How to Find Macintosh HD Icon on Mac (in Finder & on Desktop)

macos tips
1

I know that the startup disk in a Mac is called Macintosh HD, but I don’t know where it is. I can’t find it on my desktop or in Finder. My Mac must have a startup disk, or else it won’t turn on, right? So, can anyone tell me how to make Macintosh HD visible on my Mac?

2

Macintosh HD is a volume that specially stores the data of the operating system and applications. It is also called the operating system volume.

Where is Macintosh HD on a Mac like MacBook Air or MacBook Pro? Usually, you can find the Macintosh HD volume on the Finder sidebar in the Locations section. It is displayed in the top-level there.

You can also access the Macintosh HD library via the Finder Go menu. Open Finder, click Go on the top Finder menu bar and then you’ll see the Computer option on the drop-down menu. It refers to your Mac hard drive. Click the Computer option to open the hard disk of your Mac, then select the Macintosh HD volume to open it.

Besides, you can find Macintosh HD in Disk Utility. Go to the Launchpad > Other > Disk Utility. Or, open Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Right-click “Macintosh volumes” and select Show in Finder to open Macintosh HD in Finder.

Notably, in some Mac models, Macintosh HD is called macOS.

3

Why is Macintosh HD not showing up on your Mac? If Macintosh HD is not showing up either in the Finder sidebar or on your desktop, it is because you haven’t set it to display Macintosh HD in the two places

4

To find Macintosh HD, the internal hard drive that’s not showing up on your Mac, you can go to check and change your Finder settings.

To show Macintosh HD in your Finder sidebar, you need to follow these steps:

  1. Open a Finder window.
  2. Move to the Finder menu bar which is on the top of your screen and click Finder.
  3. Choose Settings on the drop-down menu.
  4. Click the Sidebar tab.
  5. In the Locations section, check “username’s” MacBook model like Connie’s MacBook Air and Hard disks.

Then, on the Finder sidebar, you can either click your Mac model > Macintosh HD or directly click Macintosh HD to access the Macintosh HD on your Mac.

To show the Macintosh HD drive icon on your desktop, you need to:

  1. Open Finder.
  2. Click Finder on the top Finder menu bar and select Settings.
  3. On the pop Finder settings window, click General.
  4. Check Hard disks to show them on the desktop.

Then, you can see Macintosh HD and other volumes on your Mac hard drive on your desktop.

If you don’t want others to find the Macintosh HD on your Mac easily, you don’t need to show it on your desktop and Finder. You can find the hidden hard drive on your Mac from Disk Utility.

Open Disk Utility in Launchpad > Other, then, right-click on macOS volumes and select Show in Finder to directly access Macintosh HD on your Mac.