How to show hidden files on Mac OS PC

How to show hidden files on Mac OS X? You have come in search of this matter. Well, Technology is becoming modern day by day. And with this modernization, the digital products are made more safe and advanced.

However, in case of viewing the hidden files on the Mac laptop or desktop. There are specific ways to do it. You can type just some keyboard shortcuts, and then all the invisible data will appear on the screen.

You can also use the alternatives to short keys, which we will reveal in this article ahead. In this article ahead, we will go through some of the most straight forward and most natural methods to show the hidden files on Mac.

But bear in mind that the hiding of such files is for good reasons. It is recommended not to touch that section unless you have some severe works there.

So, without wasting time, let’s get started!

Different Library types:

Perhaps, you think of one library folder on mac. But there are more. There are three types of folders on mac PC. The one library folder is that, where all the files are stored and accessible by the users.

The other one is ~/Library, which is located on the home screen. And the third Library is located in the system, which the macOS requires to run the system.

However, our focus is to show the hidden files in ~/Library.

Show hidden files using keyboard Shortcut:

Using the keyboard shortcut is the easiest and fastest way to show the hidden files on Mac OS. So, to reveal the hidden files,

  1. Go to the finder, and open up the Macintosh HD folder.
  2. Click on home and press the Command+Shift+Dot/period. 
  3. Now, all the invisible files will appear on the screen.
  4. Again press the Command+Shift+Dot/period hid the files.

This method works on Documents and Applications folder too. Alternatively, you can also follow the following steps to view the hidden files, which you revealed by typing the keyboard shortcuts.

  1. Go to the finder and press (alt+Go) at the top of the screen.
  2. You will see a Library option in the middle of different options. Click on it.
  3. Now, you will see a cluttered looking desktop. And here you can see the files of the ~/Library folder.

show hidden files on  mac

Note:

You can find many files in this folder, that you thought of their permanent deletion. It is also a useful reminder to have in the back pocket.

Show hidden file using Terminal:

The Terminal is also another option to Show/Hide files. It is an application used to manage your mac using low-level Commands. To show the hidden files through Terminal Go to,

  1. The Launchpad and open the Terminal.
  2. Now, apply the following Command in the Terminal.                                     [ defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true]
  3. Then, press the Enter key.
  4. Now, enter the command killall Finder in the Terminal. This Command restarts the finder and refreshes the screen to show all the hidden files.
  5. To hide the files again, change the True to False, as shown below.             

Both the short cut and the Terminal method, you can view the hidden files on mac. There is no so much big difference. However, using the Terminal, you can also hide any file and folder you want.

To hide the file using the Command line,

  1. Go to the Terminal.
  2. And enter the chflags hidden Command.
  3. Now, drag the files from finder to Terminal to hide those files. You can see their path in the Terminal.
  4. Then, press Return to hide the files and folders.

And to show those files, you can Enter the Command, that was told earlier.

Show/Hide files in Mac using third-party apps:

The statistics show that around Six thousand apps are released per day. And it is evident that with such huge statistics you find almost any sort of apps.

The apps like Funter, Dcommander, Forklift, etc. are the popular apps used to hide or show files on Mac. But If we show or hide files without any additional apps. There is no need to add another source to do it.

However, you can hide and show files straightforwardly using these apps. Moreover, these apps have extra useful features too. There is no need to tell you how to use these apps.

However, if you want to use additional apps, you can use any of those three apps.

Editors’ Recommendations:

Bottom Line:

So, it was all about how to show hidden files on Mac. We hope that this article would be beneficial. In this report, we introduced three natural methods to display/hide files and folder on a Mac computer.

To conclude, we would like to say that DO follow us for more info and knowledge on Technology and macOS. And also do not forget to read the Editors’ Recommendations.

By Safar Ali

Safar Ali is an Entrepreneur, Marketer, and writer. He has been writing for more than three years. And his pieces have appeared on some of the high-authority sites, including HubSpot, Mashable, Business.com, Business Insider, TechCrunch, Makeuseof, CNET, and many more.

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