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1

Starting on Lion, Apple decided to annoy the users hiding the ~Library directory.

I was forced to type this on terminal to bring it back:

sudo chflags nohidden ~/Library

the problem is that every new OS update makes the folder hidden again, forcing me to type the command every time.

Is there a way to make it read-only so Apple cannot change it back?

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It is worth stating - "Apple" only changes this when you run a repair by Disk Utility or an installer package that touches library. Anything you can set (including immutable bits) can be undone by Apple's tools if you run them. – bmike♦ Oct 10 '12 at 14:39

4 Answers

up vote 2 down vote accepted

If you don't want to add a login item, you could also save this as ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.stackexchange.apple.66594.plist:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC -//Apple Computer//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN
http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd>
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
    <key>EnableGlobbing</key>
    <true/>
    <key>Label</key>
    <string>com.stackexchange.apple.66594</string>
    <key>ProgramArguments</key>
    <array>
        <string>chflags</string>
        <string>nohidden</string>
        <string>~/Library/</string>
    </array>
    <key>RunAtLoad</key>
    <true/>
</dict>
</plist>
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this is the best solution so far! Just one question: why this suffix .apple.66594.? – Mike Oct 8 '12 at 13:35
It's the DNS form of this question's URL and the id in reverse DNS notation. You can obviously change it to something else (like show_library) though. – Lauri Ranta Oct 8 '12 at 18:16
1  
no, I asked why apple and this number in particular... – Mike Oct 9 '12 at 0:25
anyway, thanks! – Mike Oct 10 '12 at 23:06
up vote 2 down vote

You can use Automator to create a simple app using the Run Shell Script action (with the chflags command within) and put it in your Login Items (in the Users & Groups preferences). It will run every time you log in, so while OS updates will still re-hide the Library, you'll never notice.

Daniel Jalkut of Red Sweater Software has a pre-made app for this if you don't want to bother making your own. You can find it on his blog. Just download it and drag it to your Login Items.

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very good!!!!!!! – Mike Oct 7 '12 at 18:54
up vote 0 down vote

No. Apple is firm in its decision to hide that folder. The only workaround is to either use the Go menu entry in Finder (simply hold down the OPTION key) or create an alias in ~/.bash_profile:

alias see='chflags nohidden ~/Library'

Then you only need to fire up Terminal and type "see."

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good idea, but I have no .bash_profile file in my home directory. I have created one and added this line but it is no working. – Mike Oct 7 '12 at 18:40
@Mike, if you define the bash alias as described, you'll need to execute it to unhide the ~/Library folder by running see in Terminal. – Gerry Oct 7 '12 at 18:56
up vote 0 down vote

Really simple. Use the Go Menu/Option key trick to access the Library, then drag it to the Finder window sidebar.

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