How to make a file visible instead of hidden. Three ways to hide folders in Windows: simple, cool and cool

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

1. Right-click on the file or folder you want to make normal and select Properties.
2. 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!

Sometimes there is a need to protect personal files or folders. This is especially true if more than one person is working with the computer. One solution is hiding. Of course, it will not help in the case of an experienced user. But it will hide information from unsuspecting eyes.

How to hide/show files and folders on a Windows 7 computer

Standard method

To hide a file or folder, you need to go through two steps:

Disable visibility of hidden folders

If the “Do not show...” option is set in the settings, then hidden files and folders will still be displayed, with the only difference being that the label for such objects is dimmer compared to a regular element.

Changing folder/file settings

After these steps, the folder or files will become hidden and will not be displayed.

Enable visibility and view

To show hidden items, you need to go to the folder settings and check the box next to “Show hidden files, folders and drives”. And for a specific object to stop being invisible, you need to uncheck the “Hidden” option.

How to make a folder invisible - video

Via Total Commander

This method is related to the previous one in that in “Folder Options” there should also be a checkmark next to the item “Do not show hidden files, folders and drives”.

How to view files and make them open

To show hidden files and folders, press Ctrl + H.

To make documents visible again, you need to use the Alt + A combination and uncheck the “Hidden” checkbox.

Via Free Hide Folder

If you want to be sure that no one can see hidden information, you can use the Free Hide Folder program, which requires setting a password.

Free Hide Folder does not hide individual files. Available for free download on the Internet.

1. When you launch the program for the first time, a window will appear in which you need to enter and confirm a password. By the way, you will also need it when uninstalling the program.
2. The next window will ask you to enter a registration code, but this is not a requirement. To continue working, you need to select Skip.
3. Then click on the Add icon and select the folder that you want to hide.
4. After the folder is selected, a message will appear indicating that it is advisable to make a Backup. It is advisable to follow the advice.
   

   Backup saves information about the program. If the latter is deleted, then after re-installation, access to hidden folders will be restored.

In addition to Add, the general window has buttons for:

How to find hidden information and transfer it to a flash drive

Free Hide Folder hides folders so that they cannot be found using search. The only way is to open the program and select the Unhide tool. Another special feature is that it does not hide documents located on removable disks.

Since Windows search cannot detect documents hidden using Free Hide Folder, copying cannot be used. Thus, invisible folders cannot be transferred to removable drives.

Using an image and an archiver

For this method you will need a folder with files, any image and the WinRAR archiver. The program is available for free download on the official website. In this case, the processor bit capacity must be taken into account. To find out, you need:

You can take any image, there are no restrictions.

1. Add the desired folder to the archive.
2. Place the archive and the image in one folder, preferably located in the root of the disk.
3. Using the Win + R combination, launch the Run tool, enter cmd in the line and click OK.
4. In the command line, go to the folder where the archive and image are located. To do this, enter the cd command and the address. In this case it is cd c:\.
5. Then press Enter.
6. Now in the line you need to write the names of the image, archive and new file. Also, extensions must be specified in all three positions. In this case it turns out: COPY /B Image.jpg + FolderWithFiles.rar ImageWithArchive.jpg.
7. Press Enter. If everything was written correctly, a message will appear on the command line indicating that the files were copied.

If you now open the created file, only the image that was taken as a basis will open.

The original files can be deleted.

How to view hidden files

To be able to view files hidden in the image, you need to open the illustration itself using WinRAR.

But the archiver must first be added to the list of programs that can open images:

1. In the “Open with” menu, click on “Select program”.
2. Click on “Browse” and in the window that opens, find the folder with the archiver.
3. Open the folder and select the program launch shortcut.
4. Next, WinRAR will appear in the list of programs that can open the image. You also need to uncheck the “Use the selected program for all files of this type” option. Otherwise, all images will be opened using the archiver.

When the user opens the image using the archiver, it will be visible that there is a folder inside.

But don't hide too much information in one file. If it takes up tens of megabytes, even an inexperienced user will become suspicious.

Possible mistakes

How to enable the “Show hidden files and folders” option

Sometimes a situation occurs that the user activates the “Show hidden files and folders” option, but the switch automatically switches to the “Do not show hidden files and folders” position. In this case you need:

Otherwise, the parameter must be created. To do this, right-click on a free area of ​​the window, select “New”, then “DWORD Value”. Call it CheckedValue and give the value 1.

1. Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
2. Find the Hidden parameter (with value 0), type REG_SZ, in the list and delete it.
3. If the list contains a Hidden parameter, type REG_DWORD, then change its value to 1. Otherwise, the parameter must be created.
4. Find the SuperHidden parameter, type REG_DWORD, in the list and change its value to 1.
5. Press "F5" to refresh the editor window and close it.

What to do if Folder Options is missing

This usually means that viruses have entered the system. Perhaps the antivirus simply failed to identify and remove malware. And so that the user cannot visually detect them, the authors of such applications use the “Hidden” or “System” attributes. In addition, the “Folder Options” menu item is removed.

Even if the malware is removed, the antivirus will not be able to restore this item. This will need to be done manually:

The Registry Editor may not have been blocked after a virus attack. In this case, you can use it:

1. Using Win + R, launch the Run tool, type regedit in the line and click OK.
2. Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.

In the right part of the window, find the NoFolderOptions parameter, type REG_DWORD. Double-click LMB to open it and set the value to 0.

Hiding files and folders is a quick and easy way to protect your personal information. Of course, the first two are less reliable, and sophisticated users may accidentally or intentionally discover the secret. But FHF and the archiver will hide personal data even from experienced eyes.

There may be a need to open hidden files and folders of the operating system, mainly to edit some important system documents.

To do this, you need to know how to make hidden folders visible.

The fact is that in all modern versions of Windows OS, the default settings assume the so-called “fool protection”.

This means that an inexperienced user simply does not see most of the important system partitions and cannot make potentially dangerous changes to them.

But on the other hand, some subtle settings of the operating system may require editing these hidden files.

This article will provide detailed guide, which allows you to implement this procedure in Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 10, which currently occupy the lion's share of operating systems in use in the commercial and private sector.

Secrets of the Windows 7 system partition

This version of the operating system from Microsoft has taken the palm of popularity from the legendary XP, support for which ended several years ago.

This success is primarily dictated by the user-friendly interface, in which it is easy to find the necessary settings.

This also applies to the option to show hidden folders and files, which is most easily activated through the taskbar.

• First, you need to get to the taskbar in the standard way: open Start and select “Control Panel”.

• Then click on the link “Design and personalization”.

Advice! For convenience, you need to select a display method by category.

• In the variety that opens, we need the “Folder Options” category, or, more precisely, its “Show hidden files and folders” option, which speaks for itself.

• In the window that opens called “Folder Options,” expand the “View” tab and at the very bottom of the list of additional options we see the function of showing/hiding special files. All that remains is to set the checkbox to the desired position.

You can get to the “Folder Options” window in Windows 7 in a simpler way: to do this, just open any directory and select “Folder and Search Options” from the “Arrange” drop-down menu.

Advice! If you decide to use this method, by default only hidden files in the current directory will be displayed. To apply this rule to all drives, you must activate the “Apply to folders” option.

Having dealt with the classics, you can move on to more modern systems.

We delve into the intricacies of Windows 8

This version of the operating system is significantly different from Windows 7, which at one time caused many complaints from users.

The changes also affected hidden directories: in Windows 8, there are two types of files and folders that are not visible to the user.

The first is the actual hidden sections. Not only system files and folders have this status, but also components of various third-party applications.

Moreover, the user himself can assign this type to any object on the disk.

However, this opportunity is often used by malware, which, for example, results in problems with files on a flash drive.

For these two types, the algorithm of actions will be different.

To open regular hidden files and folders, you need to do the following:

• First, you should open “Explorer”, for which you can use the standard shortcut in the “Taskbar”.

• In the folder that opens, in the top settings panel, click on the “View” menu and select the “Show and Hide” function. In the list that opens, you must activate the “Hidden elements” checkbox.
  In the same way, you can assign hidden status to any selected file or folder.

In order to see particularly important system files, you need to make the following settings:

• In the same “View” menu, go to “Options” - “Change folder and search options.”

• As a result, the “Folder Options” settings window will appear, similar to that in Windows 7. Here you should go to the “View” tab and uncheck the “Hide” protected system files checkbox (recommended).

There is another way to get to this window:

• In Start, which in eight has an unusual Metro interface, click on the gear icon (Computer Settings).

• In the menu that opens, you need to click on the lowest link to open the Control Panel, which is familiar to most users.

• In the “Taskbar”, first select the function display method Large (or small) icons, and then click on the “Folder Options” link, which will ultimately give access to the settings window of the same name.

It is also worth considering separately the algorithm for enabling the display of hidden and system elements for Windows 10, since, despite its similarity to the eight, the settings of this OS have their own nuances.

Hidden files and folders in Windows 10

In the top ten, there is the same division of hidden files into regular system ones, therefore the methods for enabling their display are similar to those discussed in the previous section.

To see files and folders with the hidden attribute in the top ten, including on a flash drive or any other external storage device, do the following:

• Open “Start” and launch “Explorer”.

• The appearance of “Explorer” in the top ten is practically no different from Windows 8. Therefore, it operates according to the already known algorithm: View - Show and Hide - set the “Hidden Elements” checkbox to the active position.

In order to see system files and folders, we need to get to the “Explorer Options” function (analogous to the Folder Options option).

• The fastest way to do this is through the search, the icon of which can be found on the “Taskbar”.

Advice! You can also use a keyboard shortcut to access the search. Win+Q.

• By clicking on the search result, we will be taken to the functions window, which we have already encountered several times in this article. Here we are interested in the option “Hide protected system files (recommended), which is located on the View tab.

In conclusion, it is worth saying once again that editing hidden files, especially system files, can cause serious harm to the computer’s software shell.

Therefore, such changes should be treated as responsibly as possible.

Thematic video:

How to open hidden files and folders in Windows 7/8/10 Free lesson

In this video I show how you can easily open hidden files and folders on Windows 7/8/10 operating systems.

Privacy is constantly under threat, especially when it comes to a computer, and the danger is especially strong when you have to share a PC with other family members or friends. Perhaps you have files that you don't want to show to others and prefer to keep them in a hidden place. This guide will look at three ways to quickly and easily hide folders in Windows 7 and Windows 8.

It's worth noting that none of these solutions will allow you to hide your folders from an experienced user. For truly important and secret information, I would recommend more advanced solutions that not only hide the data, but also encrypt it - even an archive with a password to open it can be more secure than hidden Windows folders.

A much more convenient way to hide folders in Windows is to use a special program called Free Hide Folder, which you can download for free here: http://www.cleanersoft.com/hidefolder/free_hide_folder.htm. Do not confuse this program with another product - Hide Folders, which also allows you to hide folders, but is not free.

After downloading, simply installing and launching the program, you will be asked to enter a password and confirm it. The next window will ask you to enter an optional registration code (the program is free and you can also get a key for free), you can skip this step by clicking “Skip”.

Now, to hide a folder, click the Add button in the main program window and specify the path to your secret folder. A warning will appear that, just in case, you should click the Backup button, which will save the backup information of the program in case it is accidentally deleted, so that after re-installation you can access the hidden folder. Click OK. The folder will disappear.

Now, the folder hidden using Free Hide Folder is not visible anywhere in Windows - it cannot be found through search and the only way to access it is to run the Free Hide Folder program again, enter the password, select the folder you want to show and click "Unhide" causing the hidden folder to appear in its original location. The method is much more effective, the only thing is that you should save the backup data that the program asks for so that if it is accidentally deleted, you can again gain access to hidden files.

Cool way to hide a folder in Windows

And now I’ll tell you about another, quite interesting way to hide the Windows folder in any picture. Let's say you have a folder with files that are important to you and a photo of a cat.

Do the following:

• Zip the entire folder with your files into a zip or rar archive.
• Place the picture with the cat and the created archive in one folder, preferably closer to the root of the disk. In my case - C:\remontka\
• Press Win + R, enter cmd and press Enter.
• On the command line, navigate to the folder where the archive and photo are stored using the cd command, for example: cd C:\remontka\
• Enter the following command (the file names are taken from my example, the first file is an image of a cat, the second is the archive in which the folder is located, the third is a new image file) COPY /Bkotik.jpg +secret-files.rarsecret-image.jpg
• After the command is executed, try to open the created secret-image.jpg file - the same cat will open as in the first image. However, if we open the same file through an archiver, or rename it to rar or zip, then when we open it we will see our secret files.

Hidden folder in the picture

Here is an interesting way that allows you to hide a folder in an image, while the photo for those who don’t know will be an ordinary photo, and you can extract the necessary files from it.

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Are you running Windows XP or perhaps you prefer the 2007 version? Be that as it may, many are interested in the question of how to make an invisible folder in your work profile. To learn more about this, let's first look at the concept of a work profile and what it even is.

User profile

User profile is a term in multi-user systems. For Windows it was introduced starting with the XP version (system for professionals) and Home Edition (home edition). Both OS have already operated with the concept of “user” and, accordingly, with the simplest privacy functions. Therefore, the developers built into these environments the ability to create an invisible folder.

As for the profile, it’s just a series of settings, such as desktop design, visual design of programs, sound circuits, security settings and usage rights. All this is stored in the system for the so-called user account in the general system-software database - the Windows registry. Each user registered in the system under any account has such a profile.

WindowsXP. Making an invisible folder is easy

To do this, the “My Computer” icon is usually visible on the desktop. Open it by double-clicking the left mouse button. We will be shown with four tabs: “General”, “View”, “File types”, “Offline files”. Of these, we need a second tab, which is responsible for the type of data displayed. In it, scroll through the “Advanced parameters” field. And we focus on the “Hidden files and folders” item. How to do is shown below.

If we put the visible switch in the “Do not show folders” position, then all created folders and files with the hide attribute will not be shown to the current Windows user. This means that you can actually make the folder invisible to keep its contents private.

To do this you need to follow a few simple steps:

1. Right-click on the displayed folder with the mouse or touchpad.
2. In the submenu that appears, select the last item “Properties”.
3. And set the hide checkbox next to the “Hidden” attribute, the same applies to a separate file.

If everything is done correctly, then you have learned how to make an invisible folder. At the same time, the folder that you hid should not be visible in the My Computer program. To display it again, just on the “View” tab change the direction of the switch to “Show hidden files and folders”. Do not confuse this item with a similar one called “Hide protected system files.”

System flaws

In some cases the following happens. Setting the switch to the “Show hidden files, folders” position may not work. And it will return to its original position. Everything here depends on the software used and the version of the Windows system.

How to make an invisible folder in Windows 7

In addition to the XP version, most computers are increasingly switching to Windows 7. Naturally, its functionality also allows you to hide objects - make them invisible. Therefore, let's look at how to do this using this OS.

To hide a folder object:

1. Hover your touchpad or mouse cursor over the folder you want to hide.
2. Right-click on “Properties” and switch to the “General” tab.
3. In the “attributes” field, select the “Hidden” checkbox.

Now let's look at how to show an already hidden folder:

1. Open the “Control Panel” shortcut.
2. Select the “Appearance and Personalization” sub-item, then “Folder Options”.
3. Go to the “View” tab and set the radio button to “Show hidden folders and drives.” Save the changes by clicking the “Apply” button, you can “OK”.

Thus, we found out how to make an invisible folder using the same tools. We also learned how to show hidden objects using the same tools.