Mainspring › Mainspring Guides › Show the Library folder
Mac settings with their own controls
Show the hidden Library folder
In the appBrowse all›Finder›Show the Library folder
Your personal Library folder — where apps keep their support files, caches and preferences — is hidden by macOS. One switch in Mainspring makes it visible in your Home folder.
Show it
- Open Browse all and pick the Finder chip.
- On Show the Library folder — “macOS hides ~/Library. Show it in your Home folder.” — flip the switch on.
- Finder restarts, and Library now appears in your Home folder.
Flip the switch off to hide it again.
How it works
Library isn't hidden because of its name, the way files starting with a dot are. It carries a
hidden flag. Mainspring clears that flag — the same as running chflags nohidden
~/Library in Terminal — so it stays visible whatever your other Finder settings. Switching off sets
the flag again.
- No administrator password is needed; the folder is yours.
- The switch shows the folder's real state. If something hides Library again — a macOS update, say — the switch shows off; flip it back on.
Library holds files your apps depend on. Looking is safe; deleting or moving
things in there can break apps or lose data.
Try it yourself
Everything in this guide is in Mainspring's free trial — no account needed, and every change can be undone in one click.
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