Summary
If you cannot view some important hidden files on your Mac computer, do not worry. Here, you can find reliable methods to effectively find and make hidden files show up on Mac. Mac file recovery software supports you to find and restore all hidden files on Mac computer or external storage devices with simple clicks.
Recently we got a question from a user whether it is possible to find files that are hidden on a mac hard drive.
'I got some important files saved on my Mac disk and I hide them on the computer so to avoid accidental deletion. Now I want to use some of these hidden files. So do you have a simple way that can help me to view, see and find hidden files on my Mac?'
The answer is YES. You can just follow the provided methods to find the hidden files on your Mac computer or hard disk, external storage devices.
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
---|---|
Fix 1. View Hidden Files With Finder | Open a new Finder window > click on the name of your Mac under 'Devices' > click on System...Full steps |
Fix 2. Show Hidden Files With Terminal | Open Terminal > Copy and paste the command into the Terminal window...Full steps |
Fix 3. Restore With Software | Download EaseUS file recovery software for Mac > Choose a drive to scan > preview and recover...Full steps |
Step 2.Now, enter the below-given command. Make sure not to press the Return key as yet. Chflags hidden Step 3.After entering chflags hidden give a space then Navigate to the file or folder you want to hide, and then drag it to the end of the command in the Terminal window. Step 4.Now, press the Return key. Show Hidden Files and Folders on Mac in the Finder. Feb 21, 2020 This is possible thanks to the mac file recovery software. Here EaseUS file recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac enables you to find and restore all hidden files on Mac computer or external storage devices. Just download and install this software on your Mac computer. Download for Mac Download for PC. Aug 14, 2017 HideSwitch is an easy way to show and hide system files hidden in OS X. Instead of launching some big clunky piece of software or running a terminal command, just launch this tiny app and click the button to toggle hidden files on and off. Nothing more, nothing less. HideSwitch supports TotalFinder as well. May 01, 2019 The easiest way to reveal hidden files and folders in an active Finder window is to press the Shift, Command (⌘), and period symbol (.) keys in combination. This action works.
If you are a Windows user, refer to recover hidden files on PC to make hidden files show up on your Windows computer.
Method 1. View Hidden Files on Mac With Finder
When you want to see the hidden files, this is the quickest way to find the hidden files.
Step 1. Open a new Finder window and click on the name of your Mac under 'Devices' in the sidebar.
Step 2. Click on System, or whatever you’ve called your startup drive if you’ve renamed it.
Step 3. Press 'Command-Shift-. (period)'. You should now see lots of files and folders whose name starts with '.' become visible.
Step 4. To re-hide the files and folders, hold down 'Command-Shift-.' again.
Method 2. Show Hidden Files and Folder on Mac With Terminal
If you’re feeling particularly adventurous, you can use the Terminal command line interface to view hidden files and folders. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1. Open Terminal application from Launchpad.
Step 2. Copy and paste the following command into the Terminal window:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
Step 3. Restart Finder with a command: killall Finder.
Then you'll be able to see all hidden files and folders in the Finder.
Method 3. Restore/Show Hidden Files With Mac File Recovery Software
The third way to show hidden files is the easiest one. It does not require any specific knowledge and can be used by both experienced users and novice Mac users. Also, this way is safe and convenient, as it allows you to show hidden files with simple clicks. This is possible thanks to the mac file recovery software.
Here EaseUS file recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac enables you to find and restore all hidden files on Mac computer or external storage devices. Just download and install this software on your Mac computer.
Note: If your hidden files are less than 2GB, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free Edition can help. You don't need to pay anything with this free file recovery software.
Step 1. Select the disk location (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Click the Scan button.
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane.
Step 3. In the scan results, select the file(s) and click Recover Now button to have them back.
Conclusion
If you need to show hidden files on your Mac, whether, for troubleshooting or clearing mac junk files, the methods provided above will help you to complete your task. You can choose which one to use, nevertheless, we recommend that you use the third way as the easiest and quickest method. With a help of EaseUS, you can:
Hide Hidden Files Mac Os
- Switch files visibility
- Find hidden files
- Recover all lost, deleted and formatted data
![Hide hidden files mac os Hide hidden files mac os](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126441506/942938800.jpg)
Also, remember to be careful with hidden files. If you are not sure what you are doing, you can cause some serious damage pretty quickly.
Delete Hidden Files On Mac
hi, Steve
i also have not heard of this kind of behaviour.
what kind of application is it, and what are the beginnings and the extensions of the file names?
I would try two things:
a) highlight the file, then 'cmd-I' and check 'sharing and Permissions'. this won't work on the files which hides, but you can try to do that on a non-hidden file of that application. See what it says.
b) this solution might have more success: a possibility is that for some or another reason the filename begins with a dot ('.'). to find out, open 'Terminal' (under Utilities), and go to the directory where the files are (eg. by saying 'cd Desktop/Applicationfolder' if the files are in the folder 'Applicationfolder' on the Desktop).
then type 'ls -lta' (without quotationmarks). you will get a list of all the files in this folder. Locate the file which hides. At the beginning of the line there will be something like 'drwxr-xr-x'. Please, Report back with the info on the filenames which hide themselves.
Hope this gets you any further. report back, please, - thanks
Thomas
i also have not heard of this kind of behaviour.
what kind of application is it, and what are the beginnings and the extensions of the file names?
I would try two things:
a) highlight the file, then 'cmd-I' and check 'sharing and Permissions'. this won't work on the files which hides, but you can try to do that on a non-hidden file of that application. See what it says.
b) this solution might have more success: a possibility is that for some or another reason the filename begins with a dot ('.'). to find out, open 'Terminal' (under Utilities), and go to the directory where the files are (eg. by saying 'cd Desktop/Applicationfolder' if the files are in the folder 'Applicationfolder' on the Desktop).
then type 'ls -lta' (without quotationmarks). you will get a list of all the files in this folder. Locate the file which hides. At the beginning of the line there will be something like 'drwxr-xr-x'. Please, Report back with the info on the filenames which hide themselves.
Hope this gets you any further. report back, please, - thanks
Thomas
Mac Hide Hidden Files Apps
Oct 19, 2009 12:07 AM