1. When it does, you’ll find that you can now see every single file and folder on your Mac: Notice that the /tmp, /usr, and /var directories now show up in the Finder.
2. The easiest way to show hidden files is to use the free Funterapplication. Funter allows you to find, hide and search for hidden files on your Mac in just a few clicks. Follow these steps to see hidden files on Mac: Launch Funter to manage hidden files.
3. Mar 24, 2020  Look for files on your Mac or PC On your Mac, choose Go iCloud Drive from the menu bar, or click iCloud Drive in the sidebar of a Finder window. On iCloud.com, go to the iCloud Drive app. On your PC with iCloud for Windows, open File Explorer, then click iCloud Drive.

Dec 04, 2017  Open All Files enables you to view and inspect virtually any file on your Mac. Simply drag and drop any file or folder into the app window to see more details. The Library folder you can see contains files that are accessible to all users but only changeable by administrators. Then there is the /Library folder that's located in the Home folder.

Best FTP client for Mac

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.

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.

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:

1. In Finder, open up your Macintosh HD folder
2. Press Command+Shift+Dot
3. Your hidden files will become visible. Repeat step 2 to hide them again!

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:

1. In Finder, hold down Alt and click Go at the top of your screen
2. Click on Library to open up the, normally hidden, folder

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

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:

1. Open Terminal
2. Enter the following: defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles true [Press Return] killall Finder
3. To hide files again, change the “true” in the step above to “false”

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 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:

1. Open Terminal
2. Enter the following: chflags hidden [Press Space]
3. Drag files or folders to be hidden from Finder into the Terminal window, which will display their paths in Terminal
4. Press Return to hide

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:

1. Clicking View
2. Selecting View Options towards the bottom of the dropdown menu
3. Checking the box next to Show Hidden Files

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!

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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:

1. Open up the app and select Smart Scan
2. Hit Scan
3. Select Review Details underneath Cleanup to see how much System Junk you can safely delete
4. Hit Run to remove those unneeded files

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.

Find your files

The Files app includes files on the device you're using, as well as those in other cloud services and apps, and iCloud Drive. You can also work with zip files.* To access your files, just open the Files app and choose the location of the file you're looking for.

Save a copy of your file locally

You can find locally stored files in On My [device], under Locations. On your iPad, simply drag files into the On My iPad folder to store them directly on your device. If you want to save a file locally on your iPhone or iPod touch, follow these steps.

1. Go to the file that you want to store on your device.
2. Tap Select > the file name > Organize .
3. Under On My [Device], choose a folder or tap New Folder to create a new one.
   
4. Tap Copy.

You can also long press on a file, choose Move, and select which folder you want to copy it to.

On iOS 12 or earlier, tap the file and choose Move. Then, under On My [device], choose Numbers, Keynote, or Pages, and tap Copy.

Move iCloud Drive files

1. Go to the file that you want to move.
2. Tap Select, then choose the file.
3. Tap Organize .
4. Under On My [Device], choose a folder or tap New Folder to create a new one.
5. Tap Move.

You can also long press on a file, choose Move, and select which folder you want to copy it to.

Look for files on your Mac or PC

• On your Mac, choose Go > iCloud Drive from the menu bar, or click iCloud Drive in the sidebar of a Finder window.
• On iCloud.com, go to the iCloud Drive app.
• On your PC with iCloud for Windows, open File Explorer, then click iCloud Drive.

* Password protected zip folders or directories are not supported in the Files app.

Organize your files

It’s easy to organize all of the files stored in iCloud Drive — including Pages, Numbers, and Keynote documents. When you make changes on one device, your edits are automatically updated on every device using iCloud Drive.

You can make your own folders. Or rename the files and folders you already have when you press firmly on them.

Create new folders

1. Go to Locations.
2. Tap iCloud Drive, On My [device], or the name of a third-party cloud service where you want to keep your new folder.
3. Swipe down on the screen.
4. Tap More .
5. Select New Folder.
6. Enter the name of your new folder. Then tap Done.

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On iOS 12 or earlier, tap New Folder . If you don't see New Folder or it's gray, then the third-party cloud service doesn't support new folders.

View your files by name, date, size, or the tags that you add. With colorful and custom labels, you can assign tags to your files any way that you like. That means you'll quickly find just the project or document you need.

Add a tag

1. Tap Select.
2. Tap the file that you want to tag.
3. Tap Share > Add Tags .
4. Choose the tag that you want to add.

Rename a tag

1. Go to Locations.
2. Tap More > Edit.
3. Tap the name of an existing tag.
4. Enter the name of your new tag.
5. Tap Done.

Delete files

All My Files Mac Finder

Select the files that you don't want anymore and tap Delete . If you delete files from the iCloud Drive folder on one device, they delete on your other devices too. iCloud Drive removes the files from every device that you're signed in to with the same Apple ID.

When you delete a file from iCloud Drive or On My [device], it goes into your Recently Deleted folder. If you change your mind or accidentally delete a file, you have 30 days to get it back. Go to Locations > Recently Deleted. Select the file that you want to keep and tap Recover. After 30 days, your files are removed from Recently Deleted.

You can also sign into iCloud.com from your Mac or PC, then go to iCloud Drive and check Recently Deleted.

Share folders and files with your friends or colleagues

Want to share with a friend or colleague? You can share any folder or file stored in iCloud Drive directly from the Files app. In iCloud Drive, tap Select, choose the file or folder that you want to share, tap Share , and select Add People. You can share a folder or file through AirDrop, Messages, Mail, and more. Learn more about how folder sharing and file sharing work in iCloud Drive.

Or maybe you want to collaborate on a project in real time. The Files app lets you do that too with your Pages, Numbers, and Keynote documents. Select the file and tap Share or > Add People . You can invite them to collaborate through Messages, Mail, or copy and paste a link. Your participants are color-coded. And you can see when they're online, actively working on your shared document.

Use third-party apps in Files

The Files app lets you add your third-party cloud services — like Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, Adobe Creative Cloud, Google Drive, and more — so that you can access all of your files on all of your devices. The files you keep in iCloud Drive automatically appear in the Files app, but you need to set up your other cloud services to access them in the Files app too.

Add third-party apps

1. Download and set up the third-party cloud app.
2. Open the Files app.
3. Tap the Browse tab.
4. Tap More > Edit.
5. Turn on the third-party apps that you want to use in the Files app.
6. Tap Done.

If you don't see one of your third-party cloud services in the Files app, check with your cloud provider.

On iOS 12 or earlier, open the Files app then tap Locations > Edit to add third-party apps.

Move third-party cloud files

1. Open the file that you want to move.
2. Tap Share > Copy.
3. Open the folder where you want to move your file.
4. Firmly press the screen.
5. Tap Paste.

Do more with Files on iPadOS

If you're on iPadOS, you can access files on a USB flash drive, SD card, or hard drive through the Files app on iPadOS. Just connect the storage device, and then you can select it under Locations. You can also connect to unencrypted storage on a file server, if that storage is using the APFS, Mac OS Extended, MS-DOS (FAT), or ExFAT format. You also have the option to view your files in Column View, which is helpful if you have files nested in multiple folders. Column View lets you see previews of files and offers access to tools like markup and rotate without even opening a file.

Connect to a file server

1. Open the Browse tab.
2. Tap More .
3. Select Connect to Server.
4. Enter the SMB address.
5. Tap Connect.
6. The server name appears under Shared in the Browse menu.

Switch to Column View

Mac All My Files Folder

1. In landscape mode, open the Browse tab.
2. Select a folder.
3. Swipe down on the right side of the screen.
4. Select Column View in the upper right.
5. Tap a folder to expand its contents.
6. Tap a file to see a preview.

To leave Column View, tap Grid View or List View , or use your iPad in portrait mode.

Terminal Show All Files Mac

If you need help

• Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to the latest iOS, or iPadOS.
• Set up iCloud on all of your devices and turn on iCloud Drive.
• Make sure that you’re signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID on all of your devices.
• If you want to upload, download, or share files using cellular data, open Settings, select Cellular, scroll down to iCloud Drive and any third-party cloud services you use, and turn it on for each service.

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If you don't want to access your iCloud Drive files in the Files app, you can choose to download and add only third-party cloud services instead.