How to open download files from Mac

So how to do it depends on the app you are downloading the files from, what do you usually use to download? My download folder disappeared during an update. See if the Downloads folder appears on screen, it should. I am guessing it is probably just hidden. Have you provided an outline of what happens when you download an app onto the iMac. As an example, lets say you download a word processing package. To install it, you click on the file…and then what? In Windows, you can go to the download folder after the install and delete the downloaded file ie: an exe.

What about with Apple? Thank you. There is no installer to remove, it is included in the App Store cleanup. You can delete the installer after it has finished if you want to. Hi Steve, this is a post about the user Downloads folder, and accessing files you have downloaded. It has nothing to do with ipfw or firewalls.

This is the most asked question. Whenever some new person shifts from Windows to Mac in my circle, I get a call to guide them where they can find downloaded stuff.

And how they can install an app by just placing it in Applications folder. Most entry users, find the downloads dock file handy but will in time accidentally delete it.

I am that user. How do I get it back? The only app that downloads files directly to the Desktop in my case is Thunderbird. All the others put downloaded files in the Download folder. I often temporarily change my download folder when downloading many files that go in a specific folder. Name required. Mail will not be published required. All Rights Reserved. Reproduction without explicit permission is prohibited. Enjoy this tip? Subscribe to our newsletter! Thank you! You have successfully joined our subscriber list.

By default, Safari automatically removes an item after one day. The downloaded file may be a compressed archive or disk image that contains the file you want. If the file is from a trusted site, double-click it to decompress it. Download an item In the Safari app on your Mac, click anything identified as a download link, or Control-click an image or other object on the page. Choose Download Linked File. Safari decompresses files such as. See items you downloaded In the Safari app on your Mac, click the Show Downloads button near the top-right corner of the Safari window.

Do any of the following: Pause a download: Click the Stop button to the right of the filename in the downloads list. But did you know that there are a dozen or more different ways to open files, including those that are normally hidden. This is probably the most common way to open a file. Locate it in the Finder, and double-click on it to open it in its default application. Locate the file you want to open in the Finder and drag it onto the application you want to open it in, either in the Dock or in your Applications folder.

Launch the application you want to use to work with the file, go to the File menu, choose Open and navigate to the file. Click on the Apple menu, choose Recent Items, and then click on the file you want to open. Navigate to the one you want then click on it to open it. Click on the Spotlight magnifying glass icon in the menu bar and in its search box start typing the name of the file, a tag, or part of its content.

When it appears in the list, use the arrow keys to navigate to it and press Return to open it. Third party apps like Alfred and LaunchBar work in a similar way to Spotlight. If you have one of them on your Mac, use its keyboard shortcut to activate it and start typing.

Then navigate to the file and press Return. Navigate to the file you want to open and press Command-O or Command and the down arrow to open it in its default application. Locate the file you want to open in the finder and press the Space bar to preview it.

This may be overkill, launching Terminal just to open a file. All the methods above work but they rely on you being able to find and see the file in the Finder. What if the file you want to open is hidden or invisible? To open hidden files on your Mac, you first need to make them visible, and the easiest way to do that is to use Terminal.