How to Share Files Between User Accounts on the Same Mac Using the Shared Folder

If you share a Mac with family members, colleagues, or maintain separate accounts for work and personal projects, transferring files between those profiles can initially seem surprisingly unintuitive. Because macOS strictly protects each user’s Home folder (Desktop, Documents, and Downloads) with Unix file permissions, logging into another account prevents you from opening or browsing the other user’s personal directories.

Rather than emailing documents to yourself, copying files to an external USB drive, or uploading them to cloud storage, macOS includes a built-in local directory specifically designed for local multi-user collaboration: the Shared folder and individual user Drop Box folders.

Method 1: Using the Native macOS Shared Folder

The Shared folder resides outside individual user boundaries, making it accessible to every registered account on your Mac. Any document placed inside this folder can be opened and read by any other local user.

Navigating to the Shared Folder in Finder

1. Open a new Finder window on your Mac.
2. Click the Go menu in the menu bar at the top of the screen.
3. Select Go to Folder… (or press Cmd + Shift + G).
4. In the path dialogue, type /Users/Shared and press Return.
5. You will see the Shared folder open directly in Finder.

Adding the Shared Folder to Your Finder Sidebar

To avoid typing the path repeatedly in the future, create a permanent shortcut:

1. In the Go to Folder view or column view showing the /Users directory, drag the Shared folder icon directly into the Favourites section of your Finder sidebar.
2. Release your mouse button to pin it permanently. Now you can drag documents into it from anywhere on your Mac with a single gesture.

When you drop a file into /Users/Shared and log in to a different account, open Finder, click the Shared shortcut in the sidebar, and drag the file out into your current user account’s Documents or Desktop folder.

Method 2: Using the Public Drop Box Folder

If you want to send a confidential file to another user without allowing everyone else on the Mac to see it, use that specific user’s Drop Box folder. The Drop Box acts like a postal letterbox: other users can drop files into it, but only the account owner has permission to open and view the contents inside.

1. Open Finder and press Cmd + Shift + G.
2. Enter /Users and hit Return.
3. Double-click the folder of the user account you wish to deliver files to.
4. Open their Public folder.
5. Drag your file and drop it into their Drop Box folder.
6. A system prompt will alert you: “You do not have permission to see the results of this operation. Are you sure you want to continue?” Click OK.

Once dropped, the file immediately disappears from your view. When that recipient logs in, they simply open ~/Public/Drop Box to retrieve the delivered file.

Managing File Permissions for Shared Files

When sharing collaborative documents that multiple users must edit and save repeatedly (such as shared family spreadsheets or joint media projects), Unix permissions may initially mark the file as read-only for secondary accounts.

To grant full editing access across both accounts:

1. Locate the file inside the Shared folder.
2. Right-click the file and choose Get Info (or press Cmd + I).
3. At the bottom of the information window, expand the Sharing & Permissions section.
4. Click the padlock icon in the bottom-right corner and authenticate with your Mac administrator password or Touch ID.
5. Locate the everyone entry and change its privilege setting from Read only to Read & Write.
6. Close the Info window.

Leveraging these native macOS sharing locations saves significant local disk space, maintains strict privacy between accounts, and makes family and work collaboration effortless.