Customize the Finder toolbar and sidebar
There are several ways to customize the Finder toolbar and Finder sidebar.
Before you start, open a Finder window by clicking the Finder icon at the left end of the Dock.
Customize the toolbar
Hide or show the toolbar: Choose View > Hide Toolbar, or View > Show Toolbar.
Hiding the toolbar also hides the sidebar, and moves the status bar from the bottom to the top of the window.
Resize the toolbar: If you see angle brackets
at the right end of the toolbar, it means the window is too small to show all of the toolbar items. Enlarge the window or click the brackets to see the rest of the items.Change what’s in the toolbar: Choose View > Customize Toolbar. You can drag items into and out of the toolbar, add a space between items, and choose whether to show text with the icons.
Rearrange the items in the toolbar: Press and hold the Command key, then drag an item to a new location.
Add a file or an app: Press and hold the Command key, then drag the item to the Finder toolbar until you see a green plus sign.
Remove an item: Press and hold the Command key, then drag the item out of the toolbar.
Customize the sidebar
Hide or show the sidebar: Choose View > Hide Sidebar or View > Show Sidebar. (If Show Sidebar is dimmed, choose View > Show Toolbar.)
Resize the sidebar: Drag the right side of the divider bar to the right or left.
Change what’s in the sidebar: Choose Finder > Preferences, click Sidebar, then select or deselect items.
Rearrange items in the sidebar: Drag an item to a new location. You can’t rearrange items in the Shared section.
Show or hide all the items in a section of the sidebar: Position the pointer over the section head until you see Hide or Show appear, then click the Hide or Show button. For example, to temporarily hide your Favorites, position the pointer over the Favorites heading in the sidebar and click the Hide button.
Add a folder or disk to the sidebar: Drag the item to the Favorites section.
If you don’t see the Favorites section, choose Finder > Preferences > Sidebar, then select at least one item in the section.
Add an app to the sidebar: Press and hold the Command key, then drag the app icon to the Favorites section.
Remove an item: Drag the item icon out of the sidebar until you see the remove sign
.The sidebar link disappears, but the original item is still on your Mac. You can’t remove items from the Shared section.
To change other Finder preferences, choose Finder > Preferences. For more information, see Finder preferences.
To set the scrolling behavior for Finder (and other) windows, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, then click General.