1. Mar 29, 2019 Method 1 Showing the Library Folder Temporarily 1. Click the icon that resembles a blue and white smiley face on the far-left side. It's a menu item at the top of the screen. Clicking it prompts a drop-down menu. Hold down the ⌥ Option key. This key is in the lower-left.
2. Dec 12, 2016 The User Library folder is hidden by default in MacOS Catalina, MacOS Mojave, macOS High Sierra, and macOS Sierra, but some advanced users may wish to show and access the /Library/ folder, which contains preference files, caches, and application support data.

Photos User Guide

If you back up your Mac with Time Machine, you can easily restore a photo library to its state when the last backup was performed.

Dec 07, 2014 Since Mail keeps all of its data in the Macintosh HD username Library Mail folder, you might consider going to your user account’s library (by holding the Option key and choosing Library from the Go menu in the Finder), and then invoking Time Machine from within the Finder to restore a recent backup of the “Mail” folder Time Machine; however, you will likely find that even though you can view this folder in Time Machine, the “Restore” button will not be available when.

Note: If you use iCloud Photos and you restore the System Photo Library from a Time Machine backup, any photos you’ve deleted since the last Time Machine backup are restored to your Mac and uploaded to iCloud again. If you chose to optimize Mac storage, Time Machine may not have a backup of your originals. However, the originals are stored in iCloud.

1. If the Photos app on your Mac is open, choose Photos > Quit Photos.

2. Click the Time Machine icon in the menu bar and choose Enter Time Machine, or choose the Apple menu > System Preferences, then click Time Machine.

   Time Machine opens and shows your available backups.

3. Click the date of your last backup, navigate to the backup of your photo library, then click to select it.

4. Click Restore.

   Depending on the size of your library, it may take some time for your library to be restored. When you next open Photos, you should be able to use your Photos library as it was when last backed up.

While many Mac users may never need to access their User Library folder while running macOS Sierra — some advanced users, may need to get in there and access support data and such when troubleshooting. The folder is hidden by default in macOS Sierra, but it only take a few moments to access it, or make it so that the folder is always visible.

Before we begin, we want to say that it’s usually a good idea to leave things in the users ~/Library folder alone, unless directed to by support personnel. The folder contains caches, application support data, and preference files, and if you screw around in there too much, you could really screw things up. We DO NOT recommend it. Now that our butts are covered, here’s how to find and display your User Library folder.

Opening the User Library Folder in macOS Sierra

If you just need to access the user ~/Library folder on occasion, you can get into it by using the Finder “Go” menu.

1. From the Finder in macOS, (Click anywhere on the Desktop where there isn’t already an app window, and you should see “Finder” appear in the upper left hand corner of your display, up near the Apple icon), click the “Go” menu item, and then hold down the SHIFT key on your Mac’s keyboard.
2. Click on “Library” in the drop-down list. (If you release the SHIFT key, the “Library” option will disappear from the menu. Now you see it, now you don’t.)

If you’re not much of a mouser, you can just hit the key combo of Command + Shift + L, and a Finder window will appear showing the ~/Library directory of the active user account.

Always Show the User Library Folder in macOS Sierra

If you are an advanced user, you might want to always display the user ~/Library folder in your user Home directory. It just takes a few clicks to enable this option.

1. In Finder, go to the Users’ home folder
2. Click the “View” menu and then click “View Options”
3. Click the “Show Library Folder” option in the Settings options for the User home folder, as shown below.

Following the above steps will change the settings for only the current user. Any other users will also have to follow the above steps while logged into the machine.

Show Library Folder Mac Time Machine Restore

These steps also work with Mac OS X El Capitan and Yosemite. In earlier versions of OS X, a command line entry was required to perform the same magic.

Show Library Folder Mac Sierra

(Thanks to OS X Daily)