Howto show hidden files/folders in Finder?

Guybrush · 11-16-2003, 03:56 PM

Is it possible to view hidden files and hidden folders in finder?

macmath · 11-16-2003, 04:16 PM

Yes. Among the easiest ways is to get the (free) Tinkertool. It provides a button to restart the Finder after asking that invisible files and folders be made visible.

Guybrush · 11-16-2003, 05:20 PM

crap that also mean i keep seeing those .DS_Store files on my desktop

ok its not worth it.

ulrichm · 11-16-2003, 05:34 PM

Quote:


	Originally posted by Guybrush crap that also mean i keep seeing those .DS_Store files on my desktop

But that is also a hidden file for Mac OS X

DeltaMac · 11-16-2003, 05:59 PM

You can view any file (hidden or not) through the system Find function by adding criteria for invisible files.
Displaying hidden files gives you everything on your system, which as you could imagine, is not always wanted.

Guybrush · 11-16-2003, 06:41 PM

Quote:


	Originally posted by DeltaMac You can view any file (hidden or not) through the system Find function by adding criteria for invisible files. Displaying hidden files gives you everything on your system, which as you could imagine, is not always wanted.

Using the find in Finder to find hidden files is quite handy now you mentioned it, but is it just me or is it sometimes buggy?
For example, i have my homedir opened in finder, and i type: ".bash_profile" and it just finds nothing!, same for other hidden dirs..

And the .bash_profile is really there.. but just doesnt find it.. weird

DeltaMac · 11-16-2003, 07:23 PM

I'm not sure if Find is buggy, or if it works contextually to some extent. But sometimes a find just doesn't 'find' what you know is there. I think it works better that way, by adding specific folders to the find listing, under Specific Places.
I also turn on hidden files from TinkerTool, look at needed files, and turn off hidden when I'm done. Works for me...

jbc · 11-16-2003, 11:14 PM

I had the same frustration with not being able to get to hidden files, but not wanting to deal with all the .DS_Store files and such I didn't want to see.

What I ended up doing was making symbolic links for everything I wanted access to and putting them in my user folder, so not everyone has access to them. Make everything visible, make some normally-named symlinks, then hide everything again.

For example, in /Users/MyUsername/admin/, I have links to /bin, /etc, /usr, and all the other root level unix directories. In /Users/MyUsername/Library/Configuration/, I have a whole slew of things like bash_profile, environment.plist, fetchmailrc, forward, netrc, and so forth that are symlinks to hidden user configuration files I occasionally need access to.

Takes a little time to set up initially, but makes life much easier; don't know how I functioned without these links now. And no extraneous visible .DS_Store or .whatever files to deal with!

macmath · 11-17-2003, 12:09 AM

Cool! I like that idea. [Running off to start TinkerTool.]

Thanks!

11-16-2003, 03:56 PM	#1
Guybrush Triple-A Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: homeless Posts: 111	Howto show hidden files/folders in Finder? Is it possible to view hidden files and hidden folders in finder?

11-16-2003, 04:16 PM	#2
macmath MVP Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Elsewhere Posts: 1,497	Yes. Among the easiest ways is to get the (free) Tinkertool. It provides a button to restart the Finder after asking that invisible files and folders be made visible.

11-16-2003, 05:20 PM	#3
Guybrush Triple-A Player Join Date: May 2003 Location: homeless Posts: 111	crap that also mean i keep seeing those .DS_Store files on my desktop ok its not worth it.

11-16-2003, 05:59 PM	#5
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 8,531	You can view any file (hidden or not) through the system Find function by adding criteria for invisible files. Displaying hidden files gives you everything on your system, which as you could imagine, is not always wanted.

11-16-2003, 07:23 PM	#7
DeltaMac League Commissioner Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 8,531	I'm not sure if Find is buggy, or if it works contextually to some extent. But sometimes a find just doesn't 'find' what you know is there. I think it works better that way, by adding specific folders to the find listing, under Specific Places. I also turn on hidden files from TinkerTool, look at needed files, and turn off hidden when I'm done. Works for me...

11-16-2003, 11:14 PM	#8
jbc All Star Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Chico, CA Posts: 686	I had the same frustration with not being able to get to hidden files, but not wanting to deal with all the .DS_Store files and such I didn't want to see. What I ended up doing was making symbolic links for everything I wanted access to and putting them in my user folder, so not everyone has access to them. Make everything visible, make some normally-named symlinks, then hide everything again. For example, in /Users/MyUsername/admin/, I have links to /bin, /etc, /usr, and all the other root level unix directories. In /Users/MyUsername/Library/Configuration/, I have a whole slew of things like bash_profile, environment.plist, fetchmailrc, forward, netrc, and so forth that are symlinks to hidden user configuration files I occasionally need access to. Takes a little time to set up initially, but makes life much easier; don't know how I functioned without these links now. And no extraneous visible .DS_Store or .whatever files to deal with!

11-17-2003, 12:09 AM	#9
macmath MVP Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Elsewhere Posts: 1,497	Cool! I like that idea. [Running off to start TinkerTool.] Thanks!