Having constant access to all folders and files on your computer is useful for an experienced user who will not accidentally delete important materials, and will protect and encrypt valuable information using special means. In all other cases, it becomes necessary to use Windows 7's ability to hide and open files and directories.
How to hide a folder or file
You can change folder properties using standard Windows 7 tools, including Explorer.
- Open Explorer and go through the tabs until we find our folder.
- Right-click and select “Properties” from the menu that opens.
- Select the “General” tab, check the box next to the word “Hidden”. Click “OK” to exit.
- A folder usually contains nested elements - subdirectories and files. Therefore, the system will ask you to clarify your intent. In the “Attribute Change Confirmation” window that opens, two options will be offered: “Apply changes only to this folder” (files when transferred or copied to open folder will become available for viewing) and “To this folder and to all its subfolders and files” (the files will remain invisible). Select as you wish and click “OK”.
- If you need to hide not a folder, but a separate file, we proceed in the same way, omitting the last step.
- After all the manipulations, the folder will change its color, the icon will become a little paler. So that it stops being displayed altogether, we change the parameters of the “Explorer” itself. To do this, click “Start” and open “Control Panel”.
- In the “Configure Computer Settings” window that opens, select the “Folder Options” tab.
- In the “Folder Options” window, select the “View” tab, in the lower half of which there is a scrolling window “Advanced options”. The “Hidden files and folders” item we need is located at the very end of the scrollable list. Most likely, the label is set to “Show hidden files, folders and drives”. We change it to “Do not show...”.
- Click “Apply” and then “OK”. If everything is done correctly, the hidden folder in Explorer will no longer be displayed.
How to make hidden documents visible
First, you need to make sure that Explorer shows hidden items. To do this, in the “Folder Options” window we already know, you need to set the marker to “Show hidden files and folders”. After this you can work with the necessary documents. They will have a paler icon color.
If you need to “open” the file, that is, remove the “Hidden” attribute from its properties, then you need to use the “Properties” window again.
Registry Editor
To make Explorer show hidden files, you can use the Registry Editor.
- Press the combination of the Win and R buttons, in the “Run” window that appears, type the command regedit in the input line, click “OK”.
- In the Registry Editor that opens, go to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced section by sequentially opening the tabs.
- Double-click on the “Hidden” parameter. Enter the number 1 in the “Value” field and click “OK”. Now hidden files will be shown by Explorer.
- To achieve the opposite result, enter “0”.
How to view invisible folders and files in Windows 7 - video
How to show or hide information on a flash drive
From the Explorer point of view, external drives, including flash drives, are the same disks as the rest of the computer. Therefore, in order to see/hide their contents, you need to act in the same way: change the Explorer settings and the properties of folders and files stored on the drive.
Note! Changing the attribute to "Hidden" will not hide the document from an alternative file manager or Explorer on another computer that is configured to display invisible elements.
Find files on your computer
In order to detect hidden files and folders, you must first make sure that they are displayed in Explorer, and only then launch Search. Now not a single document will escape you.
You can also view all hidden materials using other applications, for example, Total Commander, in which you should also first configure the display of files.
When opening access to hidden files, you should be aware that this step removes one of the levels of protection of information important to the system. Therefore, you should take care of other methods: data encryption, the use of software and hardware, as well as external media.
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 is 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 to visually search for the file or folder you need at one time or another.
You can also use the ability to hide files to avoid showing any confidential information to 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.
Hidden files are also used by the Windows system itself to hide from the user some system files that users do not need and are better off not seeing.
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, right-click on 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 go directly 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, are a little lighter.
That's all, good luck!
In some cases, the user simply needs to see hidden system folders. This happens when installing various add-ons for games, changing programs, or simply deep cleaning the system. If you only need to go into the system folder once or twice, then it is better to hide it after that. This way you will protect yourself from accidentally deleting important system files, changing them and moving them: all these actions are fraught with Windows 7 errors. Try to configure the display yourself hidden folders, following the simple and clear instructions in this article.
Go to the control panel. To do this, click on the Start icon in Explorer, then select the “Control Panel” line on the right side of the menu that appears. Display by categories rather than icons. This option is in the upper right corner of the window.Click on the “Design and Personalization” section.
- Parameters for opening and overlaying them.
- The system's response to clicks on folders.
- Display folders.
In addition, in this tab you can immediately return all the original folder settings set by default by the system.
You need to go to the “View” tab.
Click “Ok” and then “Apply”.
So simply you can configure the display of system folders on your computer or laptop with the Windows 7 operating system. If you have later versions of the OS, then this algorithm applies to them. You need to follow exactly the same path, but some line names may be different, along with the new system interface.
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Often, operating room users Windows systems, in particular one of her latest versions- Windows 7, there is a need to make 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 Windows 7 “Folder Options” window will appear. 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, it is not difficult to make hidden folders appear in Explorer or Total Commander. All you have to do is choose how exactly you will do it. Good luck!
I believe that the article was useful!
On the computer. They are there, but they are not visible.
1 . Right-click on the file or folder and select Properties.
2. A window will open. Check the “Hidden” box and click “OK.”
The file (folder) will disappear. In fact, it will remain on the computer, we’ll just hide it this way.
By the way, many users know how to open hidden files and folders. So think about whether it's worth hiding something this way.
How to open (show) hidden files and folders
If there is no such item, then click on the Start button and open Control Panel. Among the icons, find and open “Folder Options” (Appearance and Personalization → Folder Options).
In Windows 10, to do this, click on “View” at the top of the window and select “Options”.
Place a dot on the item “Show hidden files, folders and drives” (below) and click “OK”.
Files and folders that are hidden will be lighter than normal files and folders.
Regular folder:
How to make a hidden folder normal
- Right-click on the file or folder you want to make normal and select Properties.
- Uncheck "Hidden" and click "OK".
How to disable showing hidden files and folders
Open any folder on your computer. Click on “Organize” (at the top of the window) and select “Folder and Search Options”.
If there is no such item at the top of the window, click on the Start button and open Control Panel. Among the icons, find and open “Folder Options” (Appearance and Personalization → Folder Options).
In Windows 10, to do this, click on “View” and select “Options”.
A window will open. Click on the “View” tab (top).
Place a dot on the item “Do not show hidden files, folders and drives” (below) and click “OK”.
On a note . In Windows 10, you can do it easier: View → Show or Hide → Hidden Items.
The computer has many hidden files and folders in the Local Disk where the operating system is located (usually Local Disk C). This is necessary so that you don't accidentally spoil anything.
If you delete any of these files or folders, even if you simply change the name, your computer may stop working or begin to freeze seriously. So be careful with system hidden files and folders!
