iCloud Drive Desktop and Documents sync has been a game changer in terms of Mac users having the same stuff on all computers. Dropbox is probably more reliable and flexible, but it requires that you have a workflow of saving stuff into your Dropbox folder, and some Mac users just don’t want to do that; they want to put stuff in the Desktop and Documents folders that come on the computer, and call it a day.

Mac File Directory
Mac Root Directory
Find Directory Mac
Change Directory In Mac

Mac File Directory

iCloud Drive Desktop and Documents (which I’ll just call iCDD) takes care of that for them. And then, when they buy a new computer, rather than restore from a Time Machine backup (which is what I’d still recommend), they can just sign into their iCloud account and have access to all of their stuff, much like on their iPhone.

The Download Folder is essential in Mac because it contains important data that you have downloaded over the internet. We all delete files and folders in a bid to gain some extra storage space in Mac and the in-built utility ‘Optimized Storage’ is adequate to accomplish this task. Apple Mac users. To clear the files in the Downloads folder from your hard drive in iOS, follow the instructions below. Select Finder from the Dock at the bottom of your desktop. In the window that appears, select Downloads from the list on the left side of the screen. Clear each of the download history entries by highlighting them and pressing. Instead, macOS has a /usr/local/opt folder, something you can make visible in Finder. Ordinarily, you aren't going to need to find and access the /usr/local/opt folder unless you need to download new software applications from third-party providers, such as Intel or Homebrew.

Since the Downloads folder is the default download destination in Mac, you may want to know how to quickly access it. Below are some of the fastest and easiest ways to get to the folder and access your files. Where to Find the Downloads Folder. In all Mac computers, the Downloads folder is located in the Home directory where it is aptly named.
Where are the photos I imported into Photos on my Mac? By default, the photos and videos you import into Photos are stored in the Photos library in the Pictures folder on your Mac. When you first use Photos, you create a new library or select the library that you want to use. This library automatically becomes your System Photo Library.

But what about the Downloads folder? Apple makes clear they expect what’s in your Downloads folder to be temporary, to be moved to elsewhere, or deleted. But that’s not how I roll, and many other people don’t either. Stuff accumulates there and I might want it regardless of what computer I actually downloaded it on.

If you want a synchronized Downloads folder, do this:

Open iCloud Drive
Make a Downloads folder in it
Put that Downloads folder in your sidebar (it will look like a regular folder, rather than a circle with a downward pointing arrow)
Move everything in your existing Downloads folder to the new Downloads folder
Remove the old (circular) Downloads folder from your sidebar by dragging it out, or by unchecking it under Finder -> Preferences -> Sidebar
Open Terminal, and type:
sudo rm ~/Downloads; ln -s ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/Downloads/ ~/Downloads
Enter your computer password (which you won’t see as you type)

If you’re not comfortable using Terminal, instead set each of your browsers, in their Preferences, to use your new Downloads folder instead of the one in your Home folder.

Repeat the above on each of your computers.

30 Apr 2016

You can easily change the Downloads folder location on Mac OS X.

Why Move Downloads Folder?

There may be different reasons why people want to move their Downloads folder location.

These days many of the Apple Macs come with solid state drives (SSD) which are not as large in volume/capacity as the hard disk drives (HDD) used to be. For example, the standard Macbook Pro Retina comes with 256GB of SSD space. Some of that is used for the operating system and then you are left with very little for photos, downloads, files, apps, etc.

As a result of new Macs with smaller internal storage, you may want to move your Downloads folder to another volume such as an external drive, flash drive or SD card connected to your Mac. Yes, you can move your downloads folder permanently to another volume like this.

How To Move Mac OS Downloads Folder

Follow these steps to move your Downloads folder on Mac OS to another location:

1. Create New Downloads Folder

Go to the location where you want your new Downloads folder to be and create a folder named “Downloads“.

For example, I have an external drive plugged into USB where I want the Downloads folder to be.Â So I find my external drive in Finder and create a new “Downloads” folder there.

2. Copy Existing Downloads Over

If you want to keep your existing downloads, you’ll need to copy it over.

Simply use the Finder app to drag and drop the contents of the existing Downloads folder to the new Downloads folder.

3. Delete Old/Default Downloads Folder

In order to create a symbolic link in step 4 below, you’ll need to delete the old/default Downloads folder in Mac OS. It may not be possible to delete the old/default Downloads folder in Finder directly due to permissions on the folder so you’re better off doing it in the Terminal using sudo command.

Open the Terminal app and type the following command followed by your password for your account:

View the code on Gist.

Note that this deletes your old/default Downloads folder with all it’s contents.

4. Create Symbolic Link

Next you’ll create a symbolic link from the default Downloads folder in Mac OS to the new one in the other location.

Open the Terminal and type the following command:

View the code on Gist.

Note that command creates a link (ln command) between a target and source directory. The -sparameter creates a symbolic link.

Be sure to change /Volumes/My Passport 1/Downloads/with the absolute path to your new Downloads folder you created in the new location. In my case, Mac OS gave my external drive the path /Volumes/My Passport 1/and then I add the /Downloads/part to the path in the command. The backslashes in the path is simply to escape the spaces in the folder name of the external drive.

Mac Root Directory

If you’re not sure what the path to the new location is and you’re using either an internal or external storage, you can use the Disk Utility app in Mac OS to determine the mount point.

Mac OS Downloads Folder Moved!

Find Directory Mac

That’s it, you’re all done moving your Mac OS Downloads folder.

Change Directory In Mac

The symbolic link you created in step 4 will ensure that any applications putting downloads in the old location ~/Downloadswill go to the new Downloads folder in the new location so that you don’t have to go and edit the Downloads folder in individual applications.

Mac Download Directory