A Shared Finder Folder for all users?

[scouser75]

I have 5 Users on my Mac. Is it possible to have 1 single shared Folder on Finder that all users can access so they can access certain shared documents etc?

 

[MacCheetah3]

Share files with others who use your Mac

Share files with others who use your Mac using the Shared folder, Public folders, and Drop Box.

support.apple.com

 

[scouser75]

Share files with others who use your Mac

Share files with others who use your Mac using the Shared folder, Public folders, and Drop Box.

support.apple.com

Thank you for the link. I just tried it out between my account and my wife's. I put a test document and folder in my Home Folder / Public. I then went into my wife's account Home Folder / Public. But the test doc and folder did not show. Am I doing something wrong?

I'll try using Dropbox tomorrow, but ideally I'd want to use the Apple Home Folder option.

 

[chabig]

I put a test document and folder in my Home Folder / Public.

You didn't necessarily do it wrong, but you made it hard. Because you put the document in your account's Public folder, your wife would have to navigate to your Public folder to see it. That's asking a lot of everyone. Make it easier for all five users to share by putting the shared documents in /Users/Shared/ where everyone will see them.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Admittedly, I haven’t dealt with this method of sharing for awhile. So, I decided to do some testing.

I just tried it out between my account and my wife's. I put a test document and folder in my Home Folder / Public. I then went into my wife's account Home Folder / Public. But the test doc and folder did not show. Am I doing something wrong?

Because you put the document in your account's Public folder, your wife would have to navigate to your Public folder to see it.

Correct, although, you can copy/move the document into your wife’s Public folder, for example.

A few highlights, including problems I encountered.

I initially had problems with permissions. Despite:

Files in a user’s Public folder or in the Shared folder can be read by all users of the Mac, but edited or deleted by only the owner of the file. If you want to allow other users to edit those files, you need to change the file permissions. See Change permissions for files, folders, or disks.

Files in my account were set to no access for anybody but me. This did eventually correct itself and, I think, it could be because of how I tested: created a fresh, additional account and then changed it from Standard to Admin. So, hopefully, you don’t encounter such a problem. Nonetheless, I did notice that dropping a file in the Drop Box did automatically change permissions. Therefore, if you do have problems, that’s a decently simple workaround. The other thing about the Drop Box:

Even though you can put items in another user’s Drop Box, you can’t open any Drop Box except your own.

In other words, it’s a permanent handoff, no collaboration.

You didn't necessarily do it wrong, but you made it hard. Because you put the document in your account's Public folder, your wife would have to navigate to your Public folder to see it. That's asking a lot of everyone. Make it easier for all five users to share by putting the shared documents in /Users/Shared/ where everyone will see them.

Well… No matter which shared folder is used, it’s not going to be super convenient unless @scouser75 and his wife (as well as any others who might regularly use the feature) add the(ir) Shared and/or Public folder(s) to the sidebar as none of those locations are default shortcuts.

Customize the Finder sidebar on Mac

In the Finder on your Mac, hide, show, or resize the sidebar, and change or rearrange its contents.

support.apple.com

P.S.

Make it easier for all five users to share by putting the shared documents in /Users/Shared/ where everyone will see them.

Using the Shared folder is noted in the support article.

 

[scouser75]

You didn't necessarily do it wrong, but you made it hard. Because you put the document in your account's Public folder, your wife would have to navigate to your Public folder to see it. That's asking a lot of everyone. Make it easier for all five users to share by putting the shared documents in /Users/Shared/ where everyone will see them.

Admittedly, I haven’t dealt with this method of sharing for awhile. So, I decided to do some testing.

Correct, although, you can copy/move the document into your wife’s Public folder, for example.

A few highlights, including problems I encountered.

I initially had problems with permissions. Despite:

Files in my account were set to no access for anybody but me. This did eventually correct itself and, I think, it could be because of how I tested: created a fresh, additional account and then changed it from Standard to Admin. So, hopefully, you don’t encounter such a problem. Nonetheless, I did notice that dropping a file in the Drop Box did automatically change permissions. Therefore, if you do have problems, that’s a decently simple workaround. The other thing about the Drop Box:

In other words, it’s a permanent handoff, no collaboration.


Well… No matter which shared folder is used, it’s not going to be super convenient unless @scouser75 and his wife (as well as any others who might regularly use the feature) add the(ir) Shared and/or Public folder(s) to the sidebar as none of those locations are default shortcuts.

Customize the Finder sidebar on Mac

In the Finder on your Mac, hide, show, or resize the sidebar, and change or rearrange its contents.

support.apple.com

P.S.

Using the Shared folder is noted in the support article.

Thank you both. I sussed this out now 😄

MacCheetah3 I agree with you when you say it's not super convenient. It would have been brilliant if the Shared Folder was in the list of folders in Finder, along with Music. Desktop etc

 

[MacCheetah3]

MacCheetah3 I agree with you when you say it's not super convenient. It would have been brilliant if the Shared Folder was in the list of folders in Finder, along with Music. Desktop etc

And if you do it (“Customize the Finder sidebar”), maybe just do your own Public folder, not everyone’s, or only the Shared folder as I don’t see a way to rename folder shortcuts in the sidebar. And don’t confuse the (Users’) Shared folder with the iCloud Drive Shared folder.
😉

 

[ignatius345]

Another super easy way to do this is to just put a folder on an external drive, if you have one connected.

 

[scouser75]

And if you do it (“Customize the Finder sidebar”), maybe just do your own Public folder, not everyone’s, or only the Shared folder as I don’t see a way to rename folder shortcuts in the sidebar. And don’t confuse the (Users’) Shared folder with the iCloud Drive Shared folder.
😉

View attachment 2255056View attachment 2255057

That's a top idea. Thank you. I didn't think it was possible to add the Public and Shared folders to the Finder side bar.

And is that the iTunes Library for ALL users to Share? If so, that is exactly what I was looking to do for me, wifey and kids. This way I can save a heck of a lot of storage space.

 

[scouser75]

Another super easy way to do this is to just put a folder on an external drive, if you have one connected.

Thanks mate. for this suggestion. I was going to do this when Sonoma is released. But if I can use the method MacCheetah suggested, then might go that way so that I don't need to connect an external drive.

 

[MacCheetah3]

And is that the iTunes Library for ALL users to Share? If so, that is exactly what I was looking to do for me, wifey and kids. This way I can save a heck of a lot of storage space.

Yes. I did it before there were features such as Home Sharing.

 

[scouser75]

Yes. I did it before there were features such as Home Sharing.

I would love to use Home Sharing but I don't have an Apple Music Subscription. I only have music I ripped from the good old days of CDs.

 

[ignatius345]

I would love to use Home Sharing but I don't have an Apple Music Subscription. I only have music I ripped from the good old days of CDs.

I don't think you need a subscription to do this. Before the era of streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, etc). I used Home Sharing all the time to turn my Mac into a kind of media server, using the Remote app on my phone or even an iPod Touch at one point to control playback -- then AirPlaying it straight from the Mac to speakers around the apartment.

Not 100% certain you can use Home Sharing between multiple accounts on a single Mac, but definitely worth a shot.

 

[scouser75]

I don't think you need a subscription to do this. Before the era of streaming (Spotify, Apple Music, etc). I used Home Sharing all the time to turn my Mac into a kind of media server, using the Remote app on my phone or even an iPod Touch at one point to control playback -- then AirPlaying it straight from the Mac to speakers around the apartment.

Not 100% certain you can use Home Sharing between multiple accounts on a single Mac, but definitely worth a shot.

Absolutely. I'll give it a shot this weekend 😁 If it doesn't work, I'll try the Shared / Public Folder method of storing the Music Library there. And if that fails, I'll keep my library on the Mac and will get the family to keep theirs on an ext drive.

 

[ignatius345]

Absolutely. I'll give it a shot this weekend 😁 If it doesn't work, I'll try the Shared / Public Folder method of storing the Music Library there.

That might get sticky. Each user's Music app will want to "own" those files.

WAY back in the iTunes days I shared a music library with another family member who was using a separate user account. Worked nicely in that everything (ratings, play counts, playlists) were synced between the accounts. It involved some kind of mucking about with permissions, and I think I used a third-party app to get it working. It was definitely a hack, and no idea if it's achievable now.

And if that fails, I'll keep my library on the Mac and will get the family to keep theirs on an ext drive.

Probably the cleanest solution. Hard drives are dirt cheap now, and even SSDs are coming down dramatically.

 

[MacCheetah3]

Hopefully, final tidbits:

Sharing an iTunes library between multiple users on the same computer

Q: I am trying to share my music library between two users on the same computer. I have followed your instructions from your 04-24 article, as well as ...

www.ilounge.com

Sharing Itunes Library with multiple user… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

P.S. Again, it has been quite some time since I had multiple accounts on one Mac, therefore, I don’t clearly recall which problems I may have faced.

 

[scouser75]

That might get sticky. Each user's Music app will want to "own" those files.

WAY back in the iTunes days I shared a music library with another family member who was using a separate user account. Worked nicely in that everything (ratings, play counts, playlists) were synced between the accounts. It involved some kind of mucking about with permissions, and I think I used a third-party app to get it working. It was definitely a hack, and no idea if it's achievable now.


Probably the cleanest solution. Hard drives are dirt cheap now, and even SSDs are coming down dramatically.

Hopefully, final tidbits:

Sharing an iTunes library between multiple users on the same computer

Q: I am trying to share my music library between two users on the same computer. I have followed your instructions from your 04-24 article, as well as ...

www.ilounge.com

Sharing Itunes Library with multiple user… - Apple Community

discussions.apple.com

P.S. Again, it has been quite some time since I had multiple accounts on one Mac, therefore, I don’t clearly recall which problems I may have faced.

Thanks Ladies and Gents for all your help, advice and tips.

I looked at both articles and noticed they were using iTunes and not Music so not altogether sure or confident those methods would work on Music app.

I think with all that's been said on this thread, along with my lack of sufficient IT skills, I think it's best I stick to the suggested method of keeping the libraries on a separate HD, and just keep my library on the Mac.

I'll probably do this when Sonoma is released as I'll be doing a clean install.