How to make a desktop shortcut to a folder on a Mac

On a Mac, a desktop shortcut is called an alias. Select the folder in Finder, start dragging it to the desktop, and hold Option and Command before you let go. An alias appears with a curved arrow on its icon: double-click it to open the folder, or drop files onto it to put them straight into the real folder.

Make the alias

There are two ways, both in Finder.

1. Drag with Option and Command held. Find the folder in a Finder window and start dragging it toward the desktop. Before you let go, hold Option and Command. The pointer picks up a curved arrow, which tells you an alias is coming rather than a move. Release, and the alias lands where you dropped it, named after the folder.
2. Use the menu. Select the folder and choose File > Make Alias, or press Control-Command-A. The alias appears next to the original with “alias” added to its name. Drag it to the desktop. Moving an alias never moves the folder it points to.

To tidy the name, click the alias once, press Return, delete the word alias, and press Return again. The name of an alias is only a label, so renaming it leaves the real folder’s name alone.

The same steps work for a file or an app. An alias to the spreadsheet you open every morning is as handy as one to a folder.

What an alias does and does not do

An alias is a pointer, not a copy. That has a few consequences worth knowing before you lean on one.

• It follows the folder. Rename the original or move it somewhere else on the same disk and the alias still opens it. macOS keeps track of the folder itself, not only the path it had when you made the alias.
• Deleting the alias is safe. Dragging an alias to the Trash removes the shortcut only. The folder and everything in it stay where they are.
• Deleting the folder breaks the alias. If the original is gone, double-clicking the alias brings up a message saying the original item can’t be found, with options to delete the alias or fix it by choosing a new original.
• It takes almost no space. An alias to a folder holding a hundred gigabytes is itself a few kilobytes.
• The drive has to be there. An alias to a folder on an external drive only works while that drive is connected. For a folder on a network share, macOS may try to reconnect to the server when you open it.

To jump from an alias to the real thing, select the alias and choose File > Show Original, or press Command-R. Finder opens the folder that holds the original, with the original selected.

Drop files onto it to file them

This is the part most people miss. A folder alias is a drop target. Drag a file onto the alias on your desktop and let go, and the file goes into the real folder, wherever that folder lives.

The usual Finder rules apply, because the drop really lands in the original folder:

• If the folder is on the same disk as the file, the file moves.
• If the folder is on a different disk, the file is copied and the original stays put.
• Hold Option as you let go to copy instead of move. Copy, move or alias when you drag a file covers the modifier keys in more detail.

A short column of aliases down one edge of the desktop (Inbox, Receipts, Current project, To send) turns it into a filing station. Each drop goes to the right folder without opening a single Finder window.

The catch: the desktop is usually covered

A desktop shortcut only helps if you can see the desktop, and for most of the day it sits under a pile of windows. A few ways to clear it:

• Spread your thumb and three fingers apart on the trackpad. The windows slide to the edges and the desktop shows.
• Press Command and the Mission Control key together to show the desktop.
• In macOS Sonoma and later, click the wallpaper. If nothing happens, check System Settings > Desktop & Dock and set “Click wallpaper to reveal desktop” to Always.

If you are already holding a file when you discover the desktop is covered, how to drop a file on the desktop when windows cover it walks through the moves that still work mid-drag.

Other places to keep a folder shortcut

The desktop is not the only spot, and each place has its own strengths.

• The Dock. Drag a folder to the right side of the Dock, near the Trash. It becomes a stack you can click to browse, and you can drop files onto it.
• The Finder sidebar. Drag a folder into the Favorites section. It then appears in every Finder window and in the sidebar of Open and Save dialogs. See how to drag a file to a Finder sidebar folder.
• The Finder toolbar. Hold Command and drag a folder into the toolbar of a Finder window. How to add a folder to the Finder toolbar shows the steps.

One note for Terminal users: the command line does not understand Finder aliases. Type cd followed by an alias and it fails, because the shell sees an ordinary file. For a shortcut that works in both places, make a symbolic link instead, for example ln -s ~/Documents/Projects ~/Desktop/Projects. Finder shows it with the same curved arrow, but unlike an alias it stops working if the original folder moves.

When the files are moving, not the folder

Folder shortcuts are about places you return to. A lot of daily file handling is the opposite: a handful of files from different spots that need to go somewhere once, today. Making an alias for that is more ceremony than the job deserves.

Ledge covers that case from the top of the screen, which windows never cover. Drag a file up to the notch and let go; it lands on a shelf that drops from the notch and stays there until you take it somewhere. Gather a few more from other folders and apps, then open the shelf with Option-Space or a click on the notch and drag them off to wherever they belong. On a Mac without a notch, the shelf sits at the top center of the screen instead.

A Finder window receives the file itself, so dragging from the shelf onto a folder moves the file there. That is usually what you want when filing. The two work well side by side: aliases for the places, the shelf for the things in transit.

Questions

Is an alias the same as a shortcut?

For everyday purposes, yes. An alias opens the item it points to, and on a Mac it is the standard way to put a folder, file or app somewhere handy without moving it.

Why does my alias say the original can’t be found?

Either the folder was deleted or it is on a drive that is not connected. Plug the drive in and try again. If the folder is gone for good, delete the alias, or choose Fix Alias and select a different folder for it to open.

Can I give an alias its own icon?

Yes. Copy an image, select the alias, press Command-I to open Get Info, click the icon at the top left of the window and press Command-V. Only the alias changes; the original folder keeps its icon.