How to find a document's file path on Mac

Assuming you're looking at it using Finder then make sure the Path Bar is turned on (/view/Path Bar) and you'll see it in the bottom of the Finder Window. If it's a long path then hover over it to work it out.

You can open Terminal and drag the file from Finder into Terminal and it will show the whole path.

If you've got a document open in an app then it's a pain and the best way is to search for it in Finder, right-click on the file and 'Show in Enclosing Folder' and then work out the path as above.

Spotlight is antediluvian so get a better search app. I use easyfind (others are available) which returns the path of files it finds in the results.

TheLittles wrote:

"How to find a document's file path on Mac: Can someone please explain in simple English how to find the file path to a document on my mac. Thanks!"

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Finding a Document's Path on a Mac:

If a MS Word Document:

Open:1. the document

Go To: File1. menu

Select: 1. Properties

Click: General1. tab

View: 1. Location

I don't believe the OP ever mentioned Word.

You can't do that because it's not a hyperlink to a website, it's a path to a file. In the old days it used to be to add file:/// in front of the path - like

file:///Users/Jim/Desktop/etc....

It will be case sensitive and if there are any spaces anywhere in either directory or filenames then I think they need to be changed to

%20

If that doesn't work then do a google search for the latest format or wait for someone to come along.

Russianrobert wrote:

Can anyone shed any light on this? Thanks

A little investigation reveals if you use Command + K in Word or TextEdit.....you are presented with a pop-up box to configure a hyperlink. In Word, the pop-up allows you to search for the file to get the link for you making it very easy. In TextEdit the feature is more basic where you need to provide the link.

Unfortunately just adding "file://" to the path is not enough to automatically create the link. You need to use the "hyperlink" option in order to make an active link, but I only performed a very quick experiment just out of curiosity.

When I clicked the hyperlink, I was presented with a security pop-up message asking if I wanted to allow the link to open the file I had linked. I did not agree since I did not want to change my system settings in that way at this time.

Edit: If in doubt on how to do this in other apps, you can try right-clicking within the document to see what options are presented to you. Or explore the app's various menus to see what options you have for linking files. You may even be able to use the app's Search option to get in app help for a feature.

"How to find a document's file path on Mac: Can someone please explain in simple English how to find the file path to a document on my mac. Thanks!"

-------

Finding a Document's Path on a Mac:

If a MS Word Document:

1. Open: the document
2. Go To: File menu
3. Select: Properties
4. Click: General tab
5. View: Location

Screenshot:

IdrisSeabright wrote:

I don't believe the OP ever mentioned Word.

The OP never mentioned any app for that matter, until after @TheLittles wrote their post. That is part of the problem, the OP asks a general question and gets a general answer.

Russianrobert wrote:

This is nonsense!

None of the above works. I can't believe it's so difficult to paste a link in a Pages document on my Mac to another Pages Document!

I want to be able to click on the link and be taken to the other document. Really?? That's not easy to do??

You never mentioned Pages before. That makes a huge difference since I can get hyperlinks working in other non-Apple apps.

I just tried Pages on macOS 13.x Ventura and I can find no way of making a hyperlink work for a locally stored document. Pages only allows for weblinks, email links, bookmarks, and Phone Number. I even tried using "localhost://" to identify the path and while it prompts me to choose an app & opens the app, it does not open the actual document. Besides the process in Pages is already a lot more complicated than Word or TextEdit.

You have to realize many of Apple's apps have quirks and are not always the best option. You can use Word or likely LibreOffice (free) to add hyperlinks to local files in your document. I don't see any simple way to do what you want with Pages. You need to use the tools which do what you want & not necessarily choose the tool you want.

Maybe Apple Support can assist you if there is some poorly documented method to do this. If not, then you can provide Apple with product feedback here:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/pages/

What happened when you added file:/// in front of the path? I've just tested it in LibreOffice and it works fine.