Display Hidden Files and Folders in Windows 7

How to Show Hidden Files and Folders in Windows 7

2013-07-17 15:49:23 / Posted by Michael Eric to Windows Tips
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Windows 7 hides certain files so that they are not able to be seen on your computer. It is possible for a user or piece of software to set and make a file hidden by enabling the hidden attribute in a particular file or folder's properties. This article will tell you how to display hidden files and folders in Windows 7 and be able to see any hidden files that may be on your computer.

What is Hidden Files

Although you usually can't see hidden files, they're ordinary files like all other files on our PC. You can choose whether a file is hidden or visible by changing its properties to designate it as hidden. You can hide rarely used files to reduce clutter, but you should know that hidden files still take up space on your hard disk.

Steps to Show Hidden Files and Folders in Windows 7

If you need to view hidden files or folders on your Windows 7, then follow the following steps to learn how to show hidden files and folders in Windows 7.

• 1. Close all programs so that you are at your desktop.
• 2. Click on the Start button in the lower left corner of your screen that has a Windows flag on it.
• 3. Click on the Control Panel menu option.
• 4. When the control panel opens you will see a screen similar to that in the following picture.

• 5. Tap on the Appearance and Personalization link.
• 6. You will now be in the Appearance and Personalization control panel as shown in Figure 2 below.
  Now click on the Show hidden files and folders option as shown by the red arrow in Figure 2 above.
• 7. Under the Hidden files and folders section select the radio button labeled Show hidden files, folders, and drives.
• 8. Remove the checkmark from the checkbox labeled Hide extensions for known file types.
• 9. Remove the checkmark from the checkbox labeled Hide protected operating system files.
  

  Once this is done, your Folder Options screen should look similar to the following image.

• 10. Press the Apply button and then tap the OK button.

When all those are done, your will now be able to see all hidden files and folders in Windows 7. You can check by navigating to the C:\ drive. If you see a folder named ProgramData, then you are now able to view hidden files and folders.

For more tips on Windows 7 file and folder, please check How to Add or Remove Security Tab from Files and Folder Properties in Windows 7.

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