File system on a computer actually looks completely different from how the average user sees it. All important system elements are marked with a special attribute "Hidden"- this means that when a certain parameter is activated, these files and folders will be visually hidden from Explorer. When enabled "Show hidden files and folders" These elements are visible as slightly faint icons.

Despite all the convenience for experienced users who often access hidden files and folders, the active display option jeopardizes the existence of this very data, because it is in no way protected from accidental deletion by an inattentive user (excluding items with the owner "System"). To increase the security of storing important data, it is strongly recommended to hide it.

These locations typically store files that are necessary for a running system, its programs, and components. These could be settings, caches, or license files that are of particular value. If the user does not access the contents of these folders very often, then to visually free up space in the windows "Conductor" and to ensure the security of storing this data, it is necessary to deactivate a special parameter.

This can be done in two ways, which will be discussed in detail in this article.

Method 1: "Explorer"

1. On your desktop, double-click the shortcut "My computer". A new window will open "Conductor".



2. In the upper left corner, select the button "Arrange", after which in the opened context menu click on the item "Folder and Search Options".



3. In the small window that opens, select the second tab called "View" and scroll to the very bottom of the list of parameters. We will be interested in two points that have their own own settings. The first and most important for us is "Hidden files and folders". Immediately below it are two settings. When the display option is enabled, the user will have the second item activated - "Show hidden files, folders and drives". You need to enable the option above - "Do not show hidden files, folders and drives".

   After this, check for a checkmark in the parameter just above - "Hide protected system files» . It must be installed to ensure maximum safety of critical objects. This completes the setup; at the bottom of the window, click on the buttons one by one "Apply" And "OK". Check the display of hidden files and folders - they should no longer be in Explorer windows.



Method 2: Start Menu

Settings in the second method will occur in the same window, but the method of accessing these parameters will be slightly different.



For comparison, a screenshot will be presented below, which will show the difference in display for different parameters at the root system partition a regular computer.

It happens that the Windows operating system hides some of its folders from users by making them hidden. For example, having picked up a virus in the Host file, it happens that it becomes invisible. More precisely, the Host file itself is visible, but its duplicate, which seems to complement it, is hidden from view. And to view it you need to configure the display of hidden files.

In this article we will look at 3 ways to open hidden folders And Windows files 7 or vice versa hide them. This is done very simply.

METHOD 1. Open some window with folders, and in the upper left corner we find the “Arrange” tab. In the menu that opens, select the line “Folder and search options”

In the folder settings window that opens, select the “View” tab at the top. Find the item “Show hidden files, folders and drives” and mark it with a dot

Click the “Apply” and “Ok” button. All is ready.

METHOD 2. Again open some window in Windows Explorer with folders and files. Press the “Alt” key. An additional panel will appear in the upper left corner.

IN additional panel select the “Service” tab and then in the drop-down menu select the line “Folder Options”

And again we get to the settings window, where we first select the “View” tab and then “Show hidden files”

METHOD 3. This viewing method is suitable for those who have the Total Commander program installed

So, let's open Total program Commander.

IN top panel select the “Configuration” tab

In the settings window in the left panel, select “Panel Contents”

On the right side, check the box R12; Show hidden/system files (advanced only)

Click the “Apply” and “Ok” button

Here are three simple ways folder browsing!

Windows has tools that can help you hide files and folders so they won't appear. This way you can at least somehow protect information from prying, inexperienced eyes. Of course this is not the most reliable way, which can protect against an experienced computer user, but can protect against novices. So I’ll tell you anyway on windows 10.

The procedure for hiding a folder is slightly different from hiding a file and has some nuances that are worth knowing. Also, Windows has settings that allow show hidden files and folders. To actually hide hidden files you need to set some options correctly in the folder options. We will discuss all this in more detail and in order below.

Hiding files and folders on Windows 10

Hiding files and folders on different Windows versions doesn't make any difference. But am I using Windows 10 as an example? That's why I mentioned it in the subtitle.
And so... To hide file you need to do the following:

Now let's see how hide folder.
We do the same thing as when hiding a file up to 4 points.
Here, when you click the Apply button, a window will open where you need to confirm changing the attributes and select a method for hiding files ( this window appears when hiding a folder, only if it contains nested files or folders).
There are 2 hiding methods to choose from:

1. Hiding only applies to the folder
2. Hiding applies to this folder and to all folders and files contained in the hidden folder.

I'll explain the difference to you with an example. Apply hiding to the folder called new folder, inside which there is an audio file and another folder. The folder itself is located on the desktop. Let's choose a method Apply changes to this folder only.
The folder is hidden, but there is one caveat. Knowing the name of the folder, you can go to it through address bar(instead of username you need to type the name of the active user).
To do this, type the following path there: C:\Users\username\Desktop\New folder

All that remains is to press Enter and we are in the hidden folder New Folder.
And, since hiding was applied only to the folder, the entire contents of the folder will be visible to us. If, when hiding a folder, we selected the option To this folder and to all subfolders and files, then we would not see the subfolders and files. Of course, if you know the name of the last subfolder, that is, you know the entire path to the final folder, then you can also go to it through the address bar.

Showing hidden folders and files

How to find hidden files? I gave one of the methods above. This is when you know the entire path to the final folder. The second method concerns the settings of Windows itself. And so... What should I do to show all hidden folders and files?

Now even hidden files and folders will be displayed. How to find hidden files, how to distinguish them from non-hidden ones? When the option is enabled Show hidden files, folders and drives, folders and files with the attribute Hidden will appear fainter ( the color scheme of the icon is less contrasting). You can clearly see it in the picture below.
As you can see in the picture, Folder 1 and Track 1 are a hidden folder and a hidden audio file. They have a paler color.
Now that we distinguish between hidden files and folders, we can easily (if necessary) remove the attribute from them Hidden.
To go back hide hidden files and folders, you need to return the checkbox to the item in the folder options Do not show hidden files, folders and drives .

Results

This method of hiding folders and files is not reliable. You could see this for yourself in this publication. To reliably protect your secret information, I recommend the method I described in one of the previous articles on the website project - password for a folder in Windows.
That's all. See you again on the pages of the Computer Assistant project!

Are you interested in the question of how to view hidden files and folders in Windows 7?

If yes, then you are in the right place. In this lesson we will look at how to see in your hard drives All hidden files and folders inWindows 7. In fact, it is very simple, I have already touched on this topic once, I wrote, . Well, today we will do all this in the Seven.

So, let's go. Enable viewing of hidden files and folders in Windows system 7.

Let's go to " Start - Control Panel».

In the folder that opens, change the view type to “Small icons”.

Now we find the item “ Folders settings" and open it.

In the window that opens, go to the “View” tab, then go down to the very bottom and put the switch on the item “ Show hidden files, folders and drives"Then save by clicking "OK".

Now let's check. I go to the drive (C:) and already here I see, Hidden folders are shown.

This is how, with a few clicks, we made hidden folders and files visible in Windows 7. But in general, I recommend enabling this feature only if necessary.

If we have any hidden folder inWindows 7 and we need to access it, we enabled the ability to view hidden files and folders. As soon as we did all our work, we immediately turned off this option.

That's all I have!

Windows 7 is based on a convenient system for displaying files and folders. They are clearly structured by location and purpose. When installing programs, depending on their operating principle, the files necessary for launching are created and stored in various directories. The most important files (for example, those that store program settings or user profiles) are most often located in directories that are hidden from the user by default by the system.

When viewing folders using Explorer as standard, the user does not visually see them. This is done in order to protect critical files and folders from incompetent tampering. However, if you still need to work with hidden elements, Windows settings It is possible to enable their display.

The most popular hidden folder that users most often need is "Appdata", which is located in the user data folder. It is in this place that all programs installed on the system (and even some portable ones) record information about their work, leave logs, configuration files, etc. important information. There are also Skype files and most browsers.

To gain access to these folders, you must first meet several requirements:

• the user must have administrator rights, because only with such settings can you access the system configuration;
• If the user is not a computer administrator, then he must be granted the appropriate permissions.

Once these requirements are met, you can proceed directly to the instructions. In order to clearly see the result of the work, it is recommended to immediately go to the folder with the user, following the path:
C:\Users\Username
The resulting window should look like this:

Method 1: Activation via Start Menu

1. Click on the Start button once, and at the bottom of the window that opens, type the phrase in the search "Show hidden files and folders".



2. The system will quickly perform a search and offer the user one option, which can be opened by clicking the left mouse button once.



3. After clicking the button, a small window will appear in which the parameters of the folders in the system will be presented. In this window you need to scroll with your mouse wheel to the very bottom and find the item "Hidden files and folders". There will be two buttons at this point - "Do not show hidden files, folders and drives"(by default this item will be enabled) and "Show hidden files, folders and drives". It is to the latter that we need to switch the option. After this you need to click on the button "Apply", then on "OK".



4. After clicking the last button, the window will close. Now let's return to the window that we opened at the very beginning of the instructions. Now you can see that a previously hidden “AppData” folder has appeared inside, which you can now double-click on, just like regular folders. All items that were previously hidden will appear in Windows 7 as semi-transparent icons.



Method 2: activation directly through Explorer

The difference with the previous method is the path to the folder options window.