Because I really don’t want to rile up all you wonderful Mac users, I’ve decided to do a follow-up on the whole hiding your folders in plain view dilemma.
Oct 18, 2019 To open a window and see the files on your Mac, switch to the Finder by clicking the Finder icon (pictured above) in the Dock. Switching to the Finder also reveals any Finder windows that might be hidden behind the windows of other apps. You can drag to resize windows and use the buttons to close, minimize, or maximize windows.
If haven’t done so already, be sure to check out my article on how to hide your files, folders, and disk drives; it may not apply to Mojave or whatever else OS you’re running, but at least you’ll get an idea of what you’re up against. So, how do you hide folders on Mac?
Mar 21, 2018 To hide the files again, repeat the above steps, but replace ‘true’ with ‘false’ at the end of step 2. How to hide any file or folder using Terminal. Now that you know how to view hidden files and folders on your Mac, you may be wondering how you can hide other files or folders, to keep them away from prying eyes. To secure your files, we recommend “unhiding” them, which will decrypt and restore them to their original locations on your Mac. To keep your files safe, store them in iCloud. ICloud uses secure encryption, syncs between your devices, and is locked with the same password you use to access your Apple account.
Get yourself acquainted with the Terminal (Mac’s version of Windows’ command prompt) because, as it happens, it’s the only way to hide folders on Mac without resorting to third-party tools. Let’s dig in.
How to Hide Folders on Mac – Quick and Painless Version
If you really don’t want to trouble yourself with code, there’s a very easy and extremely fast way to hide your folders on Mac -by using the FileVault.
Basically, it turns your hard-drive in a Fort Knox-like vault which cannot be opened without the proper cipher, which in this case is the username and password associated with your admin account.
Yes, I know it’s like curing the disease by killing the patient, but I did say that it’s the easiest way to go about hiding your folders. Anyway, here’s what you’ll need to do, should you choose to use FileVault for masking your files, folders, and everything in between.
Step 1. Click on the Apple icon located in the upper-left corner of your screen.
Step 2. Click on System Preferences.
Step 3. Click on Security & Privacy.
Step 4. Head to the FileVault tab (it’s right next to the General tab).
Step 5. Click on the padlock icon to make changes.
Step 6. Click on the Turn On FileVault button.
Step 7. In the next dialog box, select the recovery method. You can choose between iCloud and generating a local recovery key. I, for one, would go with the later version since it’s more secure (no use compromising two accounts if your password gets stolen).
Here’s what’s going to happen if you use the local recovery key method: you will be taken to another dialog box where you will be going to see a system-generated code.
It looks very much like a Windows or antivirus activation key. Put this code in a new document or something. That the recovery key you’ll be using in case you don’t remember the password.
Step 8. Click on Continue.
Step 9. Click again on the Continue button to finish the process.
That’s it! Now FileVault will begin encrypting all the data on your drive. Depending on your specs, this process can take anywhere from a couple of hours to a few days.
Don’t worry too much about ending up with a potato computer; you’ll still be able to surf the web, watch movies, or play games because everything happens in the background.
One more thing: don’t forget to hook up your Mac to the power outlet. You really wouldn’t want to run out of juice in the middle of a procedure involving the drive on which your entire data is stored.
How to hide folders on Mac using Terminal
There’s also a way to hide folders on Mac, but it involves using the Terminal. Don’t worry; it’s just a couple of command lines. Nothing too fancy or complicated. So, here’s how to hide files/folders using Terminal.
Step 1. Click on Finder.
Step 2. From the left panel, select Applications.
Step 3. Scroll down until you see Utilities. Double-click to enter the Utilities menu.
Step 4. Double-click on Terminal.
Step 5. Type in the following line:
Step 6. Create a new folder on your desktop. Fill it with stuff that you want to hide.
Step 7. Drag-and-drop the folder on to the Terminal window. If you look closely, you’ll see that the folder’s path has appeared.
Step 8. Press Return to hide the folder.
Great! Now that your folder’s out of sight, out of mind, let’s see how we go about accessing it. There are three ways to access hidden files and folders.
Method 1 – Using the Go to Folder function
From the Go menu, select Go to Folder. In the dialog box that appears on your screen, type in the path of your hidden folder. Don’t forget to include the “~” sign before the path.
It should look something like this: “~/Desktop/MyHiddenFiles”
Method 2 – Using the Open/Dialog function
Double-click on Finder and select Desktop from Favorites. Press the Show items as icons, in a list, in columns, or in the library (the pictogram looks like a rectangle divided by to straight lines). You may need to perform this operation a couple of times before the folder becomes visible.
Method 3 – Show hidden files in Finder
It’s possible to see a hidden file in Finder, but you will need to tinker a bit with Terminal. So, fire up your Terminal, and type in the following line:
Press Return to continue. After that, please type in or paste the following line:
Again, press return, go to Finder, and there you are – what was once hidden, can now be seen. Enjoy!
How to hide folders on your Mac by using Terminal Aliases
Aliases are macros or shortcuts to various commands. Albeit temporary, we can easily turn this into a more permanent solution. Again, you will need to fiddle around with the Terminal. So, here’s what you’ll need to do:
Step 1. Open the Terminal.
Step 2. Type in or paste the following line:
Step 3. When prompted, type in the username and password associated with your active admin account.
Step 4. Press Return to continue.
Step 5. Scroll down to the end of the open .bash_profile.
Step 6. Type in or paste the following line:
Step 7. Navigate to the following line and type in or paste the following:
Hide Folders Macbook
Step 8. Save the file.
Step 9. Exit Terminal.
That’s about it. Now, the next time you will launch Finder, all desired folders will be hidden.
Even more ways to hide files and folders on your Mac
As they say, there’s more than one way to skin something (please don’t say “cat”). So, if you found that the methods described are much too difficult, here are a couple of more ways to hide folders on Mac.
Using the “mv” command
The “mv” command in Terminal moves a file or folder from one place to another. How does this help you? Here’s the trick: the “mv” command moves the folder from its original location to a period folder.
Now, by default, period folders are hidden because they contain system-critical information. Basically, it’s the same thing as moving files or folders to your System32 folder in Windows.
To make files invisible in this manner, open Terminal and type in mv filename .filename. Replace “filename” with the name of the file you want to hide and the “.filename” parameter with the name of the system-protect file.
Deploy Apple’s Developer Tools
If you’re in the mood to do a bit of tweaking, download and deploy one of Apple’s Dev Tools and enter the following command in Terminal: setfile -a V <name of the file you want to hide>. The name of the file should follow the “V” parameter without the “<>”. This command will set the file’s attribute to invisible.
Dump everything in the Library folder
When everything else fails, try the Library folder. It’s hidden by default, making it the ideal place to store top-secret stuff. Just fire up your Finder, navigate to Finder, right-click, create a new folder, and drag all the files in there.
Use third-party file-hiding software
You can also use special software to keep your folders away from prying eyes. The best ones are Altomac and Hide Folders. However, there are also open-source alternatives such as AES Crypt, Axcrypt, or File Lock PE. Give them a try if you’re looking to beef up your account’s privacy.
Wrap-up
That’s it on how to hide folders on Mac computer. Know any more methods? Hit the comments section and let me know.
Sometimes there is a need to hide files on a Mac from other people's eyes. I'll share some effective ways to hide and unhide files and folders on your Mac with you today. First of all, we will take a look at some built-in Mac functions and after that, I will guide you through the process of how you can hide files and folder in one click.
For those who in hurry download Hider 2 app (it's free for download) the app will help you to hide and unhide files and folders on your Mac easily.
All other, let’s start!
How to Hide Files on Mac using Terminal
Let's see what ways the Mac OS offers us. They are completely free and quite effective. We’ll use the standard Mac app called 'Terminal' that can be found on any Mac (just open Spotlight and type 'Terminal' then press Enter to open the Terminal).
Here's a step-by-step tutorial on how to hide files and folders on your Mac manually using Terminal:
- Open the Terminal window. After it opens, type the command I noted below (a space between the words is obligatory).
chflags hidden
- Next, drag-and-drop a file or a folder from the Finder into the opened Terminal window.
The file/folder path will appear in the Terminal. The command is run by pressing Enter. It will make the file/folder vanish. The Finder won’t show such files anymore. But don’t worry, as the command doesn’t delete them, but hides.
How to Find Hidden Files/Folders on Mac OS X
There wouldn’t be any problems if you need to have a quick access to the hidden files or folders. Open the Finder, Click the ‘Go’ menu, and then tap on the 'Go to folder'.
Insert the folder path which we hide before into the dialog box, then press Enter or click Go. ‘~’ means your user folder. For example, if you have a folder with the name ‘SomeSecret’ on the desktop, enter ~/Desktop/SomeSecret. If this folder is located in Documents, enter ~/Documents/SomeSecret.
Now you know how to access the hidden folders even if they don’t appear in save dialogs or the Finder. All the files that were stored in that folder will be hidden, so it’s no chance that someone would open them accidentally in that way. You’ll see them only by typing the direct path in the Finder.
Let’s Learn How to Views Hidden Files on Mac via the Finder
Yes, you read this right. The Finder can’t show us hidden folders but offers such an option for files. Still, it’s not a graphical option, so you’ll have to work with the Terminal and restart the Finder.
Open a Terminal window and type the commands noted below. Press Enter after each command.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder
The first one tells Finder to make your hidden files appear and the second command restarts it. Once you’ve done, hidden files will become visible in the Finder. If you wish to hide those files again, run the following commands:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder
They disable the option of showing all your files and restart the Finder.
How to Unhide a Folder or File on Mac OS X Manually
Unhiding folders and files on your Mac are as simple as it can be! Run the same command that you used for hiding them, but change ‘hidden’ to ‘nohidden’. Or copy this text into a Terminal window:
chflags nohidden
If you know the exact path of the hidden folder or file, type it. If you don’t, try to display them in Finder in the way I mentioned above and drag and drop them into the Terminal.
By the way, you can use the arrow buttons to manage these files. Press the ‘Up’ key while you are using the Terminal to move through the previous commands and find the one that made the folder or file you need hidden. Use the ‘Left’ arrow key to move to the ‘hidden’ part of that command and shift it to ‘nohidden’, then press Enter.
Don’t forget to push Enter then folder or file becomes unhidden to save the changes.
In general, hiding folders and files on your Mac may be useful, if you share your working machine with others.
How to Hide Files and Folders on your Mac using the Hider 2 App
Now you know how to hide your secrets with the Terminal. However, there is another easier way to hide files and folders on your Mac. The app I talk about is calledHider 2. It has an excellent and thoughtful interface, so you’ll understand how to use it in a couple of minutes. Let's see how this works:
- At first, download Hider 2 (it’s free for Download) and install it on your Mac
- Open the app, go through the initial setup, select a name and a password for your Vault. You’ll use them for opening your secret file vault (you can also specify a hint that you would help you to remind the password in case you forget it).
Then the Hider 2 interface will appear. You’ll have an opportunity of adding and deleting files and folders there, as well as hiding or making them visible again.
Now let’s try to hide a folder and all files in it. For instance, I’ve created a folder called ‘My Secret Files’. Now we can try to click the plus button at the bottom of Hider 2 window and select the files on your Mac that need to be added to your secret vault.
After that, press Open button and notice that they’ve become invisible. The slider from the right side changed from ‘visible’ to ‘invisible’ state in the Hider interface. The files themselves appear to be gone from the folder now (they are invisible). That’s it! We have hidden the files we needed.
There is a special button called ‘Lock Hider’ (at the top left corner of the window) that closes the app and doesn’t give access to it without the password. Hence, no one will be able to access your vault. As you see hiding files on Mac can be much easier to use the special app then built-in functions of the Terminal.
Conclusions: How to Hide or Unhide Files and Folders on Mac
Of course, you can always use the Terminal to hide and unhide files and folders on your Mac, but the process seems to be long and uncomfortable. Moreover, you don’t have a list of all the hidden files, plus they aren’t located in one place.
Hide Folders App Problems Mac Mail
Hider 2, on the contrary, stores all your files in one place. You can see a list of all your safely hidden files anytime you need. You can hide or unhide any folder or file in just one click. Hider offers an opportunity for storing your secret notes in one place as well. It’s very convenient.
The main disadvantage of Hider 2 is the fact that a paid version costs about $20. Still, it’s a one-time fee. I think it's worth it.
Thank you for reading this article!