automatic cleanup
For some Mac users, the question of how to see hidden files is nothing more than succumbing to curiosity. For others, it’s a necessity for troubleshooting a piece of software or device that’s not performing as it should.
Somewhere in between are those in the pursuit of a few spare gigabytes as their hard drive rapidly fills up. If you’re one of those people looking to clean up useless hidden data then an app like CleanMyMac X might be exactly what you need:
Mac Find Big Files App
An app like CleanMyMac X will free up space just as effectively, probably more so, than you’ll be able to by randomly deleting hidden files and hoping for the best. If you do end up going this route then don’t consider learning more about hidden content a waste of time — at least you know what to watch out for if someone tries to troll you into deleting vital system files!
Best of all, DCommander, Forklift, and CleanMyMac X apps mentioned above are all available for a free trial through Setapp, a collection of more than 150 macOS apps from top developers all over the world.
Setapp lives on Mac and iOS. Please come back from another device.
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
Read on
Sign Up
Setapp uses cookies to personalize your experience on our website. By continuing to use this site, you agree to our cookie policy.
If you want to find out where iTunes stores your library files, the following guide should help you find the iTunes library location on both your Windows and Mac machines. Read on to even learn how to change the locations on your computer.
iTunes Tips & IssuesiTunes Basic LearningiTunes Music TipsiTunes Libary TipsiTunes Connection IssuesOther iTunes Data Issues
iTunes provides you an easy way to add new files and organize existing files on its interface on your computer. The interface lets you view your files, their dates, and other information about your files. However, what you do not see in the list is where exactly your files are stored. iTunes has been quite confidential and it does not directly let users view the location of the stored files.
If you are curious and you would like to find out the iTunes library location on Windows or Mac, we have you covered. The following guide shows you the locations of the folders where iTunes stores your music and other media files on your computer’s storage. Once you’ve found where files are actually located, you can play around with them just like any other files on your computer.
How to Find iTunes Library Locations on Computer
Finding the iTunes files location on a computer is extremely easy. This section should teach you how you find the folder on your PC or Mac computer.
Find iTunes Library Locations on Mac:
Find iTunes Library Locations on PC:
How to Change iTunes Library Location![]()
While the default iTunes storage folders are not that bad, you can change the locations on your computer if you would like. Once you change the location, iTunes will begin to store your newly imported files into your new location on your computer.
Free App File Download1. How to Change iTunes Library Location on Mac
Changing the iTunes files location on a Mac is pretty easy as you can do the task from within the iTunes app on your machine. You just need to modify an option in the settings and your task will be done. Here’s how you do it:
Step 1. Launch the iTunes app from Launchpad on your Mac.
How to Change iTunes Library Location on Mac – Step 1
Step 2. When the iTunes app launches, click on the iTunes menu at the top and select the option that says Preferences. It will open the iTunes settings screen on your Mac.
How to Change iTunes Library Location on Mac – Step 2
Step 3. When the settings menu opens, click on the last tab that says Advanced. Once you are there, click on the Change button given next to the iTunes Media folder location. https://thundernew187.weebly.com/blog/how-to-uninstall-downloaded-apps-on-mac. You should be able to specify a new location for iTunes media files on your Mac.
How to Change iTunes Library Location on Mac – Step 3
2. How to Change iTunes Library Location on PC
Windows users can also easily change the iTunes storage location and that too from within the iTunes app. The following is how you do it.
Mac Find Files By Size
Step 1. Launch the iTunes app and click on Edit followed by Preferences.
Step 2. Head to the Advanced tab and click on the Change button to change your iTunes media folder.
That’s how you change the iTunes media folder location on your Windows PC.
Mac App Store DownloadThe Bottom Line
If you have not been able to find the iTunes media folder on your Windows PC or Mac, the above guide should help you find the folder very easily on your computer. It also teaches how you can change the default iTunes folder if you would like to do it.
More Related ArticlesPopular Articles & Tips You May Like
Product-related questions? Contact Our Support Team to Get Quick Solution >
Comments are closed.
|
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |