How to show hidden files in windows 10

How To Show Hidden Files In Windows 10

Plus how to hide them again

If you don’t already know, your computer has many more files than what you normally see in the File Explorer. Many of these files are hidden by your system for certain reasons. However, if you wish to access them, you can get your machine to show hidden files in Windows 10.

Once you’ve made the hidden files visible using any of the methods, you’ll find them available ready to use in your folders with File Explorer.

Use File Explorer To Show Hidden Files In Windows 10

The easiest way to show hidden files in Windows 10 is to enable an option in the File Explorer utility. It’ll then make all of the hidden files visible to you on your screen and it only takes turning on a single option in the tool.

Use Control Panel To Show Hidden Files In Windows 10

If you’re someone who likes to use the traditional Control Panel utility to change your settings, you’ll be glad to know you can use it as well to show hidden files on your Windows 10 computer. Once again, it only requires enabling a single option.

Edit a Registry Key To Enable Hidden Files In Windows 10

You’ll probably not want to use a registry method for a task like showing hidden files but if that’s what you prefer for your tasks, you can use it and make all of your hidden files visible in your file manager.

Recognizing Hidden Files In Windows 10

If this is your first time enabling and accessing hidden files on your machine, you’ll probably have no idea what these files look like. Even though these files are exactly the same as any other files on your computer, these look a bit different than the regular files when you view them in the Explorer.

After enabling the option to show hidden files, you’ll see these files with a more light color to their icons. If you’re looking at a hidden folder, you’ll see that its icon doesn’t look as solid as that of a regular folder.

Recognizing hidden files and folders amidst all the regular ones shouldn’t be too difficult as their appearance makes it really easy for you to find them.

Hiding Files In Windows 10

If you’re done with what you wanted to do with your hidden files, you might want to disable them again on your computer. This way, they won’t come in your way when you’re working with the regular files on your computer.

Hiding back the hidden files is pretty easy actually in Windows 10. All you need to do is disable an option in the method that you used to enable these files and you’ll be all set.

Why Certain Files Are Always Hidden

If you’re anything like us, you’ll probably be curious to find out exactly why your computer hides certain files on your system. While those of you hiding their own files will have their own reasons for doing so, Microsoft actually only has a single reason for it: to prevent any accidental damage to your computer.

Most files that are hidden by default are actually your core system files. They’re hidden to ensure they don’t get deleted or modified. Since these are core files, even a bit of a modification to them may lead to the malfunction of the overall system.

Wrap Up

If you used any of these methods to unhide your files, we’d like to know what those files were and why you chose to unhide them. We await your response in the comments below.

Mahesh has been obsessed with technology since he got his first gadget a decade or so ago. Over the last few years, he’s written a number of tech articles on various online publications including but not limited to MakeTechEasier and Android AppStorm. Read Mahesh’s Full Bio

How to Show Hidden Files and Folders in Windows 10

To show the files and folders automatically hidden in your Windows 10 computer, you can use one of the two methods introduced in this text.

Video guide on how to show hidden files and folders in Windows 10:

2 ways to show hidden files and folders in Windows 10:

Way 1: Show hidden files and folders in the View menu.

Step 1: Open This PC.

Double-click This PC on the desktop to open it.

Tips:

1. If you have no idea how to add This PC to the desktop, please refer to How to Add Desktop Icons on Windows 10.

2. You can also open another folder such as Network, File Explorer, Recycle Bin, etc.

Step 2: Show the hidden files and folders in the View menu.

Click View, tap Show/hide in the menu, and check the small box before Hidden items in the sub-list.

Way 2: Show hidden files and folders in the Folder Options.

Open This PC, click View and select Options.

Step 2: Show the hidden files and folders in the View settings.

In the Folder Options window, choose View, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and then click OK.

Now, go ahead to put them into practice, and you can show the hidden files and folders on your PC.

How to show hidden files on Windows 10

You can list hidden files and folders in several ways, and in this guide, you’ll learn how to complete this task on Windows 10 using File Explorer, Command Prompt, and PowerShell.

On Windows 10, sometimes, you may need to access hidden files and folders to change system or app settings. Usually, these items are hidden to avoid clutter or prevent accidental deletion of important components that may corrupt the operating system.

If you want to see hidden files and folders, Windows 10 offers many ways to complete this task using File Explorer, Command Prompt, and even PowerShell.

This guide will teach you the easy steps to show hidden items on Windows 10.

Show hidden files on Windows 10

To show hidden files in File Explorer on Windows 10, use these steps:

Open File Explorer on Windows 10.

Click on the View tab.

Under the “Show/hide” section, check the Hidden items option.

Once you complete the steps, File Explorer will show the hidden and unhidden items, but it’ll continue to hide other protected files.

Show hidden protected operating system files

To see hidden protected operating system files on Windows 10, use these steps:

Open File Explorer.

Click on the View tab.

Click the Options button.

Click the View tab.

Under the “Advanced settings” section, check the Show hidden, folders, and drives option.

Clear the Hide protected operating system files option.

Click the Apply button.

Click the OK button.

Once you complete the steps, you will now be able to see hidden files and protected Windows 10 files within File Explorer.

Show hidden files with Command Prompt on Windows 10

To display hidden files and folders while in Command Prompt, use these steps:

Open Start.

Search for Command Prompt, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

Type the following command to list hidden files for the location and press Enter:

When working with the dir command, you can display hidden content in several ways using the following switches:

After you complete the steps, the command will allow you to see hidden files and folders while in Command Prompt without changing the File Explorer settings.

Show hidden files with PowerShell on Windows 10

You can also see a list of hidden and protected operating system files with PowerShell with these steps:

Open Start.

Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.

Type the following command to view all the hidden files and folders for the location and press Enter:

Once you complete the steps, the command will show hidden files and folders, but it will not change the folder options in File Explorer.

This guide focuses on Windows 10, but this feature has been available for a long time, so the steps will also work on Windows 8.1, Windows 7, and older versions.

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How to show hidden files and folders in Windows 10, and hide files of your own

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There are a few reasons you might need to view a hidden file on Windows 10.

Maybe a folder is bigger than the files in it, and you want to see why. Or you’re pretty sure a virus has infected your computer, and you think you know where it might be. Or maybe you’ve been using hidden folders as a way to keep your private files away from prying eyes.

Whatever the case, viewing these hidden files and folders is a simple process.

Check out the products mentioned in this article:

How to show hidden files or folders on a Windows 10 computer

1. Press the Windows icon at the bottom-left of your screen. and search for the This PC application. Click it to open it.

2. You’ll be greeted with a listing of all your computer’s drives. Open the one that has the files you’re looking for. In most cases, «C:» will be the one you need.

3. Once you’re on the next page, at the top of the window there should be a toolbar with a button that says «View.» Click on that.

4. Find the checkbox called «Hidden Items.» Click it so that a checkbox appears.

5. As long as Hidden Items remains checked, you’ll be able to view any hidden file or folder.

You can tell that a file or folder was marked as hidden by its icon, which will be slightly transparent.

You can also mark a file or folder as hidden, which is a good way to keep your files private. Here’s how:

How to make a hidden file or folder on a Windows 10 computer

1. Find the file or folder you want to hide.

2. Right-click it, and select «Properties.»

3. In the menu that appears, check the box that’s labeled «Hidden.»

4. Click «OK» at the bottom of the window.

5. Your file or folder is now hidden.

You can uncheck a hidden file or folder at any time to make it visible.

Usually system files and folders are hidden for a reason, and it’s best to know that reason before you edit files that are hidden by default.

3 Methods to Show All Hidden Files and Folders in Windows 10

When you look for some files or folders in Windows 10 but cannot find them anywhere, if they are not deleted, then it’s very possible that the files/folders are hidden and invisible. You have to make them show up before you can view them.

In addition to hidden files and folders by users, actually, all Windows hide certain files and folders related to the operating system by default to prevent users from accidentally deleting or modifying the files and thus causing system fault.

Now if you want to show all hidden files and folders in Windows 10, this page will show you three methods to do so.

3 methods to show hidden files and folders in Windows 10

Here are three methods for you.

Method 1: through File Explorer

Step 1: Click the File Explorer icon on the taskbar to open File Explorer.

Step 2: Click the View tab, and check the checkbox next to »Hidden items», which is unchecked by default. This will reveal all hidden files and folders.

Method 2: through Control Panel

Step 2: Click Appearance and Personalization > File Explorer Options.

Step 3: After the »File Explorer Options» dialog opens, select the View tab, locate the »Hidden files and folders» under the »Advanced settings» section, and select the »Show hidden files, folders, and drives» option. Finally, click Apply to apply the settings.

Tips: If you want to show hidden operating system files, clear the checkbox ‘Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)’, and confirm the Warning dialog.

Method 3: through Registry

The first two methods will suffice to let you show all hidden files and folders in Windows 10. It’s the third method through changing registration value data in Registry Editor. It’s a more advanced method just for your information.

Step 1: Press Win + R keys to open the Run dialog, then type regedit and press Enter to open Registry Editor.

Step 2: Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced. Select the Advanced key, then on the right-side pane find the »Hidden» REG_DWORD and double click it to change its data value. The default value data for the »Hidden» is »2», which means not showing hidden files, folders, and drives. Set the value to »1» to show hidden files, folders, and drives.

Tips: Set the value for »ShowSuperHidden» to »1» to show protected operating system files. Set the value to»2» to not show protected operating system files.