The Internal Drive Clutter
By default, the macOS Finder sidebar is designed to be the central navigation hub for your entire computer, granting quick access to your most important locations. Depending on your configuration, this sidebar may automatically display a shortcut to your primary internal storage drive (often labelled “Macintosh HD” or simply “Hard Disks”) under the “Locations” section. This allows you to jump directly to the root directory of your filesystem with a single click.
While this is useful for system administrators or developers who frequently need to access root-level system folders (like /Library or /System), it is entirely unnecessary for the vast majority of regular Mac users. Most users store all their files within their Home folder (Documents, Downloads, Desktop) and never need to browse the raw root directory. Having “Macintosh HD” permanently pinned to your sidebar simply takes up valuable vertical space and adds visual clutter to your primary file management window. You should remove it to streamline your Finder.
How to Hide Hard Disks in the Sidebar
You can remove the internal drive shortcut via the Finder Preferences menu.
- Click the Finder icon (the smiling face) in your Dock to open a new Finder window.
- Look at the very top menu bar on your screen, click on Finder, and select Settings… (or Preferences).
- In the Settings window that appears, click on the Sidebar tab at the top.
- Look through the list of items under the “Locations” section.
- Locate the checkbox for Hard disks.
- Click the checkbox to remove the checkmark.
- Close the Settings window.
Your primary internal “Macintosh HD” drive will instantly vanish from the sidebar. (Note: External drives and USB sticks, governed by the “External disks” checkbox, will still appear normally when connected).