Quick answer

Run diskutil list in Terminal to find the disk marked EFI (for example disk0s1), then run sudo diskutil mount disk0s1. The partition appears as EFI in Finder. Or skip Terminal and mount it with one click in ESP Mounter.

The EFI System Partition (ESP) is a small FAT32 partition at the start of a GUID-partitioned disk. It holds the files a Mac needs to start up, which is also where bootloaders such as OpenCore and Clover keep their files. macOS leaves it unmounted, so it does not show up in Finder until you mount it yourself.

Mount the EFI partition with Terminal

How to
  1. Open Terminal (Applications › Utilities).
  2. List your disks with diskutil list. Look for the row whose TYPE is EFI and note its identifier, for example disk0s1. If you are not sure which disk is which, see how to find the EFI partition identifier.
  3. Mount it with sudo diskutil mount disk0s1 and enter your administrator password.
  4. The partition mounts as EFI. Open it from Finder's sidebar, or run open /Volumes/EFI.
  5. When you are done, unmount it with diskutil unmount /Volumes/EFI before you unplug the drive.
diskutil list
sudo diskutil mount disk0s1
open /Volumes/EFI
diskutil unmount /Volumes/EFI

Mount the EFI partition with ESP Mounter

ESP Mounter does the same job without Terminal commands. It scans internal, external and removable disks for EFI partitions, marks your active boot disk, and flags any OpenCore or Clover install it finds.

  1. Open ESP Mounter. It scans your disks automatically.
  2. Select the disk whose EFI partition you want.
  3. Click Mount (or double-click the partition). It opens in Finder.
  4. Edit or back up the files, then unmount from ESP Mounter before removing the drive.

ESP Mounter can also copy an EFI folder from one disk to another and keeps an automatic backup of anything it overwrites. It is free and runs on macOS 11 Big Sur or later.

Before you change anything

Copy the whole EFI folder to your desktop first. If an edit stops the Mac from booting, you can put the copy back from another disk or from a USB installer. If the partition will not mount, read what to try when the EFI partition will not mount.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the EFI partition hidden on a Mac?
macOS keeps the EFI System Partition unmounted so the boot files on it are not changed by accident. It still exists on the disk; it just has to be mounted before it shows up in Finder.
Does an Apple Silicon Mac have an EFI partition?
Apple Silicon Macs do not use an EFI partition on their internal drive. You will mostly meet one on Intel Macs, Hackintoshes and external drives that use the GUID partition scheme.
Is it safe to edit files on the EFI partition?
Only if you know what each file does. Deleting or changing the wrong boot file can stop a Mac from starting, so copy the EFI folder somewhere safe before you change anything.
Do I need the Terminal to mount EFI?
No. ESP Mounter finds every EFI partition for you and mounts it with one click.