In our earlier article, we have explained how to view hidden files in Windows and hide files from other users. Similar to Windows, system files are by default hidden in Apple macOS. However, you can use the Terminal (Command Prompt in Mac) app to show or hide the hidden files in Finder.
Why You May Need to View Hidden Files?
Advanced Mac users, including developers, often have to enter commands to display hidden files. Show Hidden Files for Mac allows this to be accomplished with the click of a button, although this. Create a new user in System Preferences’ Users & Groups preference pane, then put the files and folders you want to hide in that account. 4: Make the file/folder hidden 1.
Nov 28, 2019 Navigate to the folder with the Plist file. These files are hidden inside an app package so what you need to do is navigate to where the app itself resides. This is most likely the Applications folder but apps can run from other folders as well. Right-click the app and select the ‘Show Package Contents’ option from the context menu. Jun 25, 2020 The Library folder contains many of the resources that installed applications need to use, including preferences, support documents, plug-in folders, and ever since OS X Lion (10.7), the files that describe the saved state of applications. The NSUserDefaults on Mavericks (at least) are cached and it is not recommended to edit the plist files manually. The actual files reside in a container folder (you may know this folder from sandboxing). But you can use the command line utility defaultsto edit, change or delete preferences.To delete the defaults (= reset defaults for your app) you can run in terminal.
Viewing hidden files is very useful in many situations.
- You want to look for plist files or any other folders in your Library folder. This is Library folder is by default hidden on your Mac.
- When using FTP you may need to upload some hidden files to your server.
- If you are doing web development with local Apache server setup then you may need to modify server configuration files like .htaccess file.
- When you share the Mac with multiple users, you may want to view the files hidden by other users on your Mac.
How to View Hidden Files in Mac?
Follow the below instructions to view the hidden files on your Mac:
- Press “Command + Space” to open Spotlight Search.
- Type “terminal” and open the Terminal app.
- Copy and paste the below command and hit enter key.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES
- Press option key and right-click on the Finder app on your dock and select “Relaunch” option.
- Now, open Finder and you will see all hidden files on your Mac.
- Mac will show the hidden files in a dimmed color.
- If you want to hide the hidden files, run the following command in Terminal app.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles NO
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How to Hide Files in Mac?
Viewing and hiding the system or default hidden files is easier in Mac as explained above. However, it is a tricky task to hide a users file or folder in Mac. Unlike Windows, you don’t have any graphical interface to hide user files or folders in Mac. There are different methods to hide files / folders created by users.
1. Move Folder and Files to Library Folder
As mentioned, Library folder is a system folder and Mac by default will hide from all users in the Finder app. If you want to keep files hidden from other users then simply create a new folder inside Library folder and store your files. All folders inside Library folder will also be hidden and not visible to users.
- If you have made the hidden files visible as explained in the above section, launch Finder and press “Shift + Command + L”. Alternatively, navigate to “Go > Library” menu to open Library folder. Remember, this option will be available only when you have enabled to view the hidden files.
- If you are in the default mode that hides system files then you will not see “Library” folder in Finder “Go” menu. In this case, press option key and click on the “Go” menu to view the “Library” option. Click on it to open “Library” folder.
![Mac Hidden App Preference Files Mac Hidden App Preference Files](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126484193/607643027.png)
- Now, click on the Gear dropdown icon on the toolbar and choose “New Folder” to create a new hidden folder. Rename the “New Folder” as you need.
- Move your files inside the “New Folder”.
- Go to Terminal app and hide all systems files as explained above.
2. Set Visibility Parameter of File
The second option is to change the visibility parameter of a file or folder using Terminal. Launch Terminal app and type the below command to hide the file.
chflags hidden <File Path>
If you don’t know the file path in Mac, just type “chflags hidden” without pressing enter key. Now open Finder app and drag and drop the file or folder to the Terminal next to the command. When dragging, you should see a green + icon and you will see the file path added to the command after dropping the file. If you want to unhide the file, simply change the command to unhidden like below.
chflags unhidden <File Path>
3. Add Dot in File Name
You can notice, Mac will hide the files that starts with dot like .htaccess. This is a common behavior as the text after dot is considered as file extension. Therefore, if you want to hide a file on your Mac then add a dot in the front to make it invisible by default. You can unhide and change the name whenever needed.
4. Hide with XCode
The last option is to hide or view the files using Apple Developer Tools.
- Go to App Store and install XCode app.
- Open Terminal and run the command to hide the file. As mentioned earlier, you can drag and drop the file to add the file path in Terminal.
setfile -a V <File Path>
- When you want to view the file, change the capital V to small v and run the command again.
setfile -a v <File Path>
![Hidden Hidden](/uploads/1/2/6/4/126484193/324358865.jpg)
Remember, XCode app needs 6+ GB size on your Mac for installation. Therefore, we do not recommend to install the app only for the purpose of hiding files.
Set File Permission Instead of Hiding
The above explained methods will help you to easily hide or view hidden files on your Mac. However, use this to only view or hide default system files and do not use these methods to view or hide confidential files. You can use file manager with password option to setup strong password for your confidential files and folders. In addition, you can also setup file permission to restrict access only to you.
- Select the file and press “Command + I” shortcut keys. Alternatively, right click on the file or folder and select “Get Info” menu.
- This will open the properties of the selected item.
- Look at the last option “Sharing & Permissions”. Ensure to select “Read & Write” option only for your account and select “No Access” to “everyone”.
The Finder is the first thing that you see when your Mac finishes starting up. It opens automatically and stays open as you use other apps. It includes the Finder menu bar at the top of the screen and the desktop below that. It uses windows and icons to show you the contents of your Mac, iCloud Drive, and other storage devices. It's called the Finder because it helps you to find and organize your files.
Open windows and files
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. Learn more about managing windows.
When you see a document, app, or other file that you want to open, just double-click it.
Apr 07, 2020 Prevent Mac From Sleeping Using Terminal App Go to Applications folder → Utilities → and open Terminal. Or press Command (⌘) + Space Bar to open Spotlight Search. Type one of the following Terminal commands according to your preference and hit the enter. Mac stop app from preventing sleep without.
Change how your files are displayed
To change how files are displayed in Finder windows, use the View menu in the menu bar, or the row of buttons at the top of the Finder window. You can view files as icons , in a list , in columns , or in a gallery . And for each view, the View menu provides options to change how items are sorted and arranged, such as by kind, date, or size. Learn more about customizing views.
When you view files in a gallery, you can browse your files visually using large previews, so it's easy to identify images, videos, and all kinds of documents. Gallery View in macOS Mojave even lets you play videos and scroll through multipage documents. Earlier versions of macOS have a similar but less powerful gallery view called Cover Flow .
Gallery View in macOS Mojave, showing the sidebar on the left and the Preview pane on the right.
Use the Preview pane
The Preview pane is available in all views by choosing View > Show Preview from the menu bar. Or press Shift-Command (⌘)-P to quickly show or hide the Preview pane.
macOS Mojave enhances the Preview pane in several ways:
- More information, including detailed metadata, can be shown for each file. This is particularly useful when working with photos and media, because key EXIF data, like camera model and aperture value, are easy to locate. Choose View > Preview Options to control what information the Preview pane can show for the kind of file selected.
- Quick Actions let you easily manage or edit the selected file.
Use Quick Actions in the Preview pane
With Quick Actions in macOS Mojave, you can take actions on a file without opening an app. Quick Actions appear at the bottom of the Preview pane and vary depending on the kind of file selected.
- Rotate an image
- Mark up an image or PDF
- Combine images and PDFs into a single PDF file
- Trim audio and video files
To manage Quick Actions, click More , then choose Customize. macOS Mojave includes a standard set of Quick Actions, but Quick Actions installed by third-party apps also appear here. You can even create your own Quick Actions using Automator.
Use Stacks on your desktop
macOS Mojave introduces Stacks, which lets you automatically organize your desktop into neat stacks of files, so it's easy to keep your desktop tidy and find exactly what you're looking for. Learn more about Stacks.
The sidebar in Finder windows contains shortcuts to AirDrop, commonly used folders, iCloud Drive, devices such your hard drives, and more. Like items in the Dock, items in the sidebar open with just one click.
To change the items in your sidebar, choose Finder > Preferences from the Finder menu bar, then click Sidebar at the top of the preferences window. You can also drag files into or out of the sidebar. Learn more about customizing the sidebar.
Search for files
Mac Hidden App Preference Files Free
To search with Spotlight, click the magnifying glass in the menu bar, or press Command–Space bar. Spotlight is similar to Quick Search on iPhone or iPad. Learn more about Spotlight.
To search from a Finder window, use the search field in the corner of the window:
When you select a search result, its location appears at the bottom of the window. To get to this view from Spotlight, choose “Show all in Finder” from the bottom of the Spotlight search results.
In both Spotlight and Finder, you can use advanced searches to narrow your search results.
Delete files
To move a file to the Trash, drag the file to the Trash in the Dock. Or select one or more files and choose File > Move To Trash (Command-Delete).
Hidden Files Mac Delete
To remove a file from the Trash, click the Trash to open it, then drag the file out of the Trash. Or select the file and choose File > Put Back.
To delete the files in the Trash, choose File > Empty Trash. The storage space used by those files then becomes available for other files. In macOS Sierra, you can set up your Mac to empty the trash automatically.