If you find yourself frequently searching for a certain folder in Finder on your Mac, you can create a quick “bookmark” to that folder instead. Here are three ways to do it.
RELATED: What Is Finder on a Mac?
Method 1: Add a Favorites Sidebar Shortcut
The easiest way to add a bookmark-like shortcut to a folder is by dragging it into your “Favorites” sidebar in Finder. First, click the Finder icon in your Dock to bring Finder to the foreground.
Next, open a new Finder window. If you don’t see a sidebar on the left side of the window, select “View” > “Show Sidebar” in the menu bar (or press Option+Command+S on your keyboard).
Using the Finder window, locate the folder that you’d like to add to your “Favorites” sidebar. Click and drag that folder’s icon into the “Favorites” list. (If the “Favorites” list is collapsed, click the small arrow beside it to expand it.)
Once you have the folder icon hovering over the “Favorites” list, you’ll have the opportunity to place it in any position. Release your mouse or trackpad button when ready, and you’ll see the folder’s name appear in your “Favorites” list.
To visit the folder you linked, click the shortcut in the sidebar, and that folder will open immediately. This list appears in the sidebar of every Finder window, so it will always be handy.
You can repeat this process as many times as you’d like. Once the number of sidebar items exceeds the height of the window, a scrollbar will appear that lets you scroll through them. And if you ever want to remove a shortcut from the “Favorites” sidebar, just drag it away from the window and release the mouse button.
RELATED: How to Customize OS X’s Finder Sidebar
Method 2: Add a Dock Shortcut
You can also easily create a shortcut to a folder in your Mac’s Dock. To do so, locate the folder in Finder (or on your desktop), then drag the folder into the section of the Dock beside the Trash.
Once it’s there, release your mouse or trackpad button, and the folder will stick in place. If you click the shortcut once, you’ll get a quick preview of that folder’s contents. If you want to visit the folder in Finder, right-click (or Control-click) the icon in the dock and select “Open” from the menu that appears.
RELATED: How to Pin a Folder or a File to Your Mac’s Dock
Method 3: Make a Desktop Alias to the Folder
You can also make bookmark-like shortcuts to folders on your Mac’s desktop by creating what macOS calls “Aliases,” which are like shortcuts in Windows. When you double-click an alias in macOS, Finder opens, and you see that folder’s contents immediately.
To create an alias, locate the folder that you’d like to “bookmark” and right-click its icon. In the menu that pops up, select “Make Alias.”
When the Alias appears beside it, you can drag the alias icon to your desktop, your Dock, or anywhere else in Finder. The best part of using aliases is that you can collect them together in another folder if you want, gathering shortcuts to important documents or folders without moving their actual locations. Happy bookmarking!
