When Apple released OS X 10.9.3, many users found that the /Users folder was hidden. In my case, when I click on Dave's Computer in the Finder sidebar, then click on Macintosh HD, I don’t see the usual Users folder at the top level of my hard drive. The folder is there, it’s just hidden.

This is not a big deal for most people, and not everyone’s /Users folder is hidden. If yours is, and you need access to it, open a Finder window and select Go To Folder… from the Go menu. When the dialog appears, type /Users and click the Go button. The /Users folder will become visible, albeit temporarily.

For a more permanent solution, control-click on the /Users folder and select Make Alias from the contextual menu that appears. Though the /Users folder will become hidden again when you close your Finder window, the alias will stick around.

Not sure why Apple made this change, and why some people are seeing it and not others. Whatever the reason and whatever the ultimate resolution, this is an easy thing to deal with and, I suspect, will be resolved in the next release.

UPDATE: Twitter user Jan suggested using this bit of code (which you’d enter using Terminal) to permanently change the /Users folder’s hidden status:

sudo chflags nohidden /Users

Good tip, but personally, I’d advise waiting to give Apple a chance to resolve this in their own way before going under the hood yourself.

[Hat tip to Kirk McElhearn for pointing this out]