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.
In the Safari app on your Mac, click anything identified as a download link, or Control-click an image or other object on the page. Choose Download Linked File. (Some webpage items can’t be downloaded.) Safari decompresses files such as.zip files after it downloads them. The hottest downloads on Apple.com. Browse and download thousands of apps for your Mac — from your Mac. Shop for apps by category, read user reviews, and buy apps in one simple step. Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the downloaded file, and choose Open Containing Folder (Windows) or Show in Finder (Mac OS). Safari (Mac OS): Choose Window Downloads or press Option+Command+L.
- Download and set up OneDrive Files On-Demand. Download and install OneDrive Files On-Demand for Mac. For new OneDrive accounts on Mac OS Mojave, Files On-Demand is turned on by default when you set up OneDrive. Existing users need to turn on Files On-Demand in OneDrive Preferences.
- Mac folder Icons - Download 5036 Free Mac folder icons @ IconArchive. Search more than 600,000 icons for Web & Desktop here.
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:
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.
Download purchased apps, previous versions of apps, and free trials. Also, locate apps you've already installed.
Three types of downloads are available from Adobe.com:
- Current versions of apps for purchase
- Trial downloads
- Previous versions of apps purchased via electronic software download (ESD)
Log in to your Adobe ID account to download an app that you purchased from the Adobe online store, or to download a previous version of an app. A history of your ESD purchases from the Adobe Store is available in your Adobe account.
Note:
Important: If you purchased a previous version of an Adobe software product on disc, you cannot download the app from Adobe.com.
- Under Order History, click the order number for the app you are looking for.
- On the order page, under Items, find the app you want to download, and select Downloads and serial numbers.
- Download your application using the given links in the next screen.
When you download an app from Adobe.com, you choose a location to save the software. If you can’t remember where you saved the files, try the following solutions.
Note:
If you downloaded an app using Internet Explorer 7 on Windows Vista, your download could have been virtualized. See Can’t find or start the download installer.
Check the location where your browser automatically saves downloaded files:
- Safari (macOS): Choose Safari > Preferences. In the General tab, the download location is in the Save Downloaded Files To setting.
- Google Chrome: Choose Settings > Advanced. Under Downloads,you can access the Download location setting.
- Internet Explorer (Windows): C:...[user name]My DocumentsDownloads, or C:...[user name]Downloads
- Firefox: Choose Firefox > Preferences (Mac OS) or Tools > Options (Windows). In the General tab, look in the Downloads area. The download location is in the Save Files To setting.
Check the Downloads window (Firefox, Safari, Chrome)
Firefox and Safari track the progress of files they download. If Firefox or Safari (not Akamai Download Manager) managed the download, check the Downloads window for the location of your downloaded files:
- Firefox: Choose Tools > Downloads, or press Ctrl+J (Windows) or Command+J (Mac OS). Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the downloaded file, and choose Open Containing Folder (Windows) or Show in Finder (Mac OS).
- Safari (Mac OS): Choose Window > Downloads or press Option+Command+L. Control-click the downloaded file and choose Show in Finder.
- Google Chrome: Choose Settings > Downloads or press Ctrl+J. Click the Show in folder link under the downloaded file.
Search your hard disks for the downloaded files using either of the following criteria:
- Look for files modified on the date that you downloaded.
- If you downloaded a CS5 application, look for files that contain CS5. On Windows, you can add wildcards by searching for *CS5*.
Mac Download Folder Path Terminal
Note:
For assistance with searching your hard disk, see the Help files for your operating system.
If Akamai Download Manager on Firefox or Safari managed the download, Akamai Download Manager’s log file of the download session contains the location of the saved download. To use the log file to find your downloaded file, use the steps for your browser and operating system below.
- Open %USERPROFILE%.DownloadManager.DMQueue in a text editor such as Notepad.
- Look at the top of the log file for the following line: ;LAST_TARGET_FOLDER=[disk location]. For example, this line indicates that the file was saved to your desktop:;LAST_TARGET_FOLDER=C:Documents and Settings[username]desktop
- Open Terminal and type the following command: grep LAST_TARGET_FOLDER ~/.DownloadManager/.DMQueue
- Look in the Terminal window for the location of the saved file. For example, this line indicates that the file was saved to your desktop:% grep LAST_TARGET_FOLDER ~/.DownloadManager/.DMQueue ;LAST_TARGET_FOLDER=/Users/[username]/desktop %
Find downloads for Adobe product purchased via Retail
Mac Downloads Folder Icloud
If you purchased an Adobe product via a retail outlet, such as BestBuy or Amazon.com, and no longer have the installation media, you may be able to download your software from the Other Downloads page on Adobe.com.
If you can’t find your downloaded file, try the download again. Or, see any of the following for more help, depending on what you are downloading:
You can also visit the Download, install, and setup forum for help from other customers.