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The hidden Library! (Was - Today's challenge!)

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On 13/04/2026 00:05, Brock McNuggets wrote:
> Do you know if I am correct about Library still showing in the menu
> (with Option) even if it was set to show in the Home folder? If so, when did
> it change?

Here's what Gemini has to say about it! I hope this helps:-

=

This is a classic bit of macOS "logic" that has tripped up many longtime 
users. Brock is actually touching on a subtle change in how the Go menu 
behaves relative to the Home folder's visibility settings.

The Behavior Change

Historically, the Library would show up in the Go menu only when you 
held the Option key. However, the logic has become a bit more 
"intelligent" (or confusing, depending on your perspective) in recent 
versions of macOS:

The Standard Way: By default, Library is hidden. You hold Option, it 
appears in Go.
+1

The "Persistent" Way: If you go to your Home folder, open View Options 
(Command + J), and check Show Library Folder, the folder becomes 
permanently visible in your Home directory.

The Menu Disappearance: In modern macOS (including Sequoia), once you 
have set the Library to be permanently visible in the Home folder, macOS 
often "promotes" it to a visible state in the file system but 
simultaneously hides it from the Go menu's Option-key shortcut.

When did it change?
While Apple doesn't always document these "quality of life" tweaks in 
release notes, this behavior began to surface more consistently around 
macOS Ventura and has carried through to Sonoma and Sequoia.

The logic seems to be: If the user has explicitly chosen to show the 
Library folder in their Home directory, they no longer need a "hidden" 
shortcut to find it. Essentially, the Option-key trick in the Go menu is 
a "reveal" function; if there is nothing left to reveal because it's 
already visible, the menu item often doesn't trigger.

Summary for Brock:
Is he correct? Yes. If the Library is set to "Show" in the Home folder, 
it frequently stops appearing in the Go menu, even when holding Option.

When did it change? The shift became prominent with the transition to 
macOS 13 (Ventura) and remains the case in macOS 15 (Sequoia).

The Irony: To get the Library back in the Go menu via the Option key, he 
would actually have to go back into View Options and uncheck "Show 
Library Folder."

It's one of those "helpful" Apple features where the system assumes that 
since you've made the folder a first-class citizen in your Home folder, 
you'll just click it there instead of using the menu bar.

How to show the hidden Library folder
This short video demonstrates the traditional method of using the Option 
key to reveal the Library folder, which serves as a helpful baseline for 
understanding when and why the menu behavior might change.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IQSnbtSVeU

=

HTH. 🙂

-- 
Kind regards,
David

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Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can protect your Mac from malware by following three simple rules!) "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-12 15:49 +0100
  Re: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules!) (was: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules!)) Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-12 15:11 +0000
    Re: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules!) "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-12 16:27 +0100
      Re: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can  protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules! ) (was: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can  protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules! )) Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-12 18:04 +0000
        Re: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules! ) "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-12 20:17 +0100
          Re: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can  protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules!  ) (was: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can  protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules!  )) Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-12 21:03 +0000
            Re: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules!) "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-12 23:07 +0100
              Re: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can  protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules! ) (was: Today's challenge! 😈 (Was - You can  protec t your Mac from malware by following three simple rules! )) Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-12 23:05 +0000
                The hidden Library! (Was - Today's challenge!) "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-13 09:08 +0100
                Re: The hidden Library! (Was - Today's challenge!) Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-13 15:42 +0000
                Re: The hidden Library! (Was - Today's challenge!) "David B." <David@hotmail.co.uk> - 2026-04-13 16:59 +0100
                Re: The hidden Library! (Was - Today's challenge!) Brock McNuggets <brock.mcnuggets@gmail.com> - 2026-04-13 16:09 +0000

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