Hidden files and folders. How to securely hide a folder or file from prying eyes How to hide a folder from other users

Do you have information you don't want shown? Hide it. Let's look at how to hide a folder in Windows. We’ll do this using standard system tools, and consider what additional software can be used for these purposes.

What is this for?

This is especially true if you have to share your PC with other users. For example, at work. If you do not use the information for a long time, and you cannot delete files, hide them. When you hide a folder, it will no longer be displayed in Explorer and the Desktop, but is physically present on the HDD. This is used:

• OS and software so that the user does not accidentally delete data necessary for stable operation of the PC;
• people to hide information;
• viruses and malicious software to create the illusion of data deletion.

To protect confidential information, use more reliable solutions. For example .

How to hide a folder in Windows 7

For this version of the OS, the developers introduced the concept of attributes (additional properties) of files. To make a directory invisible to users, change its attribute.
Select the directory, then, as in the screenshot:
On the “General” tab, activate the “Hidden” item, then the directory will disappear. If it becomes transparent, in “Options” check the box next to “Do not show”.

How to hide a folder in Windows 10 via Properties

Perform the following sequence of actions:
Activate the “Hidden” item.
If the display of hidden files is not activated, the directory will not be visible. If their display is enabled, the directory label will become transparent. To check this, open Explorer, then “View” - “Options”.
Check the appropriate boxes.

Using the Command Line

The difference between this method is the activation of the hidden and system attribute. By setting it via the Command Line, when you enable the display of a hidden directory, the folder will not be displayed.
For example, the information is located on drive D. Press the key combination “Win ​​+ R”, assign the command “CMD”.
A dialog box will open. To change an attribute, use the "attrib" command. For example, I want to hide the “Papka” directory located on the C drive. To do this, write the following command:
Next, press the “Enter” key.

To make it visible, in the command described above, replace the “+” sign with “-” for the s and h keys.

We use additional software

A convenient way is to install the Free Hide Folder utility. After installation, enter a password. Use any. Next, the application will ask you to enter a registration code. Do it later, click "Skip". To hide the folder, click the “Add” button, enter the path to the directory.
Now the folder will not appear in Explorer. To restore access, open the utility, enter a password, select a folder, click “Unhide”.

On the computer. They are there, but they are not visible.

1. Right-click on the file or folder and select Properties.

2. A window will open. Check the “Hidden” box and click “OK.”

The file (folder) will disappear. In fact, it will remain on the computer, we’ll just hide it this way.

By the way, many users know how to open hidden files and folders. So think about whether it's worth hiding something this way.

How to open (show) hidden files and folders

If there is no such item, then click on the Start button and open Control Panel. Among the icons, find and open “Folder Options” (Appearance and Personalization → Folder Options).

In Windows 10, to do this, click on “View” at the top of the window and select “Options”.

Place a dot on the “Show hidden files, folders and drives” item (at the bottom) and click “OK”.

Files and folders that are hidden will be lighter than normal files and folders.

Regular folder:

How to make a hidden folder normal

1. Right-click on the file or folder you want to make normal and select "Properties".
2. Uncheck “Hidden” and click “OK”.

How to disable showing hidden files and folders

Open any folder on your computer. Click on “Organize” (at the top of the window) and select “Folder and Search Options”.

If there is no such item at the top of the window, click on the Start button and open Control Panel. Among the icons, find and open “Folder Options” (Appearance and Personalization → Folder Options).

In Windows 10, to do this, click on “View” and select “Options”.

A window will open. Click on the “View” tab (top).

Check the box “Do not show hidden files, folders and drives” (at the bottom) and click “OK”.

Note: In Windows 10, you can do it easier: View → Show or Hide → Hidden Items.

The computer has many hidden files and folders in the Local Disk where the operating system is located (usually Local Disk C). This is necessary so that you don't accidentally spoil anything.

If you delete any of these files or folders, even if you simply change the name, your computer may stop working or begin to freeze seriously. So be careful with system hidden files and folders!

We are all human and each of us has our own secrets, not only in our heads but also in our computers, I’m answering the question about this how to hide a folder in windows 7, and a very interesting method will be demonstrated that hides information from prying eyes, which is unlikely to be accessed by anyone except you. The article uses only system methods for hiding files and folders, that is, without the use of third-party programs.

The most standard way to hide information is to go to the properties of the folder that you want to hide by right-clicking on the object.

In the tab general, check the attribute hidden and click ok.

You can understand whether our folder is hidden or not by looking at its transparency, only, of course, if hidden files and folders are displayed on your system, otherwise the folder will not be visible at all.

The same action can be carried out by entering a certain command. To do this, press the key combination win+r, in the input line that appears, type the line: attrib +h "C:\Invisible folder", press enter.

where, attribute +h- hides the file, and the path to the package we are hiding is indicated in quotes.

The other method I wanted to show is, in my opinion, more interesting. For the reason that even if hidden files are shown in the system, our folder will still not be visible. We also go to the property of the object, in the tab setting, click on the item change icon.

Select an invisible sign from the list, don’t be afraid, you’ll find it right away, click ok.

As we can see in the picture, when selected, our object is illuminated. You may ask, how to hide the file name? And it's very simple. Click rename file in the context menu, which is called by right-clicking on the folder, delete the one with the name, then hold down the key alt enter a number on the numeric keypad 255 , which facilitates the introduction of the space character into the name, and as we know, the space is an invisible character.

So we moved on to the most interesting method, this method does not even hide the object, but one might say encrypts it visually.

We have a folder called "file folder" It is located in the root of the C:\ drive, it contains two documents that should not be seen by strangers.

The first thing you need to do is add the folder to the archive using the program winrar or 7zip.

The next step will be to create a new folder in which our archive and any picture will be placed, which will serve as a so-called visual encryption. In my case, this is an image with a cheerful bunny. I created a folder in the directory of the C:\ drive called " Secret folder" by placing an archive and a picture of a rabbit in it.

Now we need to open the command line. To do this, go to the start menu and type in the search cmd. Run the found file, preferably as an administrator.

Enter the path to the secret folder in which the archive and picture are stored, press enter. Next, enter the command copy /In Rabbit.jpg + Folder-with-files.rar funny-rabbit.jpg, Where

Rabbit.jpg - the name of the file with the image of our rabbit.

Folder-with-files.rar - our created archive.

funny-bunny.jpg - the image created using this command, in which our data is encrypted.

Attention: It is not allowed to write file names with spaces, so when creating an archive, make sure that the name is specified without spaces.

When you open the created file, a picture of a cheerful rabbit opens.

But if we open the same image using the activator, we will see our hidden files, which can be said to be embedded in our image. And only you know about this and no one will guess that files are also stored in the picture.

ABOUTGive your opinion about this article, and of course, ask your questions if something suddenly goes wrong for you.

Thank you for your attention!

I had such a situation that when changing the operating system, I did not know how to show hidden folders in Windows 7. Previously I had XP, and there were no special problems with it.

Seven has undergone enormous changes that distinguished it from previous operating systems. I had to do some digging to figure out the basic settings. Now I will show you several ways to open hidden folders, since in Windows 7 they are invisible by default. Before starting the procedure, you can verify the results after following the recommendations. In the article we will go over standard software methods and use the command line.

Standard recommendations for showing hidden folders and files in Windows 7

First, you need to find the window where this option is enabled; to do this, you need to do one of the following:

1. Launch Explorer (my computer), in the window that opens, click “arrange”. Next, select “Folder and Search Options.”

2. Click “start” and type “settings” in the search. When the list is built, select the element shown in the screenshot below.

3. Click "Start" -> "Control Panel". Next, make sure that “large icons” or “small icons” is enabled, and then you can look for the “folder options” setting.

4. In the Explorer window, press the ALT key; an additional menu will appear in front of you between the path bar and the main menu. Select "service" -> "".

After using one of the methods, a window with 3 tabs will open in front of you, go to the second one, which is called “view”. Move the scroll bar down and check the “show hidden files, folders and drives” option. Be sure to click on the APPLY button, then OK.

Note: If you need all elements to be visible, make sure that the “Hide protected system files” checkbox is unchecked.

As you can see, displaying hidden folders in Windows 7 is not difficult at all. To be sure of the result, go to the system drive and try to find hidden folders that have appeared and have a pale tint.

There is another interesting method with . To do this, run cmd and enter the command:

In the current directory all hidden folders and files will be displayed. If you want to change the current local disk, use the command:

Cd/d local drive letter:

The example shows the transition from drive C to D. To change to the directory, enter the following expression:

Cd/folder name

Once you have selected the desired directory, enter the first command.

Using total commander

As you know, total commander is a tool for working with files and folders. In my opinion, much more progressive than a standard conductor. Using his example, we will analyze the inclusion of hidden elements.

1. Run total commander.
2. From the menu at the top, select “configuration” -> “settings”.
3. In the window that opens, click on “panel contents”.
4. Check the boxes “show hidden files” and “show system files”.

Click APPLY and OK.

After completing the algorithm of actions, hidden elements will be marked with a red exclamation mark.

All recommendations work and will help show hidden folders and files in Windows 7. It's up to you to use one or the other. I would like to highlight the standard methods and use of total commander; as for cmd, this is rather educational information.

Often, users of different versions of the Windows operating system need to hide any individual directory with files. This can be done using several methods at once, which we will discuss later in this article.

First of all, it is important to make a reservation that we have already partially touched on the topic of hiding folders and files in Windows OS in some other articles. It is for this reason that below we will provide links to the relevant instructions.

As part of the main instructions, we will touch on different versions of the Windows operating system. At the same time, know that in fact, none of the OS versions, starting with the seventh, have any particularly strong differences from other editions.

Method 1: Hiding Directories in Windows 7

As we previously mentioned, we will touch on the process of hiding folders on various editions of the Windows operating system. However, even taking into account this approach, the recommendations are quite applicable not only to the considered version, but also to others.

Before moving on to solving the issue, it is important to mention that any directory can be hidden using exactly the same methods as files. Thus, this instruction applies equally to any possible documents, be they applications or media recordings.

You can hide any directory, regardless of how full it is.

An exception to the general rules for using the directory hiding functionality are system folders. This applies to both later and earliest versions of Windows.

In the article below, we will talk about how you can hide any kind of data using several different methods. This is especially true for those methods in which special programs may be involved.

Please note that for experienced users, system tools can be significantly expanded through active use of the command line. With its help, you can perform accelerated data hiding using just some operating system commands.

This is the end of the Windows 7 operating system.

Method 2: Hiding folders in Windows 10

Especially for people using Windows version ten, we have also prepared instructions on hiding folders and clarifying all the side details. At the same time, know that it is equally suitable for users not only of Windows 10, but also of its predecessor.

In the above article, we touched upon the possibility of using third-party software developed by independent developers specifically to simplify the process of managing a computer and, in particular, hiding various types of data. Moreover, in order to try everything yourself, you do not have to purchase the necessary software, since it is supplied completely free of charge.

It is important to make a reservation that if there are many files and folders in the hidden directory, then the process of hiding them may require additional time. In this case, the speed of data processing directly depends on the hard drive used and some other characteristics of the computer.

Hidden folders will instantly visually disappear from the parent directory.

If you want to view them, use the top control panel.

We discussed the process of displaying files in more detail in a special article on the website.

Each directory in whose properties the checkbox is checked "Hidden", will stand out among other folders due to the transparency of the icon.

For fairly experienced users, detecting hidden information is not a problem. This is especially true for system tools in absolutely any Windows distribution.

In general, as you can see, hiding folders and files using basic and other operating system Explorer tools is extremely simple.

Method 3: Use third-party programs

Under some circumstances, you, as a Windows OS user, may need a more reliable means of hiding file directories, which special programs can help with. In this section of the article, we will touch on software created to help users hide folders.

Programs often run independently of system tools. Thus, due to the removal of previously installed software, all hidden data will be visible again.

Moving directly to the essence of this method, it is important to make a reservation that in the previous methods discussed we have already touched on some programs for the corresponding purpose. However, their range is not limited to the mentioned software and therefore you may be interested in some other equally relevant applications.

Typically, programs for hiding folders require you to enter and remember a secret key for later access to information.

If necessary, just as in the case of folders, you can process various documents.

Some programs support a simplified control model by dragging and dropping hidden material into the work area. This can be useful if you need to hide several folders that are independent from each other.

Among other things, the software allows you to use an increased level of security by setting passwords for files and folders.

You can hide a folder, among other things, using a special item added when installing programs and placed in the Explorer context menu.

Guided by the presented list of actions, you can hide literally any directory without any problems, regardless of how full it is. However, you should not use this software to hide system files and folders, so as not to encounter errors and difficulties in the future.

Conclusion

To conclude this article, it is important to mention that you can combine the presented methods, thereby providing reliable protection for personal directories. At the same time, when using the program, do not forget about the password, the loss of which can become a problem for a novice user.

Do not forget that some folders can be hidden in the simplest way by turning off hidden files in the system settings.

We hope you were able to understand the basic intricacies of hiding file directories in the Windows operating system environment.