How to: Make Library visible in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

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How to: Make Library visible in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion

5 July 2011 10,720 views 15 Comments

A couple times a year, I need to get inside ~user/Library, rummage around and do something — remove or otherwise alter a file. However, one of the things that’s changed in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion is that the Library directory isn’t visible. Here’s how to fix this Apple sin of commission.

Generally speaking, when you want to add or remove a OS X feature that Apple’s hides, you’ll need get the job done in Terminal, the Mac’s command line. However, as Unix voodoo goes, this particular how to is very, very low impact.

So, however you want to do it — Applications > Utilities > Terminal, Launch Pad > Terminal, Spotlight > Terminal — open Terminal and then copy or paste in the following command:

chflags nohidden ~/Library/

Alternately, if you want to hide the Library in your home directory, type or paste this command:

chflags hidden ~/Library

Whether making the Library visible or hiding it, the above commands deliver immediate results — there’s no need to log out or restart — you’ve got a Mac, it just works.

Know a nifty tip or trick? Share your story and a link in the comments below…

via OS X Daily

15 Comments »

Tom said:

simpler: Type “Library” into the help menu and the menu item is shown in the “Go to…” menu

# 5 July 2011 at 10:07 am

BDK said:

Thank you for this. It was driving me crazy.

# 5 July 2011 at 3:49 pm

Jim said:

Even easier, in Finder go to GO > Go To Folder (or type Shift-CMD-G) and then in the popup, type “~/Library”.

# 6 July 2011 at 5:06 am

matt said:

Thanks I need to have that not hidden. That would have really sucked. It’s actually a good thing they did that cause stupid people would probably go into it and accidentally delete or moves things that would mess up there programs. Good thing it’s an easy fix.

# 21 July 2011 at 9:27 pm

Get your Mac back: OS X Lion's missing iSync | FairerPlatform said:

[...] As OS X Lion hides the ~/Library by default, you will need to make it visible and, yes, the Fairer Platform’s got that base covered, too — How to: Make Library visible in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion. [...]

# 25 July 2011 at 12:03 am

Mick said:

Thank you!
I experience many problems after I installed Lion OSX that I wouldn’t expect, it is even difficult to upgrade to Leopard. Lion brings too many problems for power users. I agree it is Apple’s Vista. The problem described here and also the problem of the absence of ISYNC, which I really need, as well as the problem of missing to insert special characters and glyphs from font files, the speed, the lack of supporting powermac programs, rosetta etc. are really not nice. I tried different times to downgrade back to Leopard because Lion brings to many problems for me but even with this I was unsuccessful by now.

At least thank you for showing solutions to some of the problems, I could not even make a update of my fonts because this folder is hidden by default… Apple seem to have stopped to post user experiences on their app store website too.

# 26 July 2011 at 5:45 pm

Get your Mac Back: Download, install Safari 5.0.5 for Snow Leopard | FairerPlatform said:

[...] That said, Apple being Apple, there isn’t to my knowledge a publicly listed download link on Apple.com for this sought after version of their WebKit-based browser. Yes, it’s buried inside the OS X 10.6.8 Combo Update — that’s a lot of extra downloading and a bit more work, too. See also: • Get your Mac back: OS X Lion’s missing iSync • Get your Mac Back: Fix OS X Lion scrolling • How to: Make Library visible in Mac OS X Lion [...]

# 29 July 2011 at 1:00 am

How to Get the “Library” Folder Back on Your Mac | OmniTechNews said:

[...] FairerPlatform.com [...]

# 31 July 2011 at 7:13 pm

Marg Oconnell said:

Thanks. Was going crazy trying to find a document accidentally saved in mail downloads, which I could find using search, but not anywhere else. As its a new computer and still getting used to set up, I thought I was losing my mind. Turns out Apple lost theirs by hiding a file that documents can get saved into. Had used saved as to change its location and just wanted to trash it. An hour later……. Thanks!

# 4 October 2011 at 6:01 pm

Hands on with Lion Designer 2 | FairerPlatform said:

[...] to doing things automagically: • OS X Lion gestures: Zoom any webpage in Safari 5.1 • How to: Make Library visible in Mac OS X 10.7 Lion • How to: Turn on iTunes visualizers in OS X Lion • How to: Disable, enable OS X Lion resume, [...]

# 9 November 2011 at 12:34 am