How to create invisible folders on Windows 10 desktop

Have you ever wanted to hide files right in front of someone's eyes? With this tip, you can hide a folder in sight right on the Windows 10 desktop.

While there are certainly many good (and safer) ways to hide files, this quick tip is definitely much more interesting.

How to create invisible folders on Windows 10 desktop

To do this trick, you need to create a folder with no names and symbols. To get started, right-click an empty location on the desktop, click New , then Folder .

Create a new folder

The folder that appears on the screen with 'New Folder' highlighted so you can rename it.

Rename the folder

When you rename a folder, press and hold Alt as you type 255 on the numeric keypad, then press Enter . Note that you must enter numbers on the numeric keypad, not the keys at the top of the keyboard.

What you're doing is typing a special character that's not on the keyboard with ASCII character codes. This gives the folder an invisible name (space characters do not appear in Windows Explorer).

The folder name is invisible

Now, the name is invisible. Next let's handle the logo part. Right-click on the folder and select Properties.

Select Properties

Click the Customize tab, then select Change Icon in the Folder Icons section .

Click the Customize tab

In the Change Icon for Folder window, move to the right, select the invisible icon, then click OK.

Select the invisible icon

Click OK again to close the properties window! Your folder icon is gone!

You can still find the folder on the desktop if you drag the mouse pointer over a large area to select multiple icons. If not, it's still invisible. The folder will also be hidden in File Explorer and even with its contents.

If you want to hide multiple folders at once on the desktop, repeat the above process, but press Alt + 255 repeatedly to enter multiple invisible characters. Two directories cannot have the same name, so the second directory will need two spaces.

You can repeat the process with 3 or more folders, just increase the number of invisible spaces in the folder name.

How do folders show up again?

To undo the trick to make a folder invisible, right-click on the invisible folder and select Properties . Click the Customize tab and then select Change Icon. This time, choose a regular icon for the folder instead of the invisible icon.

To change the name, right-click on the folder and select Rename. Type what you want to name the folder, then press Enter .