Finder not showing user library folder

Funny, I'm a power user and I haven't noticed any train wreck.

BTW, the proper way to give that command to users who are not tech savvy is:

chflags nohidden ~/Library

No need to make any modifications to the command that way.

That folder is now invisible in Lion. You can go there by entering a path in Go -> Go To Folder or by holding down option while the Go menu is open and then choose Library (which will disappear from that menu if you let go of option).

Just another example of the dumbing-down of the system with Lion (on their way to some sort of enhanced iOS that will be horrible for anyone who wants to do anything more than surf the web, take photos, listen to music, and chat). The dumbing-down might be OK for new users, but it is an absolute TRAINWRECK for experienced power users. I have been supporting Apple using Macs for professional graphic design since 1984, and this is as bad as when soda executives ran the company! I would have gone backwards to Snow Leopard (oh, how I wish I could!) but I just got two new Macs (fastest, biggest iMac and MacBook Pro) that have been prevented from running Snow Leopard (shame on you, Apple; where is Steve when we need him?) If Mountain Lion dumbs down the system more, I will be permanently mired in Lion forever (or until Apple recovers their brains).

Anyway, if you need to access the ~/Library folder from within an application, you can make the folder permanently visible. Just open Terminal and type in:

chflags nohidden /Users/[username]/Library/

Replace [username] with your user name(!) and hit return. Then you can quit Terminal and your user Library folder will be visible.

Good luck!

Ahh, this method worked (for others with the same problem:

Method 1

I wonder why they made this change.

My suspicion would be that Apple techs have handled a lot of goofy problems caused by people deleting or otherwise mucking around with that folder. So they decided to hide it. I guess they didn't do the same with the root-level System and Library folders because users feel more respectful of those, but have no problem trashing stuff willy-nilly from a folder they perceive as having full ownership of.

But, of course, that's all guesswork! 🙂

Or you can just search 'Users' in Spotlight, select the Users folder (it's the top hit) and, once Finder has opened, drag the icon to the left of where it says 'Users' (at the top of the window) into the sidebar on the left. That's what Apple and the new Mac operating systems are about - finding intuitive ways to do things that non-specialists can understand. If you're going to constantly moan about how Apple is failing then go use a Windows PC, and good luck to you. And by the way I so admire you for buying the biggest and fastest iMac and MacBook Pro.

J.Richardson: I'm sorry, but what you described is not intuitive at all (to me, at least). Mac OS is not bad at all, but unless Apple gets off their high horse and maybe provides some *intuitive* controls for fine-grain system administration, people will continue to have valid points to cite Windows (version whatever) as having legitimate advantages over Mac. Recent example that they FINALLY changed; not being able to resize windows from any border.

Humboldtrick: Thanks for the terminal command! I was also incredibly frustrated by this change.

Thomas A Reed:

I have noticed the train wreck when dealing with (for instance) a SQLite management program - trying to view the contents of a database created in the temp space XCode's "iPhone Simulator" uses - can't browse into the correct directory, nor does the search tool look within the directory, NOR can you simply type a path in. Only other way I would've been able to access files created there would be to use terminal to copy them to a directory not within the "Library", every single time I wanted to view the results of a change! Since the process lost efficiency, and gained annoyance for no benefit to me, that is a train wreck. Also, your "chflags nohidden ~/Library" syntax only works if the user has terminal sitting at the correct directory; there was no reason at all to have griped about what Humboldtrick provided.

your "chflags nohidden ~/Library" syntax only works if the user has terminal sitting at the correct directory

No, you're confusing that with "chflags nohidden Library". The "~/" part specifies that what follows it is in the current user folder. Try it yourself if you have any doubts.

Actually, I'm not confusing it with anything - I am not familiar with many commands at all - YOUR syntax was the very first thing I tried, and it said something back about no folder of that name existing. I then tried Humboldtrick's syntax, and immediately, the folder displayed again in finder.

To your credit, what I said about the chflags command sounds declarative, but I intended it to sound like that was my best guess as to why what you said to try didn't work for me. I have no idea why it didn't work; it just didn't. As far as I know, I typed it in correctly.

You must have made a typo somewhere. Don't type it... copy everything below and paste it directly into the Terminal:

chflags nohidden ~/Library

BTW, you can compare what you typed earlier with this command by going to the Terminal and pressing the up arrow key to scroll through the command history.

Thanks, Thomas! This code really did the trick for me. This "problem" was driving me batty, but now all is well. And this is the first time I have ever used the Terminal command! whoo hooo. I feel so geeky... :-)

I've tried all of these and still no library. Whewre is library? In the apps? I don't see it anywhere in the finder.

I'm on a desktop mac with the latest software... not sure which it is. osx 10.8

Many thx

Thank you so much for this info. Having avoided upgrading to Mountain Lion because I feared being unable to use iDVD I finally loaded the new OS only to find that iCal (where all of my business appointments are kept) was set to sync with iCloud and because of this iCal spent an entire day trying to load itself to the server to no avail. I finally force quit iCal, turned off iCloud settings for everything except the "find my mac" app, re-opened iCal to find a blank calendar. I used your instructions to be able to get to the library folder before entering Time Machine. Instructions from an "iCal restore from Time Machine backup" thread advised me that after restoring the calendars folder from my latest backup, then opening iCal I would have my old calendars back on my MBP, and I can't express how grateful I am to say this WORKED! I can now go back to syncing my iPad, iPod, and MBP calendars via iTunes. iCloud sounds like a great idea, but with duplicate Notes entries and who knows what it might do to my calendar I refuse to trust it. Thanks so much for saving the day on this one.

@J. Richardson

Speaking as someone who has not used a Mac since the Apple ][ E I find Apple's "Intuitive" way of doing things a cludge. Your suggestion of dragging the icon only puts the Users directory in the sidebar and does not make the Library directory visible; both of the command line suggestions have made the Library directory visible.

I have used Windows for many years and am now desperately hoping that my investment in a MacBook has not been wasted - I know Apple has its own way of doing things, but idiosyncrasy does not have to be synonymous with bloody-mindedness, it has taken far longer than it should to be able to access one file.

I totally agree. Instead of asking a few newbie users to make the slightest effort to learn their machines, Apple instead imposes on everyone these workarounds that are not only inefficient, but also opaque and hence impossible to work through if you want to get at the root cause of a problem.

Practically speaking, I have a related question. I'm running Mavericks (10.9) on a MacBookPro:

What happened to the mail folders in /Library/Mail ?

In my System Library, my Mail folder contains: /Bundles/Attachment Tamer.mailbundle That's all.

In my User Library, my Mail folder contains: /OnlineAccountTypes/com.apple.updated.mailaccounts/MailAccounts.plist That's all.

How can I manage my mail with this insane lack of organization or tools? I'm tracking down a possibly infected mail folder and it's invisible!