getting rid of the Documents folder?

Discussion in 'macOS' started by boston04and07, Oct 31, 2009.

Most Liked Posts
  1. boston04and07, Oct 31, 2009

    boston04and07 macrumors 65816

    boston04and07

    Joined:
    May 13, 2008
    #1
    I've just recently set it up on my Mac that all of my documents that would normally be in the Documents folder are now on my iDisk, in another folder named Documents. I've created a local copy of my iDisk so that my stuff is always in sync. However, just to make it easier on myself, what I would like to do is delete the (now empty) Documents folder in my Home folder, and replace it with an alias for the local iDisk documents folder. That way, I can still go into the Home folder as usual, but the Documents folder there will just point me directly to the local iDisk location. However, OS X isn't letting me do that - I can't delete the Documents folder to replace it. Any way to get around this??
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  2. Ashka, Oct 31, 2009

    Ashka macrumors 6502a

    Ashka

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2008
    Location:
    New Zealand
    #2
    The user Documents folder is part of the Operating system along with Desktop, Downloads, Library, Movies, Music, Pictures, Public & Sites folders.
    Best to leave them alone and use other names for your folders which are normally at a lower level ie inside the User Documents and other OS folders.
    Any folder you make at the same level as the OS folders will not be hidden or locked from other user accounts on your Mac.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  3. Hydramus, Oct 31, 2009

    Hydramus macrumors member

    Joined:
    Jun 30, 2007
    #3
    If you're really keen on doing that, then you could log on as root in terminal and delete the Documents folder and then create the symlink. Do this with caution, as doing anything in root is risky stuff.

    Open up Terminal, and then type

    Code:
    sudo su -
cd /Users/(your username)
rm -rfv Documents
ln -s (location of local idisk documents folder) Documents
    The first line changes you to root, second line changes the directory to your home directory, then we delete the Documents folder, and finally create your symlink to the idisk folder.

    Be careful what you type, expecially when messing around with rm :).
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  4. boston04and07, Oct 31, 2009

    boston04and07 thread starter macrumors 65816

    boston04and07

    Joined:
    May 13, 2008
    #4
    Ehh...thanks for your help! I wish there were an easier way to do this. Not sure if I'll end up doing that or not, for now while I decide I guess I'll just put the alias somewhere else!

    If only they made it easier to sync a non-iDisk folder to Mobile Me... :rolleyes:
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  5. powernose, Nov 25, 2009

    powernose macrumors newbie

    Joined:
    May 17, 2009
    #5
    Hello Hydramus.

    I have deleted the documents folder. Thank you!

    What if I want to recreate it? Like a system folder again ?

    Thanks!

    Powernose :D
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  6. macrem, Nov 25, 2009

    macrem macrumors 65816

    macrem

    Joined:
    Mar 11, 2008
    #6
    Do you really have to be root to delete that folder?? The user owns it. However, I would not recommend mucking around with this particular folder. I would set-up iDisk to sync whatever is in the user's Documents folder.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
  7. mac2x, Nov 25, 2009

    mac2x macrumors 65816

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2009
    #7
    Agreed...best to not fool around with system folders unless there is a real pressing need. If there's a way not to do it that way, take it.
     
    share
    + Quote Reply
(You must log in or sign up to post here.)

Share This Page