Why Do I Have Four Library Folders on My Mac?

[PineappleKnuckles]

Hi, this is my first post on MacRumors. On my iMac I recently noticed there are four Library folders. I watched a video by Gary at Macmost about this. He said we're supposed to have two of them, but he didn't say anything about why there might be more than two.

The two Library folders Gary said are common are the one at the very top level of the computer and the one in your personal home folder. I have those two, but also one within the System folder (which is at the top level) and another one in the Users folder inside the Shared folder.

Do I need all four of these? Can the one in the System folder be merged with the one at the top level? And can I delete the one in my Shared folder since I don't share my computer with anyone?

Let's say I delete the one in my Shared folder. If it is recreated when I restart my computer then I'll know it's supposed to be there.

Can anybody clue me in about this? Thanks.

 

[Shirasaki]

Don’t delete any of those library folders.
The one under root is for files some apps are using.
The one under system is for, well, macOS use. No longer writable without disabling SIP and changing some settings since Catalina.
The one under users folder maybe used for support files used for multiple users. I don’t see one on my Mac.
Lastly, the one under your user folder is for files app need that affects settings, plug-ins etc for your user only. Many modern non-utility apps are writing files into that library folder rather than system library folder or root library folder.
Anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.

 

[DeltaMac]

That old video that you watched was reasonably correct, although the correct minimum number of library folders was actually 3, not 2, but not since Big Sur (Catalina started those changes). The volume setup on your boot drive is much more complicated, so more Libraries to cover the various system/settings/user files.
So, more than two years ago, you had the user/Library, the root/Library, and the System/Library.
Now, as Shirasaki points out, 4 is a better number. each serve a separate function, some are not writable by you, and you should ignore the idea to merge those folders... Same name, but are mostly independent of the other Library folders. And, your system knows what to do with each Library.
You will also have Library folders for each additional user account that you might add to your system (does not mean more people that use your Mac, you might add a user account to use for other software configurations, or for other kinds of work-flows --- which gets complicated to explain, but for this thread, just means that you have more libraries when you have more user accounts.

 

[Fishrrman]

"Why Do I Have Four Library Folders on My Mac?"

Because you have four libraries.

"Do I need all four of these? Can the one in the System folder be merged with the one at the top level? And can I delete the one in my Shared folder since I don't share my computer with anyone?"

Try doing ANY of this, and I think things will "go bad" for you very quickly...

 

[PineappleKnuckles]

I have been convinced by y'all NOT to delete or move anything with regard to the Library folders. I should have explained the reason for considering such a move was that I thought a few of my apps might behave better. I think I'll just reinstall those apps and hope for the best. Thanks for the help, everybody