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How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac

This wikiHow teaches you how to view and unhide hidden files and folders on Mac OS X by using the Terminal app. If you don't have any hidden folders on your Mac, you can make one. Open Finder. This app is a blue, face-shaped icon on your...
Part 1 of 2:

Showing Hidden Files

  1. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 1How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 1
    Open Finder. This app is a blue, face-shaped icon on your Mac's Dock.
  2. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 2How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 2
    Click Go. It's in the top-left row of menu items. Doing so invokes a drop-down menu.
  3. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 3How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 3
    Click Computer. This option is about halfway down the Go drop-down menu.
  4. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 4How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 4
    Double-click your hard drive's icon. It resembles a grey box.
    1. On most Macs, the hard drive is entitled "Macintosh HD".
  5. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 5How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 5
    Press ⇧ Shift+⌘ Command+.. This key combination will display any hidden folders in your Mac's hard drive. Any hidden folders or files will appear as grayed-out.
    1. This keyboard shortcut can be done from any Finder window. The main Hard Drive folder usually contains hidden system files and folders so you should be able to see this better here when the hidden files are visible (grayed-out).
  6. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 6How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 6
    Press ⇧ Shift+⌘ Command+. again. This will hide the hidden files again, making them invisible.
Part 2 of 2:

Making Hidden Files Visible

  1. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 7How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 7
    Open Terminal. Click Spotlight
    How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 8How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 8
    , type in terminal, and click Terminal
    How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 9How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 9
    when it appears.
  2. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 10How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 10
    Type chflags nohidden into Terminal. Make sure you leave a space after nohidden.
  3. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 11How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 11
    Click and drag a hidden file or folder into Terminal. Dropping the item onto the Terminal window will place the item's pathway--which is essentially its address--directly after the "chflags nohidden" command.
  4. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 12How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 12
    Press ⏎ Return. This will run the command, which removes the "hidden" status of your selected item.
  5. How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 13How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a Mac Picture 13
    Double-click the item. It should now open like a regular file or folder.
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