Mac OS X doesn’t have an obvious way to view the exact text based path to a folder (otherwise known as a directory) in the finder window. You can have it show a graphical path, but getting just the text based path to a directory (for use in the Terminal for example) requires a couple of extra steps.
The Downloads folder is aptly named, since it’s where anything you download from Safari – or other browsers – ends up. This setting can be changed: in Safari, for example, go to Safari Preferences, click General, choose Other from File download location, and then select a different folder. Most people, though, stick with the default. One solution to this is to download CleanMyMac X. It’s a handy and easy-to-use Mac performance improvement app. It comes with a few tools for finding unlisted, hidden, and large old files that have slipped through the cracks. Here is how you use it: Download CleanMyMac X (download a free edition here). Click on Space Lens.
Mac OS X doesn’t have an obvious way to view the exact text based path to a folder (otherwise known as a directory) in the finder window. You can have it show a graphical path, but getting just the text based path to a directory (for use in the Terminal for example) requires a couple of extra steps.
Yosemite users special note
Apple removed the ability to easily copy the file path in OS X Yosemite. Yosemite users must now follow a complicated procedure of creating a Service to do this simple task or take the path directly from the command line.
El Capitan - Built in file path copy function
If you are a El Capitan user you are in luck, Apple has now created a specific command to capture the file path. Instructions on how to use this can be found here.
Mavericks and below - How to find the Absolute Path to a folder on Mac OS X
Here are the instructions for finding the file path on Mavericks and below..
The first thing to do is identify the folder you need to know the full path for. In this example it’s the “month 1″ folder of my Insanity Workout folder (and yes, I did buy Insanity, directly from Amazon actually and these are my back-ups. It’s not pirated like so much Beachbody stuff unfortunately is!):
Now we can simply press the “cmd+i” keys together to open up the “Get Info” window. This displays various bits of info about the folder as you can see below:
You can see that the Get Info window contains the line “Where:” followed by the text folder path. This is the path to the folder we have been looking for. The path to the folder is highlighted and made clearer in the screenshot below:
You can now copy this text based absolute folder path and paste it into your Terminal window. NOTE – If the directory path contains spaces, as the example i have used in this post does, you MUST use ” quotation ” marks around the path when typing it into the Terminal. The screenshot below demonstrates this:
Why might I need to know how to find the path to a folder on Mac?
Knowing the text based absolute path to a folder can be useful for a number of reasons. Being able to locate the precise path allows you to unlock the full power of the Terminal, which can often be faster and more efficient that using the Graphical User Interface.
Mac OS X doesn’t have an obvious way to view the exact text based path to a folder (otherwise known as a directory) in the finder window. You can have it show a graphical path, but getting just the text based path to a directory (for use in the Terminal for example) requires a couple of extra steps.
Yosemite users - special note
Apple removed the ability to easily copy the file path in OS X Yosemite. Yosemite users must now follow a complicated procedure of creating a Service to do this simple task or take the path directly from the command line.
El Capitan - Built in file path copy function
If you are a El Capitan user you are in luck, Apple has now created a specific command to capture the file path. Instructions on how to use this can be found at teh link below:
Mavericks and below - How to find the Absolute Path to a folder on Mac OS X
Here are the instructions for finding the file path on Mavericks and below..
The first thing to do is identify the folder you need to know the full path for. In this example it’s the “month 1″ folder of my Insanity Workout folder (and yes, I did buy Insanity, directly from Amazon actually and these are my back-ups. It’s not pirated like so much Beachbody stuff unfortunately is!):
Now we can simply press the “cmd+i” keys together to open up the “Get Info” window. This displays various bits of info about the folder as you can see below:
You can see that the Get Info window contains the line “Where:” followed by the text folder path. This is the path to the folder we have been looking for. The path to the folder is highlighted and made clearer in the screenshot below:
![Download Fold Path On Mac Download Fold Path On Mac](https://cdn.osxdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/downloads-folder-mac-menu-610x433.jpg)
You can now copy this text based absolute folder path and paste it into your Terminal window. NOTE – If the directory path contains spaces, as the example i have used in this post does, you MUST use ” quotation ” marks around the path when typing it into the Terminal. The screenshot below demonstrates this:
Why might I need to know how to find the path to a folder on Mac?
Knowing the text based absolute path to a folder can be useful for a number of reasons. Being able to locate the precise path allows you to unlock the full power of the Terminal, which can often be faster and more efficient that using the Graphical User Interface.
Terminal User Guide
In Terminal, you can move and copy files locally or remotely using the
mv
, cp
, and scp
command-line tools.Tip: It’s easier to move and copy files using the Finder. See Organize files in folders.
Move a file or folder locally
Downloads Path Mac
- In the Terminal app on your Mac, use the
mv
command to move files or folders from one location to another on the same computer. Themv
command moves the file or folder from its old location and puts it in the new location.For example, to move a file from your Downloads folder to a Work folder in your Documents folder:% mv ~/Downloads/MyFile.txt ~/Documents/Work/MyFile.txt
You can also change the name of the file as it’s moved:% mv ~/Downloads/MyFile.txt ~/Documents/Work/NewFileName.txt
Apple airport utility download mac. See the mv command man page.
Copy a file or folder locally
- In the Terminal app on your Mac, use the
cp
command to make a copy of a file.For example, to copy a folder named Expenses in your Documents folder to another volume named Data:% cp -R ~/Documents/Expenses /Volumes/Data/Expenses
The-R
flag causescp
to copy the folder and its contents. Note that the folder name does not end with a slash, which would change howcp
copies the folder.
See the cp command man page.
Copy a file or folder remotely
- In the Terminal app on your Mac, use the
scp
command to copy a file or folder to or from a remote computer.scp
uses the same underlying protocols asssh
.For example, to copy a compressed file from your home folder to another user’s home folder on a remote server:% scp -E ~/ImportantPapers.tgz [email protected]:/Users/username/Desktop/ImportantPapers.tgz
You’re prompted for the user’s password.The-E
flag preserves extended attributes, resource forks, and ACL information.The-r
flag, which isn’t used in this example, causesscp
to copy a folder and its contents.
See the scp command man page.
Add To Path On Mac
See alsoOpen or quit Terminal on MacOpen new Terminal windows and tabs on MacExecute commands and run tools in Terminal on Mac