Jekyll default installation doesn't have _layouts directory

You must be running the recent Jekyll version 3.2, which introduces Gem based themes (from https://jekyllrb.com/docs/themes/):

Jekyll themes package layouts, includes, and stylesheets in a way that can be overridden by your site’s content.

The theme is set in _config.yml:

theme: minima

Initial files that were previously in _layouts, _includes, and _sass are now packaged with the theme.

Basically Jekyll wants you to use themes, so you can't see _layouts, _includes, _sass, _assets anymore.

To use previous behaviour simply copy from the gemfile:

open $(bundle show minima)

Copy the 4 folders into your jekyll directory

If you want the older style of Jekyll website directory which includes all the 4 folders then you can use this command : jekyll new my-new-website-name --blank I have done the same while creating a personal site.