Can't get directly to my Macintosh HD

I see the same path on my MBA running Sequoia.

I suspect this is to do with the way APFS references and links to data, though that's just a guess based on my not-so-thorough understanding of the workings of the OS.

In fact, since I have enabled the path display using the Terminal command to _FXShowPosixPathInTitle, I see that the displayed path at that point is System/Volumes/Data, so this has to do with the display of a particular volume within the volume group "Macintosh HD" as it is defined in the APFS. Data being the volume Macintosh HD - Data.

Rather than click the path you have described and shown us above, you should be able simply click Macintosh HD > Users > yourhomefolder to get to your stuff.

Of note, I do not see the Favorites heading in your Finder sidebar. Has it been relocated to the bottom of the list there below Locations? Under the Favorites heading you should find displayed your Home and other folders such as Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Music, Movies and Pictures - assuming you have enabled that in the Finder > Settings > Sidebar.

You might also need to expand that Favorites heading by placing the mouse pointer on the Favorites title and clicking the small arrow that appears immediately to the right.

Virginia Uhlmann wrote:

Thanks for responding. Yes, the mount point is System/Volumes/Data.

I'm not sure why the screenshot I posted didn't display favorites, but as you can see, they are there.

Thank you for suggesting the new path, but I would really like to simply click on Macintosh HD and access its contents directly without having to go through the extra steps like in the olden days!

Forgive my ignorance here, but your problem is not clear to me.

The pics in your original post indicate a clear path to the apparent contents of the drive volume Macintosh HD - Data. I don't understand what you see that appears incorrect.

If you click, in your original pic, the Users folder in the first column, do you not then find your home folder named for your Mac user account? If so, why then do you not simply drag that Home folder into the Favorites section of the sidebar? Everything you need access to as a user may be found within your Home folder. There is little to nothing to be accessed in any folder outside your Home folder or the Users folder, with the exception of the Applications folder. This is by design in modern macOS versions. Access to System files is locked down to prevent malicious and accidental damage.

If I am missing something here, please help me understand with additional details.

What files, exactly, do you not have access to when you click the Users folder?

I have tried renaming the data drive Macintosh HD Data, but it still makes me follow the System/Volumes/Data path.

Renaming the volumes on the startup drive is rarely a good idea, if for no other reason that it confuses things when troubleshooting problems. Assistance is much easier to provide when default names are in place on the startup drive. Naming conventions are typically irrelevant for external drives and volumes.

Regarding the pics you've provided from Disk Utility: all there looks fine to my eye. There appear to be the necessary drive volumes with nothing out of place.

• Macintosh HD as the volume group is correct. It includes the Macintosh HD snapshot which is used as the startup volume. It is locked and secured. You may not copy files to that drive.

• Macintosh HD - Data is also appropriate. Your home and user account folders live there and it is user accessible.

Hmm, it looks like you installed the OS inside the OS.

Can you show us a shot from Disk Utility?

What folders are you trying to access directly from the "Macintosh HD" item?

You can manually add other folders directly to the Sidebar under Favorites. I don't know if it will show the full path or the "user friendly" path to mimic the old style which you would prefer to see, but it should focus directly on that folder saving you from having to navigate there.

Technically what you are seeing is the actual full path to the data. Apple has been trying to hide the complex nature of the new drive layout ever since macOS 10.15 Catalina, but every version of macOS keeps changing how things are presented to the user through various interfaces. Sometimes Apple is succeeding, while other times Apple is failing. I don't think this is very high on Apple's ToDo list. I think it is too complex a problem to solve since Apple only cares about introducing new features, rather than fixing existing items (there are a lot of other more important & critical things that actually cause issues which Apple has neglected to fix).

You can provide Apple with product feedback here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple

Edit: I don't see the behavior on Big Sur. So Apple must have changed something with Ventura. I don't have access to my Ventura Mac at this moment.

Have you tried setting it to always open new Finder Windows to where you want?

Interesting... I see that as well on my M4 MacBook Air running macOS 15.6.1

I had to add Macintosh HD to the sidebar to duplicate it. I usually don't keep it there.

+1 👍🏽