There are a number of reasons why Apple hides some files on Mac. Here, we are going to mention six common ones you need to know:. So, keep in mind that modifications of these files can be quite dangerous as it can seriously damage your Mac system or lose your data. However, there are also lots of files and data from previously-removed applications that are useless now, and still taking up useless storage space on your Mac. There are a lot of methods available out there to view invisible files on Mac. But, here we are going to mention the easiest methods to show hidden files on Mac.
You can choose any of the below-mentioned methods as per your choice.
How to Hide Pictures in Photos for Mac with Hidden Album
Modern versions of macOS provide an easy and super-fast way to view invisible files on Mac, and all you have to do is to use Keyboard shortcut. If you are using macOS high Sierra, macOS Sierra or above, then you can easily show hidden files on Mac with a keystroke and you can hide them again with another strike too. Using the keyboard shortcut for Show Hidden files is quite simple and here is how you can do it:. You can hide files again using the same keyboard shortcut that you used to show the hidden files.
And if you are using Mac version earlier than OS Sierra, then try the next methods to show invisible files on Mac. With the help of keyboard shortcut, you can easily view the hidden files on your Mac. There is also another easiest way to see hidden files, and it is using the Finder.
All you have to do is to drag the invisible Library icon from Finder window to Finder sidebar. Another method to show hidden folders on Mac is using the terminal. Well, Terminal is a command-line interface of Mac OS and it is included within macOS by default, and let you use command prompt or cmd so that you can control your Mac system. If you are already familiar with how to use Terminal, it is quite easy and straightforward to show hidden files on Mac using Terminal. This command executes two tasks.
How to Recover and Show Hidden Files on Mac?
The first part before True changes a setting in macOS to show all hidden files automatically. All you need to do is to use Recoverit Data Recovery Mac , easy-to-use data recovery software that can help you to recover invisible files on your Mac with ease and high success rate.
It is known as one of the most reliable data recovery tools that can recover data on all Mac OS X, which include macOS Mojave and other Mac versions too. With the help of it, you can recover various types of files, such as photos, videos, audios, etc. Whenever you experience a data loss situation, Recoverit will help you to retrieve it. You now know how to partition Mac hard drive and unpartition it. But knowing how you can recover the lost or deleted files from the drive is also necessary. Finding and recovering hidden files on Mac with Recoverit data recovery software is quite easy and it can be done within three easy steps.
Once it is selected, click on the Go button and select Utilities as shown in the image below. Scroll through the list of apps till you find the Terminal icon, as shown by the arrow in the image above, and double-click on it. The Terminal utility should now open and you will be shown a prompt and rectangular cursor as shown in the screen below. The Mac OS Terminal utilities allows you to enter commands by typing on your keyboard.
In order to show hidden files within the Mac OS Finder, we need to first issue a command to enable the viewing of hidden files. To enter this command, simply type the following bold text on your keyboard defaults write com. Once you have done this, your Terminal screen should look similar to the image below.
It is now necessary to restart the Finder so that these settings go into effect. To do this please type the following bold text on your keyboard killall Finder and then press the Enter key on your keyboard. Please note that you must capitalize the F in Finder or the command will not work. Once you have done this, your Terminal screen should now look similar to the image below.
After typing the killall Finder command, you should have seen the Mac desktop go away and then start again. This was the Finder restarting and enabling the new settings. You can now close the Terminal utility.
You will now be able to see all files, including hidden ones, when using the Finder on your Mac. In the future if you want to turn this setting off so that hidden files are not visible in the Finder, you can follow the same steps, but for the first command you should instead type the following bold text on your keyboard defaults write com.
You will then need to issue the killall Finder command to restart the Finder.
If you have any questions about this process please feel free to post them in our Mac OS Forum. If you use Mail, you'll find them in the hidden Library folder. Go ahead and look around the Library folder, but don't make any changes unless you're having a specific problem that you're attempting to fix.
How to Hide Pictures in Photos for Mac
Now that you can see all the hidden folders and files in the Finder say that three times fast , you'll probably want to hide them again, if only because they tend to clutter up Finder windows with extraneous items. The hidden files are once again hidden. No hidden folder or file was harmed in the making of this Mac tip. If the power of the Terminal app intrigues you, you can find out more about what secrets Terminal can uncover in our guide: Use the Terminal Application to Access Hidden Features.
Share Pin Email. Tom Nelson has written hundreds of articles, tutorials, and reviews for Other World Computing and About. He is the president of Coyote Moon, Inc.