Several Mac users have reported that although their Downloads folder was set to appear in the Finder sidebar, it suddenly disappeared. In this article, I’ll explain how to restore your Downloads folder if it is missing from the Finder sidebar on Mac.
The Downloads folder is one of the most used folders on Mac as it provides convenient access to your downloaded items. The Downloads folder is the default location for most downloads on a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. Items in the Finder sidebar fall into four categories: Favorites, iCloud, Locations, or Tags. The Downloads folder is located under Favorites. One troubling aspect of this problem can be that the Finder settings are already configured for the Downloads folder to appear in the Sidebar, but the setting is not working for some reason.
Do not worry; bringing the Downloads icon back into the Sidebar on a Mac is pretty easy. It’s worth noting that there are a number of ways to access the Downloads folder on Mac. You can see your Downloads via the Dock, the Finder menu, the Finder Sidebar, or using the Option–Command–L shortcut. This means that if you can’t see Downloads in the Mac’s Sidebar, you can use other methods to access your downloaded files.
How to Restore the Downloads Folder to the sidebar in macOS
If your Downloads folder has disappeared from the Finder Sidebar on Mac, follow the steps below to get it back.
- Open a Finder window on your MacBook Air or MacBook Pro.
- Click on the “Finder” menu in the top left corner of your screen, and select “Settings”.
- Click on the “Sidebar” tab.
- From the list, find Downloads. Is Downloads selected or not?
- If the Downloads icon has gone missing for no apparent reason without any input or setting change from you, you may see that Downloads is already selected, but still, the icon is not appearing in the Finder Sidebar. What you should do is first uncheck the Downloads box, wait a few seconds and then recheck the box. Then open a Finder window and check if Downloads is located in the sidebar. If it still isn’t, uncheck the Downloads box, restart your Mac and then recheck the Downloads box.
- Obviously, if the Downloads box is not already selected, check the box. This will fix the problem.
Why May Downloads Folder have disappeared from Mac Sidebar?
Depending on your preferences, you can select what you want to see in the Finder sidebar. For example, a lot of users want to see Downloads there. If you cannot see it there, there could be several reasons.
Some glitches may occur during an update process. Thankfully, resetting the settings will fix the problem. Sometimes, we know if you have not restarted your Mac for a long time, you may experience these types of issues. Therefore, you should restart your Mac from time to time. Of course, it’s there’s a good chance that you inadvertently turned off this setting.