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Application hide folders mac os. How to hide a file or folder in Mac OS

Everyone has secrets, and the owners Mac computers- not an exception. Often there are situations when it is vital to hide certain folders and files from prying eyes. Fortunately, the desktop operating room macOS system has every opportunity to do so. Today we will touch on this topic in more detail, and we will analyze step by step what is needed for this.

Unlike the operating Windows systems, macOS does not allow you to hide a file or folder with a single click. Moreover, in Finder, in principle, there is no option to hide files. However, this problem is solved quite simply - you just need to turn to the multifunctional macOS command line.

So how do you hide a folder or file in macOS?

The first step is to launch the Terminal application in any convenient way. The easiest way to do this is through .
In the window command line you need to enter the following command: chflags hidden, and without pressing Enter, add a space.

Now you need to select a folder or file that should be hidden from others. Select and transfer to the command line window. We confirm our intentions with the Enter button.

Everything is ready. The requested file or folder will no longer appear in the Finder.

It is worth considering that hidden documents can still be found through Spotlight. To avoid this, you need to add an exception in the search settings:

Go to " System settings” – “Spotlight”

Going to the "Privacy" tab, add folders with hidden content.

How to make a file or folder visible?

Launch the Terminal application again.
Turn on the display hidden files on

The need to install protection when turning on the MacBook may arise at any time. Any user may have situations when it is really needed. Let's look at several installation methods.

Setting a password

Protection is established thanks to standard network resources. To get started, click on the emblem of apple products (upper left corner of the screen). Section "System Settings", and then "System" => "Accounts". Now, at the bottom of the window that opens, we find the lock symbol and click on it. Enter the administrator password and select the desired account to be edited. After that, select "Change password" and enter a new combination (write it down on several sources). Enter the same password again and click OK. Go to the "Personal" section, and after "Security". We put a checkmark next to the inscription: "Request a password immediately when exiting sleep or screen saver mode."

Setting a password for a folder

You can set protection on a folder to hide important confidential data. You need to go to the programs, and then select "Disk Utility". There we find the "New Image" section, enter the folder name in "Save As ..." and select the location where it will be stored. The next step is to specify the size (for example, 2.5 GB) and format (Mac OS Extended (Journaled)). "Encryption" - specify 128-bit AES. In the section "Section" select HDD. The next step is to select "Growing Disk Image" (in format) and click on "Create". The last steps repeat the previous description: enter the code in two fields and click on "OK".

Password reset

Resetting the password is most often necessary if the user has forgotten it. However, it takes a long time to carry the Mac to the consultants in the user support center, and the process itself will not take more than 5 minutes. The first method will help to change protection when help from Apple ID. To use this method, you must obviously select "Allow user to reset password from Apple ID" in the user settings. If the item has been selected, do the following:

Sign in to your account;
Next to the password field, click on question mark;
In the window that opens, click on the arrow;
Enter Apple data ID, and reset the protection.

This method may not work the same way if you have FileVault enabled. To turn it off, you need to go to the "Security and Security Settings" section.

Recovery using the enabled FileVault feature consists of entering a recovery password. Initially, press the question mark next to the field for entering the access code. At the very bottom of the window, click on the "reset using the recovery key" button. Enter the recovery code. Here you will have to recreate different passwords.

If there is no data at hand, and the user has forgotten the access code at the most inopportune moment, the third method should be used. Reboot the Mac by holding down the Command + R hotkeys (until the loading indicator appears on your screen). We select the language, select "Utilities" in the menu above and from the drop-down menu "Terminal". Enter the command "resetpassword" and press enter. A window appears, here we select the volume of the account and the account itself. Here you can set a password by entering it twice, then click "OK". We restart the computer, "New Keychain" and now you need to put a new code.

Note

This method will work for any Mac operating system, but if you are unable to use it yourself, try to find a recovery password. If attempts are unsuccessful, you should contact consultants or a specialized product store. Try to write your data to several sources, this will make your work easier in the future.

Mac OS has the ability to hide folders and files, just like other operating systems. But Mac OS X hides these options and doesn't make it as easy as it is on Windows, Linux. To hide a file or folder, you will need to set the "hidden" attribute on it. Finder and others Mac apps will not display this file or folder by default.

Hide folder or file

Instead of hiding separate file(although you can do that as well), you can create a hidden folder. For the example we will do this, this trick will also work to hide individual files.

Firstly, open a terminal window - Press Ctrl + Space, write Terminal and press Enter. In the terminal, enter the following command, including the space at the end of it:
chflags hidden
Drag the folder to the terminal window

The path to the file or folder will appear in the terminal. Press Enter to run the command and the file or folder will disappear. Finder won't show it by default.

Access hidden files or folders

How to access hidden folder from finder? The easiest way is to click on the menu Go in Finder and select Go to folder.

Type the path to the folder in the dialog box and press Go or Enter. ~ Means custom folder, so if you have a folder called SecretStuff on your desktop, you need to type ~/Desktop/SecretStuff. If it was in the documents, you need to enter ~/Documents/SecretStuff. Don't mind that the folder is hidden and won't show up normally in the Finder, you can quickly access it from this path. Any files you store in this folder are effectively hidden and no one can accidentally see them, but they will appear in the Finder if you navigate to this directory in the manner described.

Show hidden files and folders in Open/Dialog

Enable graphical option - you must enable it with a terminal command and reload Finder for the changes to take effect. To view hidden files in Finder, open a terminal window and run the following commands in it, pressing Enter after each one:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

This command tells Finder to show hidden files and then launches it. This will show all hidden files and folders. They appear partially transparent to distinguish hidden files and folders from normal ones that are not hidden.

Do you want Finder to stop showing hidden files and folders? Run the following command to disable this option and restart Finder:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

Killall Finder
Make files or folders visible

Want to show files or folders? Run the same command as before, just change "hidden" to "nohidden." In other words, enter the following command in the terminal, typing a space after it:
chflags nohidden

If you remember the exact path to a file or folder, you can type it into the terminal. If you don't remember, you can use the trick above to show hidden files and folders in the Finder and drag and drop that hidden file or folder into the terminal as you did before.

(You can also press the up (arrow) key in the terminal and get the command you typed earlier. Use the left key to navigate to “hidden” and change it to “ nohidden “, and then press Enter.)

More recently, we talked about, and even created a script to do this in one click. But what if you need make a visible file hidden on mac?

How hide a file or folder in Mac OS we decided to tell today in a separate article.

In order to make a folder or file hidden in Mac OS, there is no convenient checkbox, as in operating system from Microsoft. Here, the Terminal program built into the Mac will come to the rescue, thanks to which Apple computers you can change and configure anything, the main thing is to know how to do it correctly, because you can accidentally break everything.

However, the "Terminal" in Mac OS is much more convenient and functional than the command line. Windows strings so don't be afraid of it. And with this instruction at hand, anyone can handle the task of hiding a file or folder.

So, now for the points on how to make a hidden file or folder on a Mac.

How to Make a File or Folder Hidden in Mac OS

First, let's look at how to do hidden this or that folder or a certain file on your Mac.

1. Open Terminal

First of all, open the program available on any Mac "Terminal". We have already talked about how to do this.

2. Enter the hide command

The next step is to start typing the command that hides the file or folder in the terminal window that opens, but do not press enter, as the command has not finished yet.

3. Select an object to hide

As a final step, select the file you want to make hidden or the folder that no one should see and simply drag and drop into the terminal window after the command you entered above. Execute the command.

It's all. As a result, the object you selected will become hidden and will not be displayed in the Finder.

How to show a hidden file or folder in Mac OS

In order to make a hidden object not hidden again, it is enough to do the same steps, only slightly changing the command in the terminal. The algorithm of actions is the following.

1. Open a terminal

As with hiding, the first thing to do is open the Terminal app on your Mac.

2. Enter command from hiding

In the second paragraph, enter a command that makes hidden files and folders visible again in the Finder, but do not execute it yet.

chflags nohidden

3. Select an object to unhide

As with turning on hiding, select the object (file or folder) that you no longer want to hide and simply drag and drop it into the terminal window. To do this, of course, you must have the display of hidden files and folders on the system enabled. How to do it . Execute the command.