macOS has the ability to hide folders and files, just like other operating systems. But macOS hides these options and doesn't make it as easy as it is on Windows, Linux. To hide a file or folder, you will need to set the "hidden" attribute on it. The Finder and other Mac applications will not display this file or folder by default.
Hide folder or file
Instead of hiding an individual file (although you can do that as well), you can create a hidden folder. For the example we will do this, this trick will also work to hide individual files.
Firstly, open a terminal window - Press Ctrl + Space, write Terminal and press Enter. In the terminal, enter the following command, including the space at the end of it:
Chflags hidden
Drag the folder to the terminal window
The path to the file or folder will appear in the terminal. Press Enter to run the command and the file or folder will disappear. Finder won't show it by default.
Access hidden files or folders
How to access a hidden folder from Finder? The easiest way is to click on the menu Go in Finder and select Go to folder.
Type the path to the folder in the dialog box and press Go or Enter. ~
Means a custom folder, so if you have a folder called SecretStuff on your desktop, you need to type ~/Desktop/SecretStuff. If it was in the documents, you need to enter ~/Documents/SecretStuff. Don't mind that the folder is hidden and won't show up normally in the Finder, you can quickly access it from this path. Any files you store in this folder are effectively hidden and no one can accidentally see them, but they will appear in the Finder if you navigate to this directory in the manner described.
Show hidden files and folders in Open/Dialog
Graphical enable option - you must enable it with a terminal command and reload Finder for the changes to take effect. To view hidden files in Finder, open a terminal window and run the following commands in it, pressing Enter after each one:
Defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE killall Finder
This command tells Finder to show hidden files and then launches it. This will show all hidden files and folders. They appear partially transparent to distinguish hidden files and folders from normal ones that are not hidden.
Do you want Finder to stop showing hidden files and folders? Run the following command to disable this option and restart Finder:
Defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE killall Finder
Make files or folders visible
Want to show files or folders? Run the same command as before, just change "hidden" to "nohidden." In other words, enter the following command in the terminal, typing a space after it:
Chflags no hidden
If you remember the exact path to a file or folder, you can type it into the terminal. If you don't remember, you can use the trick above to show hidden files and folders in Finder and drag and drop that hidden file or folder into the terminal as you did before.
(You can also press the up(arrow) key in the terminal and get the command you typed earlier. Use the left key to navigate to “hidden” and change it to “nohidden” and then press Enter.)
You can also hide files or folders by renaming them so that the name starts with “.”. However, Mac OS X won't let you rename files and folders from the Finder window, so you'll have to do it from the terminal.
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Not like a Windows computer hiding files and folders on your Mac not as easy as it seems. What can you do?
Never worry, because if you're wondering how can you hide your folders and files on your Mac I'll show you the steps for this trick here.
This way, you will be sure that all those important files and folders that you have on your Mac will definitely be safe.
All the files you have on your Mac may contain important files for business purposes such as business data, personal information, and other important things.
Because of this, choosing to hide certain files and folders on your Mac computer is a great way to keep those files safe and private at all times.
Part 1. Steps to Hide Files on Mac
To let you know how you can hide your files and folders on your Ma c, we have several safe and secure solutions you can make.
Although some of the solutions here are a little tricky, just make sure you carefully check every detail of every instruction.
Now let's move on to the easy way. use to hide your files on Mac.
Step 1. Open the software and select Toolkit. Then select Hide.
Tips: you need Set and confirm your password the first time you use this feature.
Step 2: Drag the file and hide it
Drag the file to the screen and hide it. click Hide button to complete this step.
Note: Below is the toggle button. Turn off the button and the file you dragged at this point may reappear on your Mac.
So easy, right? iMyMac - PowerMyMac also allows you to encrypt your files. The steps are as simple as the Hide process.
Part 2: Using Terminal to Hide Files on Mac
Solution 1: Use Your Terminal to Hide Files and Folders on Mac
Terminal is one of the default apps on your Mac that will definitely help you hide your files and folders. If you want to know how you can do it, just follow the instructions below.
Step 1: Click "Finder" and search for terminal on this Mac.
Step 2: After that, go ahead and launch Terminal.
Step 3: Drag and drop all the files and folders you want to hide. Once you do this, your path path will be shown on your screen.
Just hit "Return" and notice that the file is gone on your Mac.
Solution 2: Using Disk Utility to Encrypt Your Folders
By encrypting your files and folders, you can also keep them safe and private because only you can access them.
This is how you can try to encrypt your files and folders with Disk Utility.
#1: Run Disk Utility. Just type Disk Utility in the Spotlight search and press Enter.
#2: Go to the menu bar and select "File" then "New" and then "Disk image from folder".
#3: After that, select the file or folder you want to encrypt and click "Picture". Once done, name it and make sure you select "AES 256-bit Encryption" from the dropdown next to "Encryption".
Part 3: How to View Your Files and Foleder on Your Mac
Now that you know how to hide your files and folders on your Mac, it's time to learn how you can view hidden files and folders.
Here we have set step by step method show hidden files and folders on your Mac. Just go ahead and follow these steps.
Step 1: To view the hidden file on your Mac, launch Terminal on your Mac computer.
Step 2: After launching the Terminal, enter these commands and complete them by pressing the Return button.
default write.com .apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
Part 4: Display Files on Mac
As we said above, you still don't know how to hide hidden files and folders on your Mac computer.
The solution to this is actually very simple. Just go ahead and run the same command mentioned above. These are the commands you use when viewing hidden files.
Here is a step by step method for you.
Step 1: In order for you to be able to display the file or folder, you will still need to launch the terminal on your Mac
Step 2: After that, go ahead and type these commands: chflagsnohidden and then after that end the process by pressing the spacebar.
Step 3: Go ahead and show the files by going to your terminal on your Mac computer. And then once you're in the terminal, go ahead and type in the following keys and end it by hitting the spacebar.
Step 4: After completing these steps, drag all your hidden files and folders to the terminal and then press the Enter key.
THE NOTE: If you remember the exact path to your files and folders, you can simply enter it in the Terminal.
However, if you don't remember the path to the hidden files or folders, you can simply follow the steps above in the Finder and then drag and drop the hidden files into the terminal.
Part 5: Conclusion
As you can see, it is indeed possible that you can actually hide your files and folders on your Mac computer. By doing this with your files and folders, you will feel safe, especially if these files and folders contain important information.
As you can see, there are many ways you can do this with your files and folders using your Mac computer.
After working with MacOS X for a while, you may at some point find that the system is hiding something from you. You can notice this either by specifically running the `ls -la` command in the terminal, or by connecting any removable media (flash, hdd) that you worked with from MacOS X to another system (for example, MS Windows) - you probably you will be surprised that there are much more files and folders than you expected to see.
If you have been working with computers for a long time, then you know that operating systems often hide from the user's eyes service information that they need to work, but useless for someone who works with the system. In the case of MacOS X, this applies to directory and application configuration files, files deleted in the trash, Spotlight indexing data, and a number of other files. The rule also applies that any file whose name has a dot (.) as the first character is hidden.
But what if you still need to see hidden files? For example, in text editor do you need to change the instructions in the .htaccess file (this file may contain some behavioral settings for the Apache web server)? I can suggest 3 ways to solve this issue.
Option 1 - Terminal.app
, then copy the command there
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles 1 && killall Finder
You will now be able to see hidden files both in the Finder and in file open dialogs in various applications.
To hide the files again, paste the line into the terminal
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles 0 && killall Finder
Option 2 - write a small utility
Open the Script Editor (Script Editor.app) and place the following AppleScript instructions in its window
set vis to do shell script "defaults read com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles"
if vis = "0" then
do shell script "defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles 1"
else
do shell script "defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles 0"
end if
tell application "Finder" to quit
delay 1
tell application "Finder" to activate
After that, save the file as a Program (having thought of a name first) in some directory (while leaving all program options unselected). Now find yours in the Finder new program and run it: it will automatically change the file display mode to the opposite one. Those. if you have disabled the display of hidden files, the program will enable it; and vice versa.
Option 3 - download a ready-made solution
I have already completed the steps from the second method I proposed, and here you can download the reVisible.app utility that I got
Save this file wherever you like and run it when needed.
In the future, I will try to upload all such utilities immediately in a compiled form.
Default hidden folders and files operating system Mac OS are not displayed. They, in principle, are not needed most often by users, and not every mac driver may need them, and certainly not every day.
Options to display hidden folders and several files on MAC:
- Look once, after closing the folder, when you return to it, hidden files will again become invisible;
- Enable permanent display of hidden folders and files;
- Use third party application to control the display of hidden objects in Mac OS.
Consider all three options:
1. You can quickly check a certain folder for hidden objects using a keyboard shortcut CMD + SHIFT + .(Command + Shift + dot), moreover, you can use both left and right CMD and SHIFT.
2. You can enable the permanent display of hidden folders and files using a command executed through the console (terminal).
- Open the Terminal program, paste from the clipboard or manually write the line:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES
- Press the Enter key
- Press the key " Option" on the keyboard and right-click on the Finder icon and select the line " Restart"
In order to return the settings to the original ones, you need to run the following command in the terminal:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles NO
(similar to the previous one, only at the end instead of YES is NO)
Also restart the Finder (or restart your Mac) for the settings to take effect.
3. Installing free app funter, can be with a flick of the wrist With a quick mouse click, turn on and off the display of hidden files and folders in your MAC. After installation, the Funter application will hang in the system tray (in the top menu bar) and allow you to quickly show and hide hidden files and folders again.
This method, on the one hand, is convenient and is the simplest, but, on the other hand, installing some additional application - wasting system resources on it and relying on the decency of the developer is not very attractive.
Conclusion: the best option to see hidden files and folders on Mac OS - the first one is using keyboard shortcuts CMD + SHIFT + .(Command + Shift + period).
How to make a file or folder hidden on Mac OS?
Unfortunately, as in OS Windows, you cannot check the box to make the file hidden in Mac OS. Here without command line(without a terminal) is no longer enough. So:
1. Download the Terminal application.
2. Write a command
chflags hidden
Next, after a space, you need to specify the path to the file that you want to make hidden. In order not to suffer with specifying the correct path manually, use the "DRAG-AND-DROP" technology - grab the file with the mouse, drag it to the Terminal program window and release it. The correct path will be added by itself, after which the command will look like this:
chflags hidden /Users/user/Desktop/777/1.txt
Execute the command by pressing the Enter key. As a result, the 1.txt file located in the folder named 777 on the Desktop will become hidden.
How to make a hidden file or folder on Mac OS not hidden?
Similarly to the previous example, using the Terminal program, write and execute the command:
chflags no hidden /Users/user/Desktop/777/1.txt
Difference: NOhidden instead of hidden.
