Jul 22, 2011 By the way, this chflags trick works to permanently show the User Library folder in macOS High Sierra and Sierra too, as well as El Capitan and other modern versions of Mac OS X system software. With that said, for most users that simply isn’t necessary because they won’t be accessing the Library directory or its contents enough to make it worthwhile.
- View another user's files in OS X. This was tested on Mac OS X 10.10 and 10.11 (see below). If you need to interact with applications and files from the other.
- The user’s documents and information remain and the user can be restored later if needed. The home folder remains in /Users/. Remove the user’s home folder from the computer: Select “Delete the home folder.” The user information is deleted and the storage space is freed. Delete a sharing-only user or a group: Click OK.
Your Photos library holds all your photos, albums, slideshows, and print projects. If your library is large, and you want to free up storage space on your Mac, turn on iCloud Photo Library and use Optimize Mac Storage, or move your library to an external drive.
Before you start, be sure to back up your library.
Prepare your drive
You can store your library on an external storage device, such as a USB or Thunderbolt drive formatted as APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled).1 Find out how to check the format of your external storage device.
To prevent data loss, Apple doesn't recommend storing photo libraries on external storage devices like SD cards and USB flash drives, or drives that are shared on a network.
Move your Photos library to an external storage device
- Quit Photos.
- In the Finder, go to the external drive where you want to store your library.
- In another Finder window, find your library. The default location is Users > [username] > Pictures, and it's named Photos Library.
- Drag your library to its new location on the external drive. If you see an error, select your external drive's icon in the Finder, then choose File > Get Info. If the information under Sharing & Permissions isn't visible, click , then make sure the 'Ignore ownership on this volume' checkbox is selected. If it's not selected, click to unlock it, enter an administrator name and password, then select the checkbox.2
- After the move is finished, double-click Photos Library in its new location to open it.
- If you use iCloud Photo Library, designate this library as the System Photo Library.
Delete original library to save space
After you open your library from its new location and make sure that it works as expected, you can delete the library from its original location.
In a Finder window, go back to your Pictures folder (or whichever folder you copied your library from) and move Photos Library to the trash. Then choose Finder > Empty Trash to delete the library and reclaim disk space.
Open another Photos library
If you have multiple libraries, here's how to open a different one:
- Quit Photos.
- Press and hold the Option key while you open Photos.
- Select the library that you want to open, then click Choose Library.
Photos uses this library until you open a different one.
Learn more
If you have a permissions issue with your library, you might be able to resolve the issue by using the Photos library repair tool.
1. You can't move your library to a disk that's used for Time Machine backups.
2. If the volume isn't formatted APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled), or has been used for Time Machine backups but hasn't been erased, this checkbox will either not be present, or won't be selectable after unlocking. Erase and reformat the drive for this option to be available.
15 6 likes 116,271 views Last modified Mar 26, 2013 10:23 AM
Hello and welcome to my User Tip
Sometimes you have a problem with System Preferences or something related to it, like it remembering your screensaver or desktop selection, or perhaps it won't launch or launches funky.
This procedure is for deleting the 'preferences' file(s) that is located in your (hidden) User/Library folder that can resolve issues like this.
When the computer is rebooted and the associated program launched again, it recreates this file, but blank of preferences, thus since it's rebuilt it's free of problems.
This procedure also works for other programs like iPhoto or iTunes, or whatever that stores a preference file (.plist) in the (hidden) User/Library folder, the procedure is the same, just sub out the program your having problems with .plist file instead of the System Preference .plist file below.
Known preference files issues:
com.apple.systempreferences.plist (corrupted/not launching System Preferences)
com.apple.desktop.plist (corrupted/not working desktop picture changes) Previous itunes libraries folder.
com.apple.safari.plist (safari issues)
See the Steps #12 and #13 for OnyX and it's preference file checker to find other corrupted preference (.plist) files that might be causing your issues.
Access Library Folder Mac
Copy and past library mac o come.
So we are going to delete a preference file in a hidden folder, this will only affect the preference file, not your personal files or programs.
1: Go to the Finder and select Go menu and Go To Folder
2: Now paste or type
~/Library/Preferences
Mac photos updating library.
3: Press GO! and a folder will appear
Remove Mac Library Files Other User Windows 10
4: Scroll down and find
com.apple.systempreferences.plist com.apple.desktop.plist (or whatever program your having problems with)
5: There may be two of the same named file, drag the one you can to the Trash can
6: Restart the computer and open System Preferences (or problem program) and reset all your preferences again