charibancho

Q: Can't unhide the user library, tried everything I know

Suddenly I'm unable to see my user library which I usually have present and access regularly. I have highlighted the user in the sidebar and checked the box in view options but it doesn't show. The only way I can see it is Go menu>option which gives me a grey version that disappears once I change folder. I tried deleting user Finder prefs but no joy there either. Can anyone help? Thanks

Mac mini (Late 2012), OS X Mavericks (10.9.2), actually 10.9.5

Posted on Aug 31, 2015 11:18 PM

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Q: Can't unhide the user library, tried everything I know

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  • Helpful answers

  • by BobHarris,

    BobHarris BobHarris Sep 1, 2015 6:18 AM in response to charibancho
    Level 6 (19,563 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 1, 2015 6:18 AM in response to charibancho

    Try:  Finder -> Go -> Go to Folder -> ~/Library (that is a tilda ~ generally found in the upper left side of the keyboard)

     

    You could start an Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal session, and enter

    open   ~/Library      # again with the tilda ~

    You could remove the "hidden" flag from the Library folder from a terminal session.

    chflags nohidden   ~/Library   # tilda again

    If you are having issues, you might want to use the Terminal to see what permissions are on the folder

    /bin/ls  -dleO@   ~/Library

    This is what I would expect you to see:

    drwx------@ 70 <yourUsernameHere>  staff  hidden 2380 Aug 27 19:22 Library

        com.apple.FinderInfo      32

    0: group:everyone deny delete

  • by charibancho,

    charibancho charibancho Sep 1, 2015 6:28 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 1, 2015 6:28 AM in response to BobHarris

    Hi Bob, thanks for your help, very much appreciated.

     

    I tried

     

    chflags nohidden   ~/Library

     

    and get Permission denied

     

    I then tried /bin/ls  -dleO@   ~/Library

     

    and all looks as you said except the first line which read:

     

    drwxrwxrwx@ 58 root  admin  hidden 1972 Jul  7 17:46 /Users/myname/Library

     

    That looks quite different from yours, any way I could attempt to fix it?

     

    Thanks again

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Sep 1, 2015 6:42 AM in response to charibancho
    Level 8 (37,897 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 1, 2015 6:42 AM in response to charibancho

    Much easier. From the desktop, press Command+Shift+H to open your user account folder. Press Command+J. Turn on the check box, Show Library Folder.

  • by charibancho,

    charibancho charibancho Sep 1, 2015 6:51 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 1, 2015 6:51 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    Thanks but as I said I already basically tried by selecting user in the sidebar then checking the show library box ....that with no effect. What IS odd though is that when trying your method, the second command opens a window with arrange by, sort by, icon size, spacing etc but NO means to check show library etc, though it DOES highlight the user tab in the sidebar. Whatever it is instinct tells me it's a permissions issue....

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Sep 1, 2015 6:59 AM in response to charibancho
    Level 8 (37,897 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 1, 2015 6:59 AM in response to charibancho

    That box will only appear if you have the correct folder open and active, and not via the side bar, which is not really the same way of getting there.

     

    Drill down manually to your home user account. Double click in order:

     

    The hard drive icon.

     

    The Users folder.

     

    Your account folder with the house icon.

     

    With that folder now in the foreground, press Command+J.

  • by charibancho,

    charibancho charibancho Sep 1, 2015 7:19 AM in response to Kurt Lang
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 1, 2015 7:19 AM in response to Kurt Lang

    Thanks, I tried but the window that opens is labelled "Mac HD" at the top and has the first 3 check boxes but not the show Library one. Trying the same thing on my laptop is labelled my user name and shows all 4 checkboxes.

  • by Kurt Lang,

    Kurt Lang Kurt Lang Sep 1, 2015 7:20 AM in response to charibancho
    Level 8 (37,897 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 1, 2015 7:20 AM in response to charibancho

    Hmm, it does sound then, as you say, like there's a problem with the user account itself. If you create a new test account, does the check box show up as expected there?

  • by BobHarris,Solvedanswer

    BobHarris BobHarris Sep 1, 2015 7:33 AM in response to charibancho
    Level 6 (19,563 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 1, 2015 7:33 AM in response to charibancho

    drwxrwxrwx@ 58 root  admin  hidden 1972 Jul  7 17:46 /Users/myname/Library

    'root' and 'admin' as owner and group means you DO NOT own your own Library (unless of course you happen to be logged in as 'root').

     

    And the permissions on the Folder are not what I would expect.

     

    Assuming you are NOT logged in as root, then I would expect

    drwx------@ 58 <myname>  staff  hidden 1972 Jul  7 17:46 /Users/myname/Library

    First try.  Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility -> select your volume -> Repair Permissions

     

    If that does not clean up your ~/Library ownership and permissions, then...

    sudo chown $USER:staff ~/Library

    Password: <enter your password and then [return], you will see nothing you are typing until [return] is entered>

     

    chmod 700 ~/Library

     

    /bin/ls -dleO@ ~/Library

  • by charibancho,

    charibancho charibancho Sep 1, 2015 7:40 AM in response to BobHarris
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 1, 2015 7:40 AM in response to BobHarris

    Kurt and especially Bob, many thanks for your ninja-like skills! I had already tried the permissions repair with no luck but the extra round of Terminal fixed it up. Thanks again, have a good day!