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How to copy a file path on Mac

Updated 21 October 2026 · by Vistaar Studio

Short answer: select the file or folder in the Finder and press ⌥ ⌘ C (Option-Command-C). Its full path, for example /Users/you/Documents/report.pdf, goes onto the clipboard as plain text. Paste it anywhere with ⌘ V. If you prefer menus, right-click the file and hold Option: "Copy" turns into Copy "report.pdf" as Pathname.

A path is the file's full address on your Mac: every folder from the top of the disk down to the file itself. You need it when a support person asks where a file is, when a script or Terminal command wants a location, when you share a file on a team server, or when an upload box has a "type a path" field. The Finder hides paths by default, which is why so many people search for this. Here are the five built-in ways, plus the small traps that make a copied path fail.

1. Option-Command-C in the Finder (fastest)

1. In a Finder window, click the file or folder once to select it. Don't open it.
2. Press ⌥ ⌘ C.
3. Click where you want the path and press ⌘ V.

Nothing visible happens when you press the shortcut, so it's easy to think it didn't work. Paste into a note or a message to check. The path is plain text, with no formatting and no link attached.

The same command is in the menus, just hidden behind the Option key: open the Edit menu and hold ⌥, and Copy becomes Copy "name" as Pathname. Or right-click (Control-click) the file, then hold ⌥ while the menu is open. This has been part of the Finder since OS X El Capitan, so it works on almost any Mac still in use.

2. The path bar: see the path, then copy any folder in it

If you want to see where a file lives as well as copy it, switch on the path bar:

1. In the Finder, choose View › Show Path Bar (or press ⌥ ⌘ P).
2. A strip appears at the bottom of every Finder window, showing the folders above the selected file: Macintosh HD › Users › you › Documents › report.pdf.
3. Control-click any item in that strip and choose Copy "name" as Pathname.

The path bar is handy for copying the path of the folder you're in, or of a parent folder, without going back up and selecting it. You can also double-click any folder in the bar to jump to it. It stays switched on until you choose View › Hide Path Bar.

3. Drag the file into Terminal

Open Terminal (Applications › Utilities), then drag a file from the Finder into the Terminal window. Its path appears where the cursor is, ready for a command. This is the best way when the path is going into Terminal, because Terminal adds a backslash in front of every space and special character, so the path works first time:

/Users/you/Documents/Tax\ 2026/My\ Receipts.pdf

The same drag trick works in many text boxes, including the Go › Go to Folder sheet in the Finder (⇧ ⌘ G): drag a file into it to see the path, which you can then select and copy.

4. Terminal commands that copy a path

If you're already working in Terminal, two short commands send a path straight to the clipboard:

pwd | pbcopy                  # the folder you're in
realpath "My File.pdf" | pbcopy   # the full path of one file

pbcopy is the Mac's built-in "copy to clipboard" command, and realpath turns a short name into the full path from the top of the disk. We ran both on macOS Tahoe 26.2. One quirk we hit while testing: a file in /tmp comes back as /private/tmp/…, because /tmp is a shortcut to that folder. Both versions work.

5. Get Info: the folder, not the file

Select a file and press ⌘ I. Under General, the Where line shows the folder that holds it, and you can select that text and copy it. Note that it's the folder path only: the file name isn't included, so add it yourself or use one of the methods above.

Which method should you use?

Copying several paths at once

Select several files in the Finder (hold ⌘ and click, or ⌘ A for the whole folder) and press ⌥ ⌘ C. With Option held, the Edit menu now reads Copy N Items as Pathnames. You get one path per line, which pastes neatly into a spreadsheet column, an email or a list of files for a colleague to check.

When a copied path doesn't work

• Terminal says "No such file or directory". The path has spaces. A path from ⌥⌘C isn't escaped, so wrap it in quotes: open "/Users/you/Tax 2026/My Receipts.pdf". Or drag the file in instead.
• It pasted the file, not the path. You pressed ⌘C rather than ⌥⌘C. Plain ⌘C copies the file itself (so you can paste a copy into another folder); only the Option version copies its address.
• The iCloud Drive path looks strange. Files in iCloud Drive really live in ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/, and that's what you'll get. If you've turned on iCloud's Desktop & Documents sync, those two folders keep their normal paths (/Users/you/Desktop, /Users/you/Documents).
• Someone on Windows can't use it. Mac paths use forward slashes and start at /. A path on your Mac only makes sense on your Mac; for a shared server, copy the path from the mounted server in the Finder (it starts with /Volumes/) and tell them the server name.
• ~ instead of /Users/you. In Terminal, ~ is short for your home folder. Apps and websites don't understand it, so paste the full path there.

The other trap: the next copy wipes the path

A path you copy sits on the clipboard, and the Mac clipboard holds one thing at a time. Copy a reply to the person who asked for the path and the path is gone. On macOS Tahoe you can get recent copies back from Spotlight: press ⌘ Space, then ⌘ 4 (see our clipboard history guide for how long it keeps them). On older Macs, a copy you overwrite is lost unless you have a clipboard manager.

Keep every path you copy: Desk Buddy (our app)

We make Desk Buddy, so read this with that in mind. You don't need it to copy a path; ⌥⌘C does that. It helps when you copy paths often: support work, filing, scripts, or sending a colleague five locations one after another. Desk Buddy is a clipboard manager that keeps a history of what you copy, including text (so every path), links, images, colours, code and files.

• Press Control ⌘ V (or click the menu-bar icon, or Buddy at the edge of your screen) to open the history, then click a path to paste it where you were typing.
• Search the history for part of a folder name to find a path you copied earlier.
• Pin the paths you use every week, or group them into a board.
• Optional sync of the history between your Macs through your own iCloud.

FAQ

What is the shortcut to copy a file path on Mac?

Select the file in the Finder and press ⌥ ⌘ C. The full path is copied as plain text; paste it with ⌘ V.

Why don't I see Copy as Pathname when I right-click?

It only appears while you hold ⌥ Option. Right-click the file, then press Option: "Copy" changes to "Copy … as Pathname". The Edit menu works the same way.

How do I copy the path of a folder I'm already in?

Turn on View › Show Path Bar, then Control-click the folder in the bar and choose Copy as Pathname. In Terminal, pwd | pbcopy does it.

How do I copy the paths of several files at once?

Select them all and press ⌥ ⌘ C. You get one path per line.

Why does the path break when I paste it into Terminal?

Spaces. Put the path in quotes, or drag the file into Terminal, which escapes the spaces for you.

Where is iCloud Drive on a Mac, as a path?

Under ~/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~CloudDocs/. Desktop and Documents keep their usual paths even when they sync with iCloud.