![Accidentally Deleted Library Folder Mac Command Line Accidentally Deleted Library Folder Mac Command Line](/uploads/1/2/6/2/126263970/275552904.png)
Dec 23,2019 • Filed to: Solve Mac Problems • Proven solutions
“I just encounter some problem on my Mac and I need to get access to hidden files for troubleshooting purpose. So, can you tell me how to see hidden files on Mac?”
Just like other operating systems, Mac OS also hides some files from users. In general, this is reasonable to protect crucial files from being deleted and protecting macOS from being damaged. But, sometimes you may need to view hidden files such as for troubleshooting purpose or you want to wipe out junk files on your Mac. Fortunately, you can easily view hidden files on Mac and there are numerous methods to do that.
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Part 1. Overview of Mac Hidden Files
Before you learn how to find hidden files on Mac, you need to first understand what hidden files are actually, and what makes them hidden from you.
1. What Are the Hidden Files on Mac?
Hidden files on Mac are those files hidden from the eye of users. Even though these files are hidden or invisible to you, the way they take up memory on Mac is the same normal files do. Apple hides files, such as caches, logs, preferences, and other files of apps and macOS system by default.
Most of the hidden files are stored in the Library folder. This folder contains your application-support files and personal data. You will see “.” in front of every hidden file name. You can’t view them until you modify your Mac system to see them manually.
Moreover, there are also some special apps that enable you to hide normal files so that you can protect them from unauthorized access.
There are a lot of users who may hide some files and afterward, forget about those files. Sometimes, they fail to realize how much invisible files present on their Mac system. Nevertheless, have you ever wondered why some files are hidden from you on Mac by Apple?
2. What Make the Files Hidden or Invisible?
There are a number of reasons why Apple hides some files on Mac. Here, we are going to mention six common ones you need to know:
- The first and foremost reason why Apple hides files from you is to protect them from being damaged by inaccurate operations.
- Sometimes, you accidentally delete some important files when you are trying to free up storage space on your Mac. That’s why core system files are hidden to protect them from accidental deletion or human error.
- Unlike other files such as photos and videos, there are some system related files on Mac and if they do any changes in those files, then it can stop your Mac system to function properly. That’s why these files are invisible to you.
- Another reason why some files are hidden because if they were all visible to you, then your Mac would appear to be horribly cluttered.
So, keep in mind that modifications of these files can be quite dangerous as it can seriously damage your Mac system or lose your data. However, there are also lots of files and data from previously-removed applications that are useless now, and still taking up useless storage space on your Mac. That’s why we come up with this guide to help you to view invisible files on Mac.
Four Ways to Show Hidden Files on Mac
There are a lot of methods available out there to view invisible files on Mac. But, here we are going to mention the easiest methods to show hidden files on Mac. You can choose any of the below-mentioned methods as per your choice.
1. Use Keyboard Shortcut to View Hidden Files on Mac
Modern versions of macOS provide an easy and super-fast way to view invisible files on Mac, and all you have to do is to use Keyboard shortcut.
If you are using macOS high Sierra, macOS Sierra or above, then you can easily show hidden files on Mac with a keystroke and you can hide them again with another strike too. Using the keyboard shortcut for Show Hidden files is quite simple and here is how you can do it:
- To start with, go to the folder where you think hidden files present from Finder of your Mac.
- After that, you need to press “Command + Shift + Period” to toggle to view hidden files.
You can hide files again using the same keyboard shortcut that you used to show the hidden files. And if you are using Mac version earlier than OS Sierra, then try the next methods to show invisible files on Mac.
2. Use the Finder to See Hidden Files on Mac
With the help of keyboard shortcut, you can easily view the hidden files on your Mac. There is also another easiest way to see hidden files, and it is using the Finder.
- To start with, open Finder.
- Next, you need to hold down “Alt (Option)” and select “Go” from the drop-down menu.
- Now, you will view the hidden ~/Library folder
In this way, the hidden ~/Library folder will remain visible to you until you close Finder window. With keyboard shortcut, hidden files will remain visible until you again press “Cmd + Shift + Period”. But, you can also keep the invisible ~/Library folder always visible. All you have to do is to drag the invisible Library icon from Finder window to Finder sidebar.
3. Use Terminal to Show Hidden Files on Mac
Another method to show hidden folders on Mac is using the terminal. Well, Terminal is a command-line interface of Mac OS and it is included within macOS by default, and let you use command prompt or cmd so that you can control your Mac system. If you are already familiar with how to use Terminal, it is quite easy and straightforward to show hidden files on Mac using Terminal.
Follow the below steps on to carry out the process for Mac terminal show hidden files:
- To commence the process, run Terminal. You can do it using Spotlight search or from “Finder”>” Utilities”.
- Next, you need to type in: “defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE”. Next, press Enter and after that, you need to type: “killall Finder”. And press Enter.
- Now, you are done and your hidden files will be visible.
This command executes two tasks. The first part before True changes a setting in macOS to show all hidden files automatically. And the second one “killall Finder” restarts the Finder and refresh to show all hidden files. If you want to hide the files again, then all you have to do is to run the same command, but you need to change “true” to “false” value.
4. Use Recoverit to Recover Invisible Files on Mac
What if all above methods fail to find desired hidden files you’re looking for on your Mac? All you need to do is to use Recoverit Data Recovery Mac, easy-to-use data recovery software that can help you to recover invisible files on your Mac with ease and high success rate. It is known as one of the most reliable data recovery tools that can recover data on all Mac OS X, which include macOS Mojave and other Mac versions too. With the help of it, you can recover various types of files, such as photos, videos, audios, etc.
Whenever you experience a data loss situation, Recoverit will help you to retrieve it. This data recovery software will come in handy even when you’ve never made a backup of your device. You now know how to partition Mac hard drive and unpartition it. But knowing how you can recover the lost or deleted files from the drive is also necessary.
Part 3. How to Find and Recover Hidden Files on Mac?
Finding and recovering hidden files on Mac with Recoverit data recovery software is quite easy and it can be done within three easy steps. But, you need to first download and install the software on your computer and afterward, follow the below steps on how to find hidden photos on Mac:
Step 1: Select a Location
Launch the software and select the drive from where the data files are lost. If you don’t know which drive to search, tap on the “I can’t find my partition” option and hit the Start button.
Step 2: Scan the Location
Typically, the software will run an All-Around Recovery scan and search for the lost and deleted files on the entire drive.
Step 3: Preview and Recover
When the scan completes, the files will be listed on the screen. The software will sort out the files according to format to make the search easier. You can select multiple files at a time and have a preview at them.
That’s how you can show hidden items Mac with the help of Recoverit. The software will sure to find your desired hidden files so that you can have it back again on your Mac.
Hopefully, this guide helps Mac users who have reported that all my files are gone on Mac. There are good common measures to locate disappeared files on Mac. If you are unable to find your desired files even after using common methods, then Recoverit is here to help you. This data recovery tool for Mac can locate and recover lost, missing or disappeared files within a few minutes.
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FonePaw - Solution - Recovery - Recover Deleted Files Mac
It is easy to delete files on a Mac, but recovering deleted files from Mac, especially recovering permanently deleted files after emptying Trash, is difficult - though it is not impossible. This article is going to show 4 ways to recover recently or permanently deleted files on MacBook, iMac, Mac Mini with or without software. You can:
- Recover deleted files from empty Trash;
- Retrieve files that are deleted by Command-Shift-Delete or Command-Shift-Option-Delete;
- Restore deleted files or folders that are removed via 'Delete Immediately' option from the File menu in Finder.
Read on to learn more.
Recover Files from Trash on Mac
Macintosh computers have Trash to hold deleted files. If you recently deleted a file on Mac, you should first search Trash for the deleted file.
Step 1 On a Mac, open Trash from Dock.
Step 2 Then view the deleted files by size, kind, date added, etc. Or type a keyword in the search bar to find the deleted files that you need.
Step 3 Select and drag the deleted files to any place you like. The files will be restored to your Mac.
Recover Empty Trash on Mac
If you have emptied Trash or bypass Trash and permanently deleted files via keyboard shortcut (Command-Shift-Delete or Command-Shift-Option-Delete), you cannot find the deleted files on Trash nor easily undo empty Trash. Migrating itunes library from windows to mac pro.
To undelete files on Mac, you should download FonePaw Data Recovery, which can recover deleted files from Mac computer, external hard drive, SD card, USB drive on Mac. Deleted photos, videos, documents (word, excel, pdf, ppt and more), audio, emails, browsing history are recoverable with this Mac files recovery software.
It works with iMac, MacBook, Mac Mini running from macOS Mojave 10.14, macOS High Sierra 10.13, macOS Sierra 10.12, Mac OS X El Capitan 10.11/ Yosemite 10.10/Mavericks 10.9/ Mountain Lion 10.8/Lion 10.7, supporting files recovery for NTFS, HFS+, FAT, etc. file systems.
Download FonePaw Mac Data Recovery (free trial).
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Tip: If you continue to use Mac after the files are deleted, there are chances that the deleted files are covered by new files and cannot be recovered by FonePaw Data Recovery. So to increase your chances of recovering deleted files on Mac, do not run other applications except for the data recovery application.
Step 1 Run FonePaw Mac Data Recovery.
Note: If you need to recover deleted files from a Mac computer and see a message like 'Startup disk is protected by 'System Integrity Protection' on your Mac. Please disable it for data recovery completely,' you need to disable System Integrity Protection on your Mac before using the software. Since the deleted data are saved in the system files that are protected by System Integrity Protection, FonePaw Mac Data Recovery cannot find the deleted files when System Integrity Protection is on.
Step 2 Tick photos, videos, documents or other kinds of files you want to retrieve from Mac. Then select the drive that used to contain the deleted files.
Tip: If you need to recover deleted files from SD card, USB drive, etc. on Mac, connect the storage device to Mac and select it in Removable Drive.
Step 3 Click Scan for the application to find deleted files on your Mac. The application provides two modes of file recovery: Quick Scan and Deep Scan. Quick Scan can recover files that are deleted recently while Deep Scan can find out all deleted files on a Mac. So Deep Scan will take a quite long time, from several hours to even one day, depending on the storage size of your hard drive.
Step 4 During the scanning, you can view the found files by types or path. Once you see the deleted files that you need, pause the Deep Scan, select the files and click Recover to get them back to your Mac.
Recover Deleted Files on Mac without Software
You can also recover deleted files on Mac without software, only if you have backed up the deleted files to an external hard drive with Time Machine. To restore deleted files from Time Machine, follow the steps below.
Step 1 Launch Time Machine on your Mac. You can access it via System Preferences > Time Machine or using Spotlight Search.
Step 2 Find the deleted files from the backup that are created before the files are deleted.
Step 3 Select the files and click Restore.
The Time Machine method only works if you have set up Time Machine backup before the files are deleted. If not, your best chance to retrieve deleted files is using a Mac data recovery software.
Recover Deleted Files from Mac via Terminal
Terminal is an application that enables users to complete different tasks on Mac with Unix command line. Some users wonder if there is a command line that can recover deleted Mac files via Terminal. Yes, there is a command line to recover deleted files, but only from Trash. So if the deleted files are emptied from Trash, there is no command line to recover the emptied trash.
To restore deleted files via Terminal, follow these steps.
Step 1 Open Terminal. You will see the command-line interface.
How to search library on mac. May 30, 2019 Despite the fact that Apple keeps the Mac Library folder hidden from users, it’s good to learn how to show the Library folder on Mac. You may need to access the Library folder when you need to clear cache, remove the app’s leftovers, edit preference files manually, etc.
Step 2 Type cd .Trash. Hit Enter.
Step 3 Type mv xxx ./. Replace the xxx part with the name of the delete file. Hit Enter.
Step 4 Open Finder and in the search bar, enter the name of the delete file and hit Enter. The deleted file will appear.
Wrap-up
When you realize that you have deleted files that you actually need, you should first check Trash to see if the files are restorable. If the files have been deleted from Trash, restore files from Time Machine backup if you have one. If not, your only chance to get back the deleted files is using Mac files recovery software - FonePaw Data Recovery. To make sure the deleted files won't be overwritten by new files, do not use the Mac to create or download new files (only run FonePaw Data Recovery on the Mac to search for deleted files if possible).
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Accidentally Deleted Library Folder Mac Command Lines
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