Apple
includes a way of viewing the hidden files and folders easily in Mac
with the help of Terminal (Applications> Utilities> Terminal).
It is a usual query, when we download any file or video clip then
those files don't show up over desktop to proceed any operation
further
(play/delete). They
are nowhere to be found in the Finder. What is unusual to notice
about this query, is that video file is accessible from media player.
Those
downloaded files which includes “.” in front of the name are
considered "invisible" on Unix-based systems, and will
therefore be invisible to a user in the Finder tab also. To locate
and make those files visible, enable the ability for the Finder
utility.
Step
1: Open Terminal by clicking Applications> Utilities> Terminal
or right click on Finder icon in dock and click on Relaunch by
holding 'Alt' key simultaneously.
Step
2: Type the following command and hit return:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
Step
3: Then, restart the Finder by typing the
following command:
killall Finder
Mac Terminal |
After
restarting the Finder, all hidden files will be shown in grey shade
by carrying a dot in front of the name with Delete, Edit etc.
operations to perform; but be careful not to delete any files that
you don't identify, as some hidden files control the way Folders are
configured.
As
you done with the visibility of hidden files via Terminal, you can
easily revert the Finder to the original state (not showing hidden
files) by following the same Terminal steps above, replacing "TRUE"
in the first command with "FALSE".
Show/Hide Hidden Files using Terminal Aliases
It is
cumbersome to type this long command again in case of showing
invisible files. Using an easy to remember alias, the above mentioned
command can be reduced to a single one easy to remember phrase or
word.
An alias
tells the system terminal that we adding a new alias and can be made
temporarily for one terminal session or permanently.
- Launch Terminal (Applications > Utilities)
- In Terminal, copy and paste the following command:
sudo
nano ~/.bash_profile
- Enter your Mac’s administration password if required, then press return
- After typing the above command, now copy and paste the following:
alias
showmyFiles='defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES;
killall
Finder /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app'
- Below
that, paste the following:
alias
hidemyFiles='defaults
write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles NO;
killall
Finder /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app'
Mac Terminal |
- Press Command + O and press return to save the file
- Press Command + X to exit and return to the command line utility
- In Terminal, paste the following:
source ~/.bash_profile
to refresh your profile and make the aliases available
Now
when you want to show hidden files, all you need to type in Terminal
is s
howmyFiles
,
then hidemyFiles
when you want to hide them.
(Note:
showmyFIles is the name of alias. Different name can be typed as per
the comfort)
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