Shows all hidden files. Hidden and system files of Windows

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Often users operating system Windows, in particular one of its latest versions- Windows 7, there is a need to do hidden folders visible in Explorer. You will learn how to do this from this short note. There are two main ways to enable the display of hidden folders in Windows 7. Each of them is quite simple, just one is shorter and the other is longer.

Method one. This is what is shown to schoolchildren and students in computer science lessons. Find the “My Computer” shortcut on the Desktop and left-click on it. At the top, in the very corner of the left side of the screen, you will see the “Arrange” item. Click on this word with the left mouse button. In the window that appears, select “Folder and Search Options.”

Another one will appear Windows window 7 “Folder Options”. Click on the second tab. In the additional settings, find the “Hidden files and folders” item, check the “Show hidden files, folders and drives” checkbox.

Before closing the window, do not forget to click “Apply” and “OK”. That's it, after completing these simple steps hidden folders will appear on your computer.

Method two. It is not particularly different from the first one and, in principle, is similar to it. So, first, open “Control Panel” from the “Start” menu.

A Windows 7 window will open, where you will need to find the item “Folder Options” - “Show hidden folders”.

The exact same “Folder Options” window will open as we could see using the first method. Using the slider, find the “Hidden files and folders” item, check the “Show…” checkbox, save the changes by clicking on “Apply” and then “OK”.

As you can see, make hidden folders appear in Explorer or the same Total Commander, is not difficult. All you have to do is choose how exactly you will do it. Good luck!

I believe that the article was useful!

In the Windows operating system there is such a thing as “ Hidden file"and now we will find out what it is, why hidden files are needed, how to create them, and also how you can display or show these same hidden files.

So, let's get started, the only thing I want to say right away is that when I create and display hidden files, as an example, I will have the version Windows 7, in other versions, for example, in Windows 8 this process almost the same.

What is a hidden file in Windows?

Hidden file– this is a regular file, but it is not displayed. Hidden files can be displayed and also made normal, i.e. not hidden. In other words, hidden files are files that are marked as hidden. Hidden files, just like regular ones, take up space on your hard drive, so you shouldn’t hope that by hiding files you will free up disk space.

What are hidden files for in Windows?

Hidden files in the Windows operating system are mainly needed to make it possible not to display rarely used files. Those. for example, you have files that you rarely use ( but sometimes you use it), while they are displayed and take up space on the screen, thereby making it difficult visual search necessary, at one time or another, file or folder.

You can also use the ability to hide files to avoid showing some confidential information other computer users, but this, as you understand, is unreliable, since another user can, just like you, display these files and view them. But in cases where you want some files and folders simply not to be seen by other users, then, of course, you can use the ability to hide files.

It also uses hidden files Windows system in order to hide some things from the user system files, which users do not need and are better not to see.

How to create a hidden file in Windows 7?

In Windows, you can hide both files and folders, so we will learn how to hide both files and folders.

To create a hidden file, click right click mouse by the required file and select " Properties»

The window “ File properties", where we mark the attribute " Hidden" and click " Apply»

After that this file will be hidden.

In order to hide a folder, we also right-click, but on the folder and select “ Properties" Then we also mark the attribute “ Hidden" and click " Apply»

Then you need to confirm your action, and we can specify that this attribute will be applied to all attached files and folders or only to this folder. Click " OK»

If later you need to make these files or folders back to normal, i.e. not hidden, then the procedure is exactly the same, but with one difference: a tick next to the attribute “ Hidden"will need to be removed ( and not put). First, of course, you need to display these hidden files in order to go into their properties, and I will now show you how this is done.

How to show hidden files in Windows 7?

In order to display hidden files, open " Control Panel" It can be opened from the desktop

If the control panel icon is not displayed on your desktop, you can read the material “ How to display Computer, Control Panel, Recycle Bin icons on desktop in Windows?" in which I tell you how to display this and other icons or you can use the menu " Start", where there is also a shortcut to launch the Control Panel.

After you have opened the control panel, look for the item " Folders settings"or if you have everything grouped into categories in your control panel, then select " Design and personalization", and then click on the item " Folders settings»

Note! You can also click Show hidden files and folders" to immediately go to the desired tab.

The window “ Folders settings", where we need to go to the tab " View" and in the section " Extra options » find item « Show hidden files, folders and drives", mark it and press the button " Apply" To close the window, click " OK»

Note! In order not to show hidden files, you must select “Do not show hidden files, folders and drives” in the same window..

Now we check, our hidden files are now displayed, their icons, compared to regular files, a little lighter.

That's all, good luck!

Hidden files in windows are updated and used by the system and programs. You can't find them easily. This prevents you from deleting or moving a folder or file that should be where it belongs. If you delete a hidden folder, file, then know that this is important information for your requirements software and systems to make it work. Knowing how to enable hidden folders in Windows will help you troubleshoot and troubleshoot other problems that may occur on your system. Sometimes you need to open hidden folders and files in Windows in order to clean “Temp” and all sorts of temporary files that get clogged system disk. Not all optimizers with default settings clean your computer from clogged files. Sometimes you need to enable hidden folders and manually clean out clogged folders temporary files. There are times when you need to hide folders.

How to show hidden folders in windows 10

Open File Explorer, also known as This PC. Click the "View" tab and check the " Hidden elements". If you don't have the "View" tab, then stretch the window wider and it will appear.

How to show hidden folders in windows 7

Open the "Start" menu, write the word "folders" in the search and click "Show hidden files" in the search results. Click the "View" tab, scroll to the very bottom and "Show hidden files, folders and drives."

Beginner users sooner or later have to look for ways to ensure the security of personal data on their computer. In one case, the files can be encrypted or packed into a password-protected archive, in others you have to hide directories with personal photos and other data in the wilds file system or make them invisible in Explorer windows.

When the time comes to access the contents of a hidden directory, the question arises: how to show hidden folders in Windows 7. We hid it, but we don’t know how to show it back. This short but detailed article will answer the question posed.

Hidden folders and files are physically no different from regular ones. The only difference is that the former have the “Hidden” attribute active. It can be assigned to any file system object to which the user has access. Many system directories, for example, are invisible to the user by default in order to protect system files from inexperienced users.

Conductor

The point of any of the methods (except for using third-party software) is to change the key value system registry, responsible for visualizing hidden folders in Windows 7.

Solving the problem begins by launching the explorer, for example, using the combination Win keys+ E (the contents of the “My Computer” directory will open).
Click on the “Arrange” button located under the window header.

In the “Tools” drop-down menu, click on the “Folder Options” item.

The same window opens through the main menu of the explorer.

Press the Alt key to display the main menu.
In it, click on the “Service” item.

From the drop-down list, select “Folder Options...”.

Switch to the “View” tab.

Scroll through the list of options in the “Advanced Options” frame.

To return hidden directories, move the switch next to the “Hidden folders and files” option to the second position – “Show hidden files...”.

Click “OK” to save the new settings graphical shell Windows.

Now Explorer will display all file system objects with the “Hidden” attribute, and this does not require a computer restart, re-authorization in the system, or even a window refresh.

Icons with low brightness and color saturation indicate that files/folders have been assigned the “Hidden” attribute.

You can also get to the settings window, familiar from the previous section, through the control panel.

We launch it in any convenient way.

If its elements are shown as categories, go to the “Design and Personalization” section.

Here we click on “Folder Options”.

In the case where control panel elements are displayed as small or large icons, the Folder Options applet is already in the main window.

By the way, the quickest way to open a window with directory parameter settings is to use the “control folders” command. It should be done through search bar or the Run window. The key combination Win + R will help you do this.

Registry Editor

You can also change the value of the key that allows you to manage hidden objects manually using the registry editor built into Windows 7. To do this, let's launch it.

Open the “Run” window through Start or with the key combination Win + R.
Enter and execute the “regedit” command.

Administrator privileges are required to perform this operation.

Expand the HKEY_CURREN_USER hive, where all settings related to the current account are stored.

Go to the path: “Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced”.
Call up the context menu of the key with the name “Hidden” and click “Change...”.

1. Enter “1” as the new key value and press Enter or click “OK”.

All that remains is to re-enter the directory where the hidden objects were. You can also update its contents using the F5 key or the button located to the right of the address bar.

Total Commander

Many Windows users They prefer the Total Commander file manager to Explorer due to the program’s enormous advantages in convenience and functionality. To enable the function of displaying hidden directories and files, perform the following chain of operations.

From the main menu, call the “Configuration” command.

In the drop-down menu, click on the item “Settings: Panel Contents”.

Activating the “Show hidden folders” option will help you display hidden directories. We mark it with a checkbox and apply the settings.

After saving the settings and closing the configuration window, Total Commander will begin to show hidden folders.

How to hide information

You can hide a folder or file by assigning the corresponding attribute to it/him. This is done as follows.

First you need to open the “Properties” of the object via context menu or through a combination Alt keys+Enter.
Check the box next to the “Hidden” option in the “Attributes” frame.

If you clear this checkbox, the hidden file/directory will be displayed in the Explorer window.

Save the new settings by selecting the appropriate options in the warning window.

Regarding removable drives

After removing Win32 viruses that hid all files on the flash drive and replaced them with themselves, you have to change the attributes of all affected objects. A little trick will help you see their list and make them visible for the current media without activating the option to visualize hidden directories and files in Explorer.

Open the contents of the flash drive in Explorer or file manager, using the right mouse button, call up the context menu of the free area and create a new text file with any name and permission “bat” (when renaming it, replace “txt” with “bat”).

Through its context menu text file call the “Change” command.

We insert next line“attrib -s -h -r -a *.* /s /d” and close text editor saving the changes made.

Execute this file double click left key and wait for the command line window to close.

As a result, the “Hidden” attribute will be removed for all objects located on the flash drive, and they will become visible without changing any settings.

Find hidden files

Find and display directories and files that have the “Hidden” attribute, called the Hidden program File Finder from the SecurityXploded team. She doesn't change anything at all system settings. The program will only scan the specified directory or disk, filter all found files and folders by the “Hidden” attribute and display a list of found objects to which it is assigned. If you want to find data hidden by someone (photos, films and even catalogs) without changing Windows settings 7, install and launch Hidden File Finder.

In the main window, click on the directory icon with green arrow and indicate the scanning source.

If you check the “Perform complete computer scan” option, the program will check all digital storage devices available to it.

If necessary, call up the application settings by clicking on the red button with a gear image and exclude it from the search unnecessary objects(labels, empty files and directories).

Click “Start Scan”.

We are waiting for the procedure to complete. It will be marked by the appearance of an information window, which we close.

The window displays only those file system objects that are assigned the “Hidden” attribute. Moreover, the names of the catalogs are highlighted in blue.

Through the context menu of any object or their group, you can go to the selected directory, open a file, make it visible or delete it.

Choose the method that is most suitable for your case, because none of them is universal.

Video instruction

On every computer under Windows control There are so-called “hidden folders”. They are not visible on the user's screen various reasons, however correct settings will help you display them so you can make appropriate changes. Next, we will describe in detail all the nuances of working with hidden folders.

How to enable hidden folders on Windows?

You should keep in mind the fact that some files on the computer are hidden from the user for good reason. As a rule, such folders are stored critically important information necessary for work specific programs or the operating system as a whole. Under no circumstances should they be deleted, which is why the developers “hid” the files in such a cunning way.

Make them visible (we'll put them in Windows example 7, but on other versions everything is done by analogy) quite simply:

Open “Computer” through “Start” or a shortcut in the left top corner, on the taskbar we find the “Organize” button (in Russian localization “Arrange”), click on the “Folder and search” item, a new “Folders option” window will open.
Go to the “View” tab and in the “Advanced settings” window, among various settings, in the “Hidden files” subsection, check the checkbox with the inscription “Show hidden files”.
Click “Ok”, look at the desired folder and check the result - the files should be displayed as translucent labels.
If there is a need to cancel changes, simply move the checkbox up one line and save the changes again, system folders and the files will disappear from the screen.

How to see hidden folders in Windows 10?

Since “ten” has changed its interface by default (it can be returned to the classic one, but we will talk about displaying in “tablet”, tiled appearance), it is worth mentioning separately the settings for hidden files.

To show them, click on the “Start” button, find the “Explorer” item, and a new window opens.
At the top, in the taskbar, we find the “View” menu, a little lower and to the right, next to “Current view”, check the box next to “Hidden elements”.
An alternative option is to press the Win+Q key combination to open a search. In it, enter “Explorer Options” and open the corresponding window. Then everything happens in the same way as described in the first paragraph - on the “View” tab we find the appropriate item for displaying files and folders.

Showing hidden folders in Windows Vista

If you still can’t part with this version of the operating system, let’s say a few words about what differences in the settings there are. IN classic form they repeat point 1, in the form “ Home page” from the Control Panel you will need to go to “Appearance and Personalization”, click on the link “Show hidden Files and Folders”. If necessary, the user can make a file or folder invisible independently, in any modern Windows. Just right-click on the icon, go to its properties and check the “Hide” box.

Seeing hidden folders is useful not only for changing settings. Sometimes they contain viruses that deliberately hide information from the user. If you find one of these suspicious folders, do not rush to delete it, first carefully analyze the contents.