Every file on your Mac has a folder path that starts all the way at the root directory, but it’s not always easy to see what it is. Here are three ways to see the current folder path on your Mac.
See the Path Using Finder’s Status Bar
Let’s start with the simplest and most visual way of viewing the current folder path: using Finder’s own Path Bar feature. Open a Finder window, and from the top menu bar, click the “View” button. In the menu that appears, click “Show Path Bar.”
Instantly, you will see a new Path Bar at the bottom of every finder window. It will show you the system path to the current folder. You can double-click any folder listed in the bar to quickly jump to it.
Also, you can right-click any folder in the Path Bar to see a list of options. For example, if you want to copy the path for the selected folder, choose the “Copy (Folder) as Pathname” option.
You can then paste the folder path as text wherever you want (for instance, in a Terminal window or TextEdit).
It’s very handy.
See the Path Using the “Get Info” Panel
You can also see the full path for any file or folder using the “Get Info” panel. Open Finder and locate the file or folder in question. Right-click the item and choose “Get Info” from the menu.
In the “Get Info” panel, locate the “General” section and look at the “Where” heading. This will give you the full path.
You can also right-click the path in the “Where” section and choose “Copy” to quickly copy the full folder path to your clipboard as text.
When you’re done, close the “Get Info” window.
See the Path in the Finder Title Bar
If you don’t like the Path Bar at the bottom of the Finder window, you can enable a full path view in the title bar and tab bar of every Finder window with an advanced Terminal command. In macOS 11.0 and higher, the title bar truncates the full path, but you can hover over it to see the full path.
To get started, open the Terminal app. Click within the Terminal window that appears and paste the following command, followed by Return. (This sets a hidden system flag, then quits and relaunches all Finder windows. You won’t lose any data in the process.)
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true; killall Finder
Once the Finder windows are relaunched, you’ll see the full path of the folder in the title and tab bar.
Unlike the Path Bar, this feature is view-only. You can’t copy the folder path.
If you change your mind and want to disable the folder path feature, paste the following command in the Terminal app and press Return.
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool false; killall Finder
The Finder toolbar will be back to how it used to be. Once you’re done using the Terminal window, select Terminal > Quit Terminal from the menu bar (or press Command+Q) to quit the Terminal app.
RELATED: How to Open the Terminal on a Mac
