Mac OS X: Where The Files Belong Now

Folder Structure Summary

By Gordon Davisson

Item	Mac OS 9	Mac OS X
Applications	Applications (Mac OS 9) Nearly anywhere else	/Applications /Network/Applications ~/Applications Nearly anywhere else
Cache Files	System Folder:Preferences (usually)	~/Library/Caches /Library/Caches ~/Library/Preferences (sometimes)
ColorSync Profiles	System Folder:ColorSync Profiles	Any Library/ColorSync/Profiles
Control Panels	System Folder:Control Panels	Replaced by System Preference panes: OS X.0: /System/Library/Preferences OS X.1+: Any Library/PreferencePanes
Control Strip Modules	System Folder:Control Strip Modules	Replaced by Docklings in OS X.0: /Applications/Dock Extras Replaced by Menu Items in OS X.1: /System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras (not user installable)
Documents	Documents Nearly anywhere else	~/Documents /Users/Shared Nearly anywhere else
Document/Application Bindings	Desktop DB Desktop DF	OS X.0 - X.1: ~/Library/Preferences/LSApplications ~/Library/Preferences/LSClaimedTypes ~/Library/Preferences/LSSchemes OS X.2: ~/Library/Caches/com.apple.LaunchServices.UserCache.csstore ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.plist OS X.3: /Library/Caches/com.apple.LaunchServices.6B.csstore /Library/Caches/com.apple.LaunchServices.LocalCache.csstore ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.plist
Extensions	System Folder:Extensions	Some functions replaced by Kernel Extensions: /System/Library/Extensions Some functions replaced by Startup Items: /System/Library/StartupItems /Library/StartupItems Some functions replaced by Frameworks: Any Library/Frameworks /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks anyapplication.app/Contents/Frameworks anyapplication.app/Contents/PrivateFrameworks
Fonts	System Folder:Fonts	Any Library/Fonts Classic System Folder/Fonts
Keychains	System Folder:Preferences:Keychains	Any Library/Library/Keychains
Modem Scripts	System Folder:Extensions:Modem Scripts	Any Library/Modem Scripts
Preference & Config Info	System Folder:Preferences	Application & User Preferences: ~/Library/Preferences
Preference & Config Info	System Folder:Preferences	System-wide Settings: /Library/Preferences /private/etc /private/var Netinfo Database
Printer Descriptions (PPD's)	System Folder:Extensions:Printer Descriptions	OS X.0: Any Library/Printers/PPDs (in special format) OS X.1+: Any Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/en.lproj Nearly anywhere else (select manally) Note: OS X.2 installs most PPDs in compressed (.gz) form; plain PPDs work fine as well.
Printer Drivers	System Folder:Extensions	Any Library/Printers
Sounds	System Folder:System	Any Library/Audio/Sounds
Startup Items	System Folder:Startup Items	Boot items (shell scripts in special format): /System/Library/StartupItems /Library/StartupItems
Startup Items	System Folder:Startup Items	Login Items, X.0-.1: Config with System Preferences -> Login (or Login Items) pane Login Items, X.2: Config with System Preferences -> Accounts -> Startup (or Login) Items
Utilities	Pre OS 9.1: Utilities OS 9.1: Applications (Mac OS 9):Utilities	/Applications/Utilities
Web Browser Plug-ins	System Folder:Internet Plug-Ins Somewhere near the browser	Any Library/Internet Plug-Ins
Web Pages (to be served out by personal web sharing)	Documents:Web Pages	/Library/WebServer/Documents ~/Sites

A note on Library folders:

We refer to several different folders named "Library" in these lists. Many items can be placed in several different Library folders, with somewhat different effects. Here's a summary of the different Library folders, and their implications:

~/Library: The User Library, found inside each user's home folder. This contains resources and settings that apply/are available to only that one user, and nobody else.
/Library: The Local Library, found at the top level of the boot volume (or partition). This contains resources and settings that are shared between all users of this particular computer, but not any other computers.; The Network Library, found inside the Network pseudovolume you see when you view your computer in a finder window. This (usually) contains resources and settings shared by all users on this computer and other computers in the same LDAP or Netinfo domain. Note that if your computer is not part of a domain, this Library folder will (again, usually) be empty (or just plain nonexistent).
/System/Library: The System Library, found inside the System folder at the top level of the boot volume. This contains resources supplied by Apple as part of OS X, and is thus (at least in theory) shared by all OS X users worldwide.