How to hide and unhide files in Windows

If you have some files or folders that you want to hide for any reason, you can set the files as hidden so that they do not appear on your desktop or whatever folder they are in.

This is very quick and easy to do.

Ok, here is an example of how to do it using a new text document which was created on the desktop.

To hide the file, right-click on it and click properties in the menu.

In the properties window click the checkbox beside Hidden near the bottom of the window.

Click Apply then OK to hide the file.

There you go, it has disappeared from the desktop.

Even though your file is no longer visible, you can still access it. For this example, click in the Address bar and type "Desktop\new text document.txt", without quotes, then press Enter which will open the file in Notepad. You can still edit the file as normal even though it is hidden.

If you want to make it visible again do the following:

Press the Windows key and E together, or open the Start menu then click Computer to open a new window similar to the image below.

For Windows 7,  click Organize in the top-left of the window, then Folder and search options.

For other versions of Windows, Folder options can be found under the Tools section in the menu bar at the top of the window.

In the Folder Options window, click on the View tab. Under Advanced settings, click the button beside Show hidden files, folders, and drives.

Click Apply and OK.

Now, all the hidden files on your computer will be visible. Their icons will be slightly transparent.

On the desktop, find the new text document, right-click it and open the properties window.

In the Attributes section, uncheck Hidden, then click OK.

The file will now be visible as normal.

To hide all the files and folders that should normally be hidden again, simply go back to the Folder and search options window pictured above and click Don't show hidden files, folders, or dives, then press Apply.