Where is my home folder?

Question

Level 1

64 points

Where is my home folder?

ThiS is a small issue but it's irritating me and I should know how to fix it but I don't. My home folder and its contents don't appear - at all - when I click on the Mac HD icon.

The only way I can open my home folder and see its contents is to click on the large home folder icon in the sidebar of the finder window. If I do that I get a finder window called "Tom" (the name of my home folder) with the contents of the home folder displayed but even then I don't see the home folder icon at the top of the list in that finder window.

I would like the home folder and its contents to appear when I open the Mac HD icon, like with every other mac I own or have owned running Tiger.

Tom

Macbook 13" Core duo, Macbook pro 15" core 2 duo, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on May 26, 2008 4:01 PM

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Answer 1

May 26, 2008 4:29 PM in response to Tomdbl

*" Where is my home folder? "*

Hard drive --> Users

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Answer 2

Bob Lang1

Level 5

4,090 points

May 26, 2008 4:32 PM in response to Tomdbl

Hi Tombdl

Unless I'm missing something, my computer appears to operate in exactly the same way you're describing. I've always navigated to my home folder by clicking on it in a Finder window side bar.

It's definitely not there when I click on the Macintosh HD icon unless I navigate to it via Users.

However, it is possible to create a link to your home folder at the top level of the Macintosh HD. Here's how:
- Open a Finder Window. Click on Macintosh HD in the side bar.
- Click on the "Prison bars" view option
- Click on Users, this should reveal your home space folder in the space to the right.
- Drag the folder one space to the left whilst holding down alt and command. You should see a curvy arrow mouse icon.
- Drop the folder in the white space underneath Users in the leftmost file list. This should create a link to your home folder at the top level of Mac HD.

Make sure that you always see a curvy arrow before dropping the home space, otherwise you run the risk of snarking your computer! You'll probably need an admin user to do this.

Bob

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Answer 3

Tomdbl Author

Level 1

64 points

May 28, 2008 1:50 AM in response to Bob Lang1

Thanks Bob

But that's the problem - the home folder ISN'T IN the users folder! I can't find it anywhere . . the only way to access the contents is via the large icon in the sidebar . . but where is my home folder in the HD? It just doesn't appear anywhere.

Any ideas welcome!

Tom

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Answer 4

Bob Lang1

Level 5

4,090 points

May 28, 2008 9:09 AM in response to Tomdbl

Hi

You should be able to find it using Terminal. Start Terminal then type in these command and press return after each one:

cd (return) This should take you to your home folder
ls (return) This should print a list of files in your home folder for confirmation
pwd (return) This will print out the position of your home folder in the file structure.

For example, I get:
pwd
/Users/boblang

Bob

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Answer 5

Tomdbl Author

Level 1

64 points

May 29, 2008 3:03 PM in response to Bob Lang1

Yep - and sure enough I get:

pwd/users/tom

- except that the home folder (tom) ISN'T in the users folder. It just isn't there.

oh well - it's not a show stopper. Like I said, I can still get into the home folder via the large icon in the finder window sidebar. Just have to be careful I don't vaporise that icon!

Tom

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Answer 6

Bob Lang1

Level 5

4,090 points

May 29, 2008 3:20 PM in response to Tomdbl

Hi Tom

Tomdbl wrote:
Yep - and sure enough I get:

pwd/users/tom

That's not what I would expect to see. I would expect:
/Users/tom

With no pwd and a capital U on Users.

If this is what you meant to type 😉 then I suggest that your home folder has become hidden in the Finder. This link describes how a file/folder can be hidden: http://www.westwind.com/reference/OS-X/invisibles.html#reasons

Bob

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