How to show the hidden ~/Library folder on Mac

Your Mac has two Library folders: the system-wide /Library and your personal ~/Library — that's the one at /Users/yourname/Library. Apple hides the personal one from Finder to protect it from accidental deletion, but it's exactly where you need to go to clear app caches, manage app support files, or set up Time Machine exclusions.

Why ~/Library is hidden

Apple started hiding ~/Library in OS X Lion (10.7) after too many users accidentally deleted or moved it while digging through their home folder. It contains configuration files, caches, cookies, and support files for every app on your Mac — losing it would be a mess. The hiding is intentional and sensible for most users. But for anyone who actually needs to get in there, it's an unnecessary obstacle.

Method 1: Go to Folder (one-time access, fastest)

If you just need to visit ~/Library occasionally, this is the quickest route — no permanent changes needed:

1. Click the Finder icon in your Dock to bring Finder to the front.
2. Press ⌘⇧G (or choose Go › Go to Folder from the menu bar).
3. Type ~/Library and press Return.

Finder opens the Library folder directly. You can bookmark it by dragging the folder icon from the toolbar into your Finder sidebar for easier future access.

Method 2: View Options toggle (persists for home folder)

This is a per-folder Finder setting that permanently reveals Library in your home folder without unhiding it system-wide:

1. Open Finder and navigate to your home folder (press ⌘⇧H or choose Go › Home).
2. Press ⌘J to open View Options for that folder.
3. Tick "Show Library Folder" at the bottom of the panel.
4. Close the View Options panel.

The Library folder now appears in your home folder in Finder. This setting is stored per-folder, so it survives restarts and only affects the home folder view — Library won't suddenly appear everywhere else.

Method 3: Terminal — permanent unhide

The most permanent approach is to remove the hidden flag from the folder itself using chflags:

# permanently unhide ~/Library in Finder
chflags nohidden ~/Library

No Finder restart needed. The folder appears immediately and will remain visible even after macOS updates. To hide it again:

# re-hide ~/Library (restore the default)
chflags hidden ~/Library

Unlike the View Options method, this works regardless of which Finder view you're using, and the folder stays visible in Open/Save dialogs too.

What's actually inside ~/Library?

The most useful subfolders for day-to-day troubleshooting:

• ~/Library/Caches — app cache files. Safe to delete the contents of individual app subfolders here to free disk space. Don't delete the Caches folder itself.
• ~/Library/Application Support — app data, databases, and config files. This is where many apps store their core data.
• ~/Library/Preferences — app preference files (.plist files). Deleting one resets that app to defaults.
• ~/Library/Containers — sandboxed app data for Mac App Store apps. Each app gets its own subfolder.
• ~/Library/Mail — Mail.app's local message store.

Common reasons to visit ~/Library

Clear an app's cache: Navigate to ~/Library/Caches, find the folder named after the app (usually by bundle ID like com.spotify.client), and delete its contents. The app recreates a fresh cache on next launch.

Reset a misbehaving app: Find the app's preference file in ~/Library/Preferences — it'll be named something like com.appname.plist — and delete it. The app launches as if for the first time.

Time Machine exclusions: If Time Machine is backing up something large you don't need (like Xcode simulator data in ~/Library/Developer), you can add specific subfolders to the exclusion list in Time Machine settings.