How to customise the Finder sidebar, and get it back when it disappears

Add folders to the Finder sidebar, remove the ones you never use, change its icon size, and bring it back when it vanishes. Every setting in one place.

Guide · Updated 22 October 2026

How do I get the Finder sidebar back?

Choose View, Show Sidebar, or press ⌃ ⌘ S. If the toolbar is hidden too, choose View, Show Toolbar. See toolbar disappeared if more is missing.

How do I add a folder to the Finder sidebar?

  • Drag the folder into the Favorites section and let go when a line appears.
  • Or select the folder and choose File, Add to Sidebar (⌃ ⌘ T).

How do I remove items from the Finder sidebar?

Right click an item and choose Remove from Sidebar. To hide whole types, such as Recents, AirDrop, tags or iCloud Drive, open Finder Settings (⌘ ,), click Sidebar, and untick them. Removing an item from the sidebar never deletes the folder.

How do I make the sidebar icons bigger?

Open System Settings, Appearance, and change Sidebar icon size to Small, Medium or Large. This changes the sidebar in Finder, Mail and other apps at once.

How do I reorder the sidebar?

Drag items up and down within a section. Sections themselves stay in the order Finder sets, but each one can be collapsed by clicking its heading.

More Finder setup: choose the folder new windows open to and Finder keyboard shortcuts.

Checked on 22 October 2026 on a MacBook Air (M1) running macOS 27.0.1: Show Sidebar and Remove from Sidebar were read from Finder, and Sidebar icon size from System Settings, Appearance.

Questions

How do I show the sidebar in Finder?

Choose View, Show Sidebar, or press Control Command S.

How do I add a folder to the Finder sidebar?

Drag it into Favorites, or select it and press Control Command T.

Does removing a sidebar item delete the folder?

No. It only removes the shortcut from the sidebar.

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