How to find hidden files on your phone or computer

Your phone and The capacity of the computer is beyond your imagination. By default, the files you can view on Windows, macOS, Android, and iOS are by no means all files stored on these systems.

These hidden files are usually used by the operating system and the applications you are running to store data that you do not normally need to access-in fact, if you edit the data in the wrong way, the data may interfere with the smooth operation of your device or be deleted.

For example, user settings and application configuration are usually saved as hidden files. The program needs these files to run, but the user does not really need to access them. Hidden file caching is also very common, storing data temporarily to speed up software operations.

This guide comes with a warning-you are at your own risk of editing or deleting hidden files from your device, and you really should not do anything to these files anyway.

However, viewing them is very useful for solving problems that your phone or laptop may encounter, or trying to determine the exact location of all digital storage space. Here is how to make these files visible.

Windows

You can switch to hidden files on Windows by opening the file explorer window view Tab on the ribbon bar, then check Hidden objects Box. Even if you close File Explorer or restart your computer, Windows will remember your choice until you uncheck the box again.

Hidden files and folders are displayed as slightly faded thumbnails in File Explorer, so they are clear at a glance, and once you make them visible, they will also be displayed in the search.To hide or unhide a file, right-click the file and select characteristic with General: you will see hidden The checkbox at the bottom.

There is another type of hidden file on Windows: even Hidden objects With the check box selected, Windows still keeps critical operating system files invisible, so they cannot be tampered with.To view these files, please download from view Click on the tab in File Explorer Options, Open view Tab and uncheck Hide protected operating system files (recommended) Boxing advanced settings.

Apple system

The easiest way to view hidden files on a computer running macOS is to use the Finder application.Open it and use the keyboard shortcut Cmd+Shift+. (This is the period key) Unhide files and folders (or hide them again). The setting stays the same until you change it (cross restarts, etc.).