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

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Level 1

11 points

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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Answer 1

Best reply

BobHarris

Level 9

53,123 points

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

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Answer 2

charibancho Author

Level 1

11 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

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Answer 3

Kurt Lang

Level 9

58,116 points

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.

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Answer 4

charibancho Author

Level 1

11 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....

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Answer 5

Kurt Lang

Level 9

58,116 points

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.

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Answer 6

charibancho Author

Level 1

11 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.

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Answer 7

Kurt Lang

Level 9

58,116 points

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?

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Answer 8

BobHarris

Level 9

53,123 points

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

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Answer 9

charibancho Author

Level 1

11 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!

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