Mac Navigate To Library Folder

To unhide your Library folder in macOS Sierra, launch Finder and navigate to your user Home folder (you can jump directly to your user folder by select Go Home from the Finder’s menu bar. Mar 18, 2020 First, open the Finder and find the source library that you want to delete. By default, photo libraries are stored in your Pictures folder. If you can't find the library, follow the steps to choose a library; the path to the selected library's location appears in the Choose Library window. Next, move the source library to the Trash. Dec 12, 2016 And remember, the system level /Library folder is different from the user level /Library. How to Access User Library in MacOS Mojave, macOS Catalina, and MacOS Sierra. If you don’t need to constantly show the /Library folder on the Mac, you can just access it when needed by using the “Go” menu.

To combine Photos libraries, open the source library and export the photos and videos that you want to keep. Then open the destination library (the one that you want to use as your main library) and import the photos and videos.

Choose a photo library

Here's how to open one of the multiple photo libraries that you might have on your Mac or on a connected external drive:

Press and hold the Option key as you open the Photos app.
Select the library that you want to open, then click Choose Library.

Where Is My Library Folder

Photos uses this library until you open a different one using the same steps.

Export photos and videos from the source library

Open the source library, then decide whether you want to export your files as unmodified originals or edited versions:

Edited versions retain their edits when you import them. The advantage is that you don't have to recreate any edits; however, these files become the destination library's originals. This means that you can't revert to their earliest pre-import version.

Unmodified originals don't show any edits that you made when they were in the source library. This gives you flexibility for later editing, but recreating your edits might take substantial work.

How to export edited versions

In the Photos app, select the photos and videos that you want to export. To select multiple items, press and hold the Command key while you click. To select a group of items in order, click the first one, then press and hold the Shift key while you click the last one. This selects all of the items between the two that you clicked.
Choose File > Export > Export [number].
An export dialog appears.
- In the Photos section, set Photo Kind to JPEG, TIFF, or PNG. JPEG recompresses your photos, which may result in smaller file sizes. TIFF and PNG files are higher fidelity and may result in larger file sizes.
- In the Videos section, choose a Movie Quality setting. This section appears only if your selected items include videos.
- In the Info section, select the checkboxes if you want to preserve metadata and location data in the exported files.
- In the File Naming section, set File Name to Use File Name and set Subfolder Format to either Moment Name or None. Moment Name creates a subfolder for each Moment that's represented in your selected items. This is useful if you'd like to create an Album in the destination library for each Moment. The None option exports all of the files directly into the destination folder.
Click Export. A Finder dialog appears.
Navigate to the location where you want to save the files, such as the Desktop or an external drive. Click New Folder if you create a new folder for your exported items.
Click Export.

How to export unmodified originals

In the Photos app, then select the photos and videos that you want to export. To select multiple items, press and hold the Command key while you click. To select a group of items in order, click the first one, then press and hold the Shift key while you click the last one. This selects all of the items between the two that you clicked.
Choose File > Export > Export Unmodified Original.
An export dialog appears.
- If your photos include IPTC metadata (such as titles or keywords) that you want to keep, select the Export IPTC as XMP checkbox.
- Leave the File Name setting on Use File Name.
- Next to Subfolder Format, choose Moment Name or None. Moment Name creates a subfolder for each Moment that's represented in your selected items. This is useful if you'd like to create an Album in the destination library for each Moment. The None option exports all of the files directly into the destination folder.
Click Export. A Finder dialog appears.
Navigate to the location where you want to save the files, such as the Desktop or an external drive. Click New Folder if you create a new folder for your exported items.
Click Export Originals.

How to import photos and videos into the destination library

Open the destination library, then drag the folder that contains your exported items into the main area that shows your other photos and videos. When a green plus sign appears on your pointer, you can release the folder.

The photos in the folder are sorted into Moments based on their creation dates and locations. The videos are sorted based on the date you exported them from the source library.

If you created subfolders when you exported the items and you want to create an Album for each subfolder, follow these steps:

In the Finder, open a subfolder.
Select all of the photos and videos within the subfolder.
Drag the items onto My Albums in the Photos sidebar.
Name the Album in the highlighted text box that appears in the sidebar.
Repeat for each subfolder.

Save space by deleting the source library

If you're sure that you've exported all of the photos and videos that you want to keep from the source library, you can delete it to save disk space on your Mac.

First, open the Finder and find the source library that you want to delete. By default, photo libraries are stored in your Pictures folder. If you can't find the library, follow the steps to choose a library; the path to the selected library's location appears in the Choose Library window.

Next, move the source library to the Trash. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash to permanently delete the files.

Learn more

Learn how to access the hidden Library folder in your Home folder on your Mac so you can tweak app settings and access app files.

Inside the home folder on your Mac is a Library folder that stores app-specific files and settings, personal settings, and some data. The files and settings in the Library folder should be left alone for the most part. But, you may want to tweak the settings for an app, which may require accessing the Library folder. Or, maybe an app backs up data to the Library folder and you want to copy that to an external drive.

As of Mac OS X Lion (10.7), the Library folder in your home folder is hidden by default. That doesn’t mean you can’t get to it. It’s hidden so you don’t accidentally delete settings and data, damaging apps in the process. So, if you decide you want to access the Library folder, be very careful.

Today we’re going to cover different ways of accessing the hidden Library folder in your home folder and how to make it permanently available in Finder.

What is the Path to the Library Folder?

The Library in your home folder is written as ~/Library. The tilde (~) character is a shortcut for your home directory. For example, on my Mac, that would expand to /Users/lorikaufman/Library.

Access the Library Folder Using the Go to Folder Option

If you want to access the Library folder only occasionally, you can use the Go to Folder option in Finder.

Open Finder or just click on the desktop. Head to Go > Go to Folder, or hit Cmd + Shift + G.

Type:~/Library in the Go to the folder box on the dialog box and click Go or press Enter.

If you have one or more Finder windows open, the Library folder opens in the currently active window. If no Finder windows are open, a new one opens to the Library folder.

Access the Library Folder Using the Terminal

If you prefer using the command line, you can access the Library folder using the Terminal.

Go to Utilities > Terminal in the Applications folder. To access the Library folder directly in the Terminal, type:cd ~/Library at the prompt to switch to the Library folder.

You can type:ls at the prompt to get a detailed folder listing. You can work with the files in the Library folder directly on the command line. Just be careful.

You can also use the Terminal to open the Library folder in a Finder window. Type:open ~/Library at the prompt and hit Enter.

Access the Hidden Library Menu Option in Finder

The Library folder is available on the Go menu in Finder, but it doesn’t show on the menu by default.

To temporarily show the Library option on the Go menu, open the menu and press the Option key. The Library folder shows up between Home and Computer on the Go menu. Keep the Option key pressed while you move your mouse down the menu and select Library.

If you’re using a Windows keyboard with your Mac, press the Alt key.

Show the Library Folder Permanently in Finder

If you access the Library folder often, you can permanently show the Library option on the Go menu and the Library folder in your Home folder.

Open Finder and head to your Home folder using the left pane or by pressing Cmd + Shift + H. Then, go to View > Show View Options, or hit Cmd + J.

A dialog box displays with options you can set for your Home folder. Check the Show Library Folder box at the bottom of the dialog box. The Library folder now shows up in your Home folder in Finder windows and the Library option becomes permanently available on the Go menu.

When you permanently show the Library folder in Finder, you can hit Cmd + Shift + L to open it in a Finder window, in addition to selecting the Library option on the Go menu.