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On a Mac, you can Show Hidden Files folders. There’s a good reason for this: when users hide files and folders, they can’t damage the operating system by accident. Still, you might sometimes need to get to these files and folders. We’ll show you different ways to see files and folders that are hidden on a Mac.
However, be very careful: If you change or break system files, it could hurt your operating system in a big way. By default, Windows hides a lot of files and folders, so users can’t delete or change files they shouldn’t. But you can change one setting to make Windows show these hidden files.
On Windows, there are two kinds of hidden files: regular hidden files that don’t show up by default, and “super hidden” system files that are hidden with the system attribute. We’ll show you the difference, but it’s important to note that regular hidden files.
How to Show Hidden Files on Mac
- Open the folder where you want to search for hidden files.
- Press the “Command” + “Shift” + “.” (period) keys at the same time.
- The hidden files will show up as translucent in the folder.
- If you want to obscure the files again, press the same “Command” + “Shift” + “.” (period) combination.
Show Hidden Files on Windows
From Control Panel
- Search for the Control Panel and select “Control Panel” from the results.
- Go to “Appearance and Personalization,” then select “File Explorer Options.”
- Click the “View” tab.
- Scroll down a bit and change the “Hidden files and folders” setting to “Show hidden files, folders, and drives.” Optionally, you may wish to uncheck the “Hide protected operating system files” box as well. you can visit Microsoft support center for further help.
Those of us who have been online for a long time will remember the “Delete System32” hoax, in which trolls told naive PC users to delete their Windows 2000 system directory. Since then, it’s not surprising that developers have been more careful to hide files that are important to their operating systems.
So, some of the files that Apple hides on Mac are there for a reason. They are needed for macOS to run smoothly, so you shouldn’t delete the hidden files that Mac needs to work right. There are, however, a lot of system files among those hidden things that just take up your storage space for no reason. You can find them all in a folder called /Library.
Why unhide the files on macOS?
You might have a good reason to show hidden files. But Apple hides files so that the operating system doesn’t get hurt by accident. Make sure you know the risks before you do anything. Unhiding files isn’t dangerous, but many people do it to change or delete something. Only delete files that you know you can get rid of safely.
Lastly, since one of the main reasons people delete files is to get more space, it might be helpful to remind you that there are other ways to get more space without touching your Mac’s hidden files. NordLocker is one example. It’s a secure cloud with a free 3 GB plan, end-to-end encryption both in the cloud and locally, backup, and the ability to offload your files and save device storage.