Sometimes, knowing the exact location of a file on your Mac is important, but Apple doesn't make the method for finding this information obvious. Maybe you need to know a file path to execute a Concluding command. Or perhaps you lot accept to direct an application to a specific location.

Although macOS doesn't bear witness paths clearly by default, several unlike methods can help y'all observe this information. Permit's discuss several means to view the exact location of an item on your Mac.

Enable Path Bar in macOS

Showing the Path Bar in Finder is an excellent way to always have crucial file location information displayed on-screen. In one case you enable the feature, the location of the current binder or selected file volition evidence at the bottom of the window.

You tin enable the Path Bar in macOS by clicking View > Show Path Bar. Clicking View > Hide Path Bar will exercise the opposite and remove file location information from the Finder interface.

Finder in macOS with Path Bar showing.

With the Path Bar showing, you tin can click on whatsoever binder within the construction to bound to that location. You tin can fifty-fifty drag a file onto a folder in the Path Bar to move it there.

If you want to copy a complete file path, yous can do so by Control-clicking the appropriate folder in the bar and selecting Copy "Folder" as Pathname. Once copied, you lot tin then paste the information wherever you need information technology to be.

Utilize Get Info to View File Path Information

The info window for any given item too displays file path data. You lot can access these details by Control-clicking a file or folder and selecting Become Info. Once the window appears, you lot'll see location details—which you tin highlight, copy, and paste if needed—in the Where section of the panel.

Easily View and Navigate Binder Structures in Finder

If you want an like shooting fish in a barrel way to navigate back through the electric current file structure, Finder has a useful feature that may not be obvious at kickoff glance.

Finder window with current folder structure revealed and clickable.

Control-clicking on the name of the electric current folder at the meridian of the window will reveal other items in the hierarchy. From here, y'all can click an entry from the list to jump to that location.

Show File Paths in Spotlight Search Results

On occasion, yous may locate a file using Spotlight only nonetheless non understand where the particular resides on the organization. Luckily, you can force Spotlight to show file path information past post-obit these steps:

  1. Search for an item using Spotlight.
  2. Hold the Cmd key to reveal the file path of the selected entry.

If the preview console is present, the file path bar will appear at the bottom of that window. If no preview is showing, the file path appears beside the name of the selected entry in the results.

You tin also open a file'south folder from the Spotlight search results window, which is handy in some situations. To exercise so, hold the Cmd central while opening it.

Apple tree's macOS Provides Multiple File Path Options

Apple doesn't make the methods for finding file path information obvious. However, once you know a few tricks, you tin can venture down i of several different avenues and arrive at the same place. Whether you desire to view, re-create, or navigate a certain folder construction, one of the methods mentioned should get the job done.

Some people consider macOS a express operating arrangement. But Apple normally offers several unlike means to complete whatsoever given task. A fiddling variety keeps things interesting and caters to the many different ways people like to piece of work. When information technology comes to macOS, in that location'southward usually more than ane mode to peel an apple.

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About The Author

Matt Moore (82 Articles Published)

Matt is an Australian freelance writer with a degree in creative and critical writing. Prior to commencing his studies, he worked in tech support and gained valuable insights into technology and its users. His true passion is telling stories, and he hopes to one day write a novel worthy of publication.

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