Make system files and folders visible
By default, the Finder hides root-level directories (/usr, /lib, /etc, etc.,) from dialog boxes, which makes it hard to navigate there. Here's one trick to make them accessible to the Finder's — and every app's — dialog boxes.
- In the Finder, type "shift command G" ("Go to folder").
- Type "/usr" (for example) and click "Go".
- Drag the tiny "usr" icon at the top of the window over to the sidebar.
Voilà! From now on, /usr will always be easily accessible to "open" and "save" dialog boxes in all your apps.
To make every file visible to the Finder — including those that begin with a ".", such as .htaccess or .login — issue the following command at the Terminal:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE; killall Finder
To make those 'invisible' files go away again, do this:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE; killall Finder
I like to be able to turn those invisible files on and off easily, so I have a couple of aliases in my ~/.alias file:
alias dot+ "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE; killall Finder" alias dot- "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE; killall Finder"
Then it's simply a matter of typingdot+ or dot- to toggle the visibility of those "invisible" files.
Or you could use a third-party utility such as TinkerTool.