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When I click the 'Movies' folder in Finder I would like it to re-direct to a folder on my external HDD, this is quite easy in a Windows environment but I can not seem to see it on my Mac.
Does anyone have any ideas? - thank you in advance.
If you do not have access to your Home Folder you will need to go to the Menu Bar > Finder > Preferences > Side Bar and check the box next to the little house with your name next to it. Then open Finder in your dock, right click your Home folder and "Open In New Window." Next drag and drop the Shortcut (Alias) to the Home folder. That should give you what you want.
On a final note, This is not Windows, there is no easy way to change the path of a folder. When a folder is created the path is set to whatever directory it is made in. I believe using a Shortcut (Alias). Would be advisable.
If you know how to do it, then why ask how? This has been confusing from the beginning. Many people have problems with Terminal, that is why I say it is difficult. I have been with MSDOS since it was in version 2.7. Apple since I built a lab using 30 Apple II E and a Macintosh server for a grade school where I volunteered ten school years. I've been in this a long time and try to help people doing things the "Easy" way.
Ok. Since macs ship with such a small amount of memory, I was going to use an external drive to store my 300gb of videos, 500gb of photos and purchased movies.
MacOS is about experience, so I want things like this to work when I click their corresponding icons in the sidebar of finder, and also make sure the Mac defaults to sending items to the correct location. In windows you can change the path and it will even move the files for you, in a Mac it’s a case of aliases. Also there’s iPhone backups which can be 200gb, this seems easier to do but still, it’s all about keeping it neat and close to the way it was designed
Then open the external drive and create a Shortcut to the folder where your movies are and place it in your User folder. You accomplish the same thing.
Open the external drive in Finder. Find the movie you wish to play and double click the movie to open it.
That is just playing a file from an external drive, I want to change the path of a folder to the drive.
Here is a link on how to do that.:
How to Make a Shortcut (Alias) to a File or Folder on a Mac (howtogeek.com)
An alias is not what I was asking, there is a way to do what I want which involves terminal. I have used a mac for almost 20 years, I am fully aware it is not Windows.
Exactly what are you trying to accomplish? Is this for a specific app? Does the app not have a means of setting the location?
Since you insist, here is the proper way via Terminal:
Set or modify a path in Unix (iu.edu)
BTW, you will still be opening the movie on your external drive.
Move the path of a folder to external drive
