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| Draft of a "Show hidden files and folders" article. It would use the General Concepts category.
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| The operating system hides some files and folders by default to reduce clutter and/or prevent users who don't know what they're doing from accidentally damaging anything. You need to make them visible in order to browse your profile, include certain files as an attachment or use them in a signature. How you do that is operating system specific.
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| =Windows=
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| {{Right-pic|FolderOptions.png}}
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| ===Windows Explorer and My Computer===
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| You can use Windows Explorer or My Computer to navigate to the profile folder (or other hidden locations) but you will need to enable viewing of hidden files and folders in your Windows '''Folder Options''', shown here.
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| * '''Windows 2000 and XP:''' From the Windows Control Panel, or from the "My Computer → Tools" menu, click "Folder Options". Click the "View" tab and, under "Hidden files and folders", select "Show hidden files and folders". [http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windows2000serv/reskit/prork/prde_ffs_obym.mspx?mfr=true][http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/folderopt_ct.mspx?mfr=true]
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| * '''Windows Vista:''' From the Windows Start menu, click "Control Panel → Appearance and Personalization → Folder Options"[http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/27e9a81a-fac7-457f-896b-e0017a04a59f1033.mspx] (or type "Folder Options" in the ''Start Search'' box and a shortcut to "Folder Options" will appear [http://www.vista4beginners.com/Folder-Options]). In the "Folder Options" window, click the "View" tab. Under "Hidden files and folders", select "Show hidden files and folders".
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| You may also wish to clear the "Hide extensions for known file types" box. This allows you to see the file extensions for all files.
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| Note: Clearing another checkbox, "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)", might be required to see certain hidden Windows operating system files and folders. In most cases, however, clearing this box will not be necessary so you should leave it checked.
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| ==Using Windows Search==
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| You can search for specific files in your profile folder or other hidden locations using the Windows Search feature.
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| In Windows 2000 you must enable viewing of hidden files and folders, described above, to enable searching in hidden locations. There is no separate option in the Windows 2000 Search tool to search hidden files and folders.
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| In Windows XP and Vista, you must enable searching for hidden files and folders ''in the Search tool itself''.
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| [[Image:WinXP Search.png]]
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| *'''Windows XP:''' Click "Start → Search". In the Search Results window, scroll down and click "More advanced options". Check the boxes, "Search system folders", "Search hidden files and folders" and "Search subfolders", as shown above.
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| * '''Windows Vista:''' From the Windows Start menu, click "Search". In the "Advanced Search" area, select "Include non-indexed, hidden, and system files (might be slow)" [http://support.microsoft.com/kb/932989]
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| =Linux=
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| Linux hides files or directories that begin with a dot. Most file managers (Nautilus , Konqueror, Thunar) have a "View -> Show Hidden Files" command that will make them visible. If it doesn't have that exact command it should have something similar. For example Dolphin doesn't have that command because it lets you enable showing hidden files by modifying the folders view properties.
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| Nautilus (the default file manager for Gnome) will not show any hidden files that end with a "~" (such as backup files generated by gedit). You can view them using a terminal window or a different file manager. [http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/linux-newbie/52883-hidden-files.html]
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| ==FilePicker==
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| Firefox, Thunderbird and SeaMonkey use the native file picker by default (for example, when adding attachments). However, the Linux builds have a built-in file picker that you can enable by setting the [[ui.allow_platform_file_picker]] preference to ''false'' using either [[About:config | about:config]] or the [[Modify_Thunderbird_settings | Config editor]] (Thunderbird). Its typically faster and has a "show hidden files and directories" checkbox. Unfortunately that checkbox is not sticky, the next time you run the application you need to enable it.
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| You could modify filepickerLoad() in chrome/toolkit.jar/content/global/filepicker.js to call the function to show hidden files and folders but its not recommended. [http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?p=3264655#3264655]
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| If you enable show hidden files in the file manager when Mozilla calls the native file picker it will also show hidden files. You can also right click on the directory listing in the file picker (such as the Attach files(s) window) and select "Show Hidden Files".
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| =OSX=
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| There are three ways to hide a file under OSX: [http://forums.macosxhints.com/archive/index.php/t-80720.html]
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| * Start the filename with a period.
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| * Use file metadata to set the invisibility flag.
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| * Include the file's name in the /.hidden file. (This only applies to files in the root directory)
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| Normally you're only concerned about files or directories that begin with a dot. You can make them visible by typing the following in a terminal window.
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| <pre>defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
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| killall Finder</pre>
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| This will also cause any file icons to take on a hazy, 50% alpha look. To restore the old settings (hide the files and make the icons look normal) issue the same commands again, but enter FALSE instead of TRUE. [http://devnulled.com/content/2007/08/how-to-show-hidden-and-protected-files-in-os-x-finder/]
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| If you need to do this often its more convenient to use a context menu (right click). You can do this by creating a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shell_script shell script], and then wrapping it in an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automator_(software) Automator plugin] for Finder. Or you could use a Finder substitute such as XFile and PathFinder that have a option to show hidden files and directories. [http://www.osxfaq.com/DailyTips/02-2005/02-01.ws]
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| You can start the terminal by:
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| * Switching to the Finder
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| * Select Applications from the Finder window
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| * Open a folder called Utilities.
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| * Start the Terminal application by double clicking it.
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| When you open the Terminal it will show a one line greeting, and a terminal prompt on the second line. The terminal prompt shows the name of your computer plus the current directory. The Terminal provides a command line interface to the UNIX shell, which is just another way to work with your Mac. Rather than clicking on folders, icons or selecting commands from a menu with a mouse you type text commands.
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| You exit the Terminal like any other application. Click [http://www.osxfaq.com/Tutorials/LearningCenter/UnixTutorials/LoseTheMouse/index.ws here] for a tutorial on how to use the Terminal .
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| ==See also==
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| * [[Editing configuration]]
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