How to hide files in Windows 7. How to enable the “Show hidden files and folders” option

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Hidden files(folders) are hidden folders or files. That is, those that are not visible, but in fact they are there.

How hide file (folder)? The simplest solution:

1) click on the file or folder right click mouse and select “Properties”.

2) check the box next to “Hidden”. For example, like this:

Important folder here Documents and Settings just hidden:

Many users know how to see and open hidden files. So think about whether something is worth “hiding.” After all, if the notebook says “Top Secret. Do not open or read under any circumstances,” then the temptation to open and read is much greater than if this had not happened.

Usually on a computer there are many hidden files located on Local disk, where the operating system is installed (usually "C"). This is so that you don’t accidentally spoil anything, because if you delete them or change the name, the computer may start to work poorly or stop altogether. So you need to be careful with system hidden files and folders.

How to view hidden files(folders). And you can see them like this:

“Tools” (at the top of the window) -› “Folder Options” -› “View” -› “Show hidden files and folders” (at the bottom) -› “OK”

Hidden folders are not shown here (files are hidden):

To show hidden files and folders, select this item:

Files and folders that are hidden will be lighter than those that are not hidden.

Hide a folder or file from others

There are many programs on the Internet for hiding separate folders and files from other computer users. These programs offer a simple method of hiding folders - by filtering requests to file system. But this does not mean 100% data protection.

In fact, look through other means. If more reliable protection is required, you should turn to serious cryptographic packages.

One of the biggest desires of the user is often the desire for programs and other data to be somewhere away from prying eyes. The most common way to do this isuse programs to hide files and folders.

There are quite a lot of them now: Folder Lock, Hide Folders XP, Use standard means on Windows: mark the folder/file as hidden., on NTFS volumes - deny access to the folder/file by specifying the rights to access the object.

But not all utilities for hiding folders will reliably hide your data. Moreover, even fewer of them, in addition to hiding them, will reliably protect them with encryption from various techniques. Many of these programs hide folders and files for only one operating system.

This is good if one operating system is installed on the PC - but what if there are several of them? From one system the data will not be visible, but from the other - everything is at your fingertips!

One of the methods data protection is their encryption. This is so reliable protect your data.

Everything is quite simple. You select the data you need and assign a password to access it. If only you know the password, then only you will get access to the information!

To further enhance reliability of data storage, they are encrypted. That is, using special encryption algorithms, they transform the data in such a way that even if the file is opened, it will be impossible to read it - it will be a mess. To convert the “porridge” into normal data, they are decrypted using the same encryption algorithm.

In general, these technologies are based on data protection from unauthorized access lies the science of cryptography, which is part of the science of cryptology. In turn, this science uses various methods and algorithms, which we will now get acquainted with.

To ensure that your information, after being encrypted, turns into “information garbage”, a meaningless set of characters for an outsider, specially developed methods are used - encryption algorithms.
Such algorithms are developed by mathematicians or entire teams of employees of companies or research centers.

Often, users of different versions of the Windows operating system need to hide any individual directory with files. This can be done using several methods at once, which we will discuss later in this article.

First of all, it is important to make a reservation that we have already partially touched on the topic of hiding folders and files in Windows OS in some other articles. It is for this reason that below we will provide links to the relevant instructions.

As part of the main instructions, we will touch on different versions operating room Windows systems. At the same time, know that in fact, none of the OS versions, starting with the seventh, have any particularly strong differences from other editions.

Method 1: Hiding Directories in Windows 7

As we previously mentioned, we will touch on the process of hiding folders on various editions of the Windows operating system. However, even taking this approach into account, the recommendations are quite applicable not only to the considered version, but also to others.

Before moving on to solving the issue, it is important to mention that any directory can be hidden using exactly the same methods as files. Thus, this instruction applies equally to any possible documents, be they applications or media recordings.

You can hide any directory, regardless of how full it is.

Exception from general rules using the directory hiding functionality are system folders. This applies to both later and most earlier versions Windows.

In the article below, we will talk about how you can hide any kind of data with several various methods. This is especially true for those methods that may involve special programs.

Please note that for experienced users, system facilities can be significantly expanded through active use command line. With its help, you can perform accelerated data hiding using just some operating system commands.

This is the end of the Windows 7 operating system.

Method 2: Hiding folders in Windows 10

Especially for people using Windows tenth version, we have also prepared instructions regarding hiding folders with clarification of all secondary details. At the same time, know that it is equally suitable for users not only of Windows 10, but also of its predecessor.

In the above article, we touched upon the possibility of using third-party software developed by independent developers specifically to simplify the process of managing a computer and, in particular, hiding various types of data. Moreover, in order to try everything yourself, you do not have to purchase the necessary software, since it is supplied completely free of charge.

It is important to make a reservation that if there are many files and folders in the hidden directory, then the process of hiding them may require additional time. At the same time, the speed of data processing directly depends on the used hard drive and some other computer characteristics.

Hidden folders will instantly visually disappear from the parent directory.

If you would like to view them, please use top panel management.

We discussed the process of displaying files in more detail in a special article on the website.

Each directory in whose properties the checkbox is checked "Hidden", will stand out among other folders due to the transparency of the icon.

For fairly experienced users, detecting hidden information is not a problem. Especially it concerns system tools in absolutely any Windows distribution.

In general, as you can see, hiding folders and files using basic and other operating system Explorer tools is extremely simple.

Method 3: Use third-party programs

Under some circumstances, you, as a Windows OS user, may need a more reliable tool for hiding file directories, which special programs can help with. In this section of the article, we will touch on software created to help users hide folders.

Programs often run independently of system tools. Thus, due to the removal of earlier installed software, all hidden data will be visible again.

Moving directly to the essence of this method, it is important to make a reservation that in the previous methods discussed we have already touched on some programs for the corresponding purpose. However, their range is not limited to the mentioned software and therefore you may be interested in some other equally relevant applications.

Usually programs for hiding folders require you to type and remember secret key for subsequent access to information.

If necessary, just as in the case of folders, you can process various documents.

Some programs support a simplified control model by dragging and dropping hidden material into the work area. This can be useful if you need to hide several folders that are independent from each other.

Among other things, the software allows you to use an increased level of security by setting passwords for files and folders.

You can hide a folder, among other things, using a special item added when installing programs and placed in context menu conductor.

Guided by the presented list of actions, you special problems you can hide literally any directory, regardless of how full it is. However, you should not use this software to hide system files and folders, so as not to encounter errors and difficulties in the future.

Conclusion

To conclude this article, it is important to mention that you can combine the presented methods, thereby providing reliable protection personal directories. At the same time, when using the program, do not forget about the password, the loss of which can become a problem for a novice user.

Do not forget that some folders can be hidden in the simplest way by turning off hidden files in the system settings.

We hope you were able to understand the basic intricacies of hiding file directories in the Windows operating system environment.

Sometimes there is a need to protect personal files or folders. This is especially true if more than one person is working with the computer. One solution is hiding. Of course, it will not help in the case of an experienced user. But it will hide information from unsuspecting eyes.

How to hide/show files and folders on a Windows 7 computer

Standard method

To hide a file or folder, you need to go through two steps:

Disable visibility of hidden folders

If the “Do not show...” option is set in the settings, then hidden files and folders will still be displayed, with the only difference being that the label for such objects is dimmer compared to a regular element.

Changing folder/file settings

After these steps, the folder or files will become hidden and will not be displayed.

Enable visibility and view

To show hidden elements, you need to go to the folder settings and check the box next to “Show hidden files, folders and drives”. And for a specific object to stop being invisible, you need to uncheck the “Hidden” option.

How to make a folder invisible - video

Via Total Commander

This method is related to the previous one in that in “Folder Options” there should also be a checkmark next to the item “Do not show hidden files, folders and drives”.

How to view files and make them open

To show hidden files and folders, you must click Ctrl keys+ H.

To make documents visible again, you need to use the Alt + A combination and uncheck the “Hidden” checkbox.

Via Free Hide Folder

If you want to make sure that no one can see hidden information, then you can use Free program Hide Folder, which requires setting a password.

Free Hide Folder does not hide separate files. Available for free download in the Internet.

When you launch the program for the first time, a window will appear in which you need to enter and confirm a password. By the way, you will also need it when uninstalling the program.
The next window will ask you to enter registration code but this is not prerequisite. To continue working, you need to select Skip.
Then click on the Add icon and select the folder that you want to hide.
After the folder is selected, a message will appear indicating that it is advisable to make a Backup. It is advisable to follow the advice.
Backup saves information about the program. If the latter is deleted, then after reinstallation Access to hidden folders will recover.

In addition to Add, in general window there are buttons for:

How to find hidden information and transfer it to a flash drive

Free Hide Folder hides folders so that they cannot be found using search. The only way- This is to open the program and select the Unhide tool. Another special feature is that it does not hide documents located on removable disks.

Because Windows search cannot detect documents hidden using Free Hide Folder, you cannot use copying. Thus, invisible folders cannot be transferred to removable drives.

Using an image and an archiver

For this method you will need a folder with files, any image and the WinRAR archiver. The program is available for free download on the official website. In this case, the processor bit capacity must be taken into account. To find out, you need:

You can take any image, there are no restrictions.

Add the desired folder to the archive.
Place the archive and the image in one folder, preferably located in the root of the disk.
Using the Win + R combination, launch the Run tool, enter cmd line and click “OK”.
In the command line, go to the folder where the archive and image are located. To do this, enter the cd command and the address. IN in this case this is cd c:\.
Then press Enter.
Now in the line you need to write the names of the image, archive and new file. Also, extensions must be specified in all three positions. In this case it turns out: COPY /B Image.jpg + FolderWithFiles.rar ImageWithArchive.jpg.
Press Enter. If everything was written correctly, a message will appear on the command line indicating that the files were copied.

If you now open the created file, only the image that was taken as a basis will open.

The original files can be deleted.

How to view hidden files

To be able to view files hidden in the image, you need to open the illustration itself using WinRAR.

But the archiver must first be added to the list of programs that can open images:

In the “Open with” menu, click on “Select program”.
Click on “Browse” and in the window that opens, find the folder with the archiver.
Open the folder and select the program launch shortcut.
Next, WinRAR will appear in the list of programs that can open the image. You also need to uncheck the “Use the selected program for all files of this type” option. Otherwise, all images will be opened using the archiver.

When the user opens the image using the archiver, it will be visible that there is a folder inside.

But don't hide too much information in one file. If it takes up tens of megabytes, even an inexperienced user will become suspicious.

Possible mistakes

How to enable the “Show hidden files and folders” option

Sometimes a situation occurs that the user activates the “Show hidden files and folders” option, but the switch automatically switches to the “Do not show hidden files and folders” position. In this case you need:

Otherwise, the parameter must be created. To do this, right-click on a free area of the window, select “New”, then “DWORD Value”. Call it CheckedValue and give the value 1.

Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
Find the Hidden parameter (with value 0), type REG_SZ, in the list and delete it.
If the list contains a Hidden parameter, type REG_DWORD, then change its value to 1. Otherwise, the parameter must be created.
Find the SuperHidden parameter, type REG_DWORD, in the list and change its value to 1.
Press "F5" to refresh the editor window and close it.

What to do if Folder Options is missing

This usually means that viruses have entered the system. Perhaps the antivirus simply failed to identify and remove malware. And so that the user cannot visually detect them, the authors of such applications use the “Hidden” or “System” attributes. In addition, the “Folder Options” menu item is removed.

Even if the malware is removed, the antivirus will not be able to restore this item. This will need to be done manually:

Perhaps after virus attack The Registry Editor was not blocked. In this case, you can use it:

Using Win + R, launch the Run tool, enter regedit line and click "OK".
Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.

In the right part of the window, find the NoFolderOptions parameter, type REG_DWORD. Double click LMB open it and set the value to 0.

Hiding files and folders - simple and quick way protect personal information. Of course, the first two are less reliable, and sophisticated users may accidentally or intentionally discover the secret. But FHF and the archiver will hide personal data even from experienced eyes.

Hello friends! Do you know how to hide a folder so that no one but you can get to it? Do not know? So, now in this short article I will describe to you in detail how you can hide your personal folders and protect them from unnecessary attention.

As you know, by default any folder is created in normal form, and it can be made hidden only later, asking her certain attributes. Over the course of the article, I will look at how this can be done using several methods:

Using file properties;
Through Total Commander;
Using the command line;

First I recommend creating new folder and try to hide it in order to understand how it works, and only then proceed to the folder with your files. Well, come on, I’ll finally show you how to hide a folder in Windows 7 and other operating systems.

Hiding a folder using file properties

Hiding a folder using its properties is the most in a simple way, which exists in operating systems Windows, although after seeing it, you will now see for yourself.

By right-clicking on the folder, select “ Properties».

The folder options will open, where, going a little lower to the attributes section, check the box next to the “ Hidden" and don't forget to press the save buttons first " Apply».

If you have any files stored in the hidden folder that you also want to hide, then when the “ Attribute Change Confirmations"You should check the box " To this folder and to all attached files" If, on the contrary, you need to hide only the folder and leave the files unchanged, then mark the first option and click “ OK" After this, the folder will receive the hidden attribute, and all attached files will remain unchanged.

How to hide a folder using Total Commander

In the second method, we will turn to the downloaded Total program Commander, thanks to which we can also hide any folder by setting the appropriate attribute to it.

Surely many of you are already using this file manager, so I won’t explain much about its installation. The rest, who hear about it for the first time, should download it and install it on their personal computer.

So, we launch Total Commander and use navigation to go to the folder we need.

Now, having selected the folder with the right button, go to the menu where we click “ Files» – «».

A settings window will appear where we will be offered four types of attributes to choose from “ Archived, read-only, hidden and system" Since you and I have the same goal to hide the folder, we tick the “ Hidden", and confirm our choice by clicking on " OK" That's all, as you can see, nothing complicated.

Now I want to say a few words about the attribute " System" This attribute can also be classified as hidden. In general, look what happens if you mark hidden and system attributes together.

If you only select " Hidden", then the user will be able to see all folders by turning on simple display of files, but if you additionally check the box " systemic", then in this case, when simply displaying hidden files, it will not be visible.

Just to see system files, in the folder view properties, you should uncheck the “ Hide system files and folders" About this, from the date ordinary users, few people know, therefore, this attribute can be regarded as an additional type of security.

Hiding a folder via the command line

I would probably consider this option to be the most difficult, because here you will have to execute commands in CMD, which many users really don’t like. But I will consider it, since it is also performed using our own Windows utilities, which is installed with the system.

Well, let's get started, as usual when working with CMD we call " Execute» having already pressed a familiar key combination Windows + R. A window will open in which you can enter three letters “ CMD» click « Enter».

A command line will appear in which, in order to hide the folder, we will need to specify the attribute “ h", which is responsible for performing this action.

So, in order to hide the folder, run this command: attrib +h “C:\Folder”

I’ll explain the command a little so you understand what’s what:

attrib— execution command to change the attribute;
+h – an attribute that will give a hidden appearance to our folder;
“C:\Folder” – the location where the hidden folder is stored ( you must specify your path to the folder);

By executing this command, the folder will become accessible only with the settings for showing hidden files enabled.

Through the command line, as well as through Total Commander, you can also specify a system attribute (which was described just above) adding +s:

attrib +h +s “C:\Folder”

By the way, after setting the system attribute, it will no longer be possible to remove the hidden view from the folder using the file properties, as the attribute will simply not be available.

For those who have finally changed their mind about hiding their files, now I will show you how you can get it all back. In principle, you don’t need to do anything complicated, just change a few characters in the command and that’s it, our folder will have old look as if nothing had been done to her.

attrib -h -s “C:\Folder”

Making a folder invisible by changing the appearance of the icon

For those who don't want to bother with all these attributes, I have another simple and interesting advice. Its simplicity is that we can hide our folder without hiding it completely, but by setting only a transparent icon and an invisible name. Do you know how this can be done? No? Then, let me show it to you.

So, having called the folder properties, go to the “ Settings" and click on the button " Change icon».

In the abundance of icons that appears, select any empty place and click " Ok».

As a result, you should see something similar in front of you.

So, now all we have to do is hide the name; to do this, select the folder and click “ F2" to rename the file. Now, holding down " ALT", hold it and write a set of numbers like this: 255 , then release all the keys and press “ Enter" As a result, there will be nothing on the screen except a dotted line around the hidden folder.

As always, in conclusion, I advise you to try all the options and choose the one that suits you. I don’t tie you to any one, since they are all working and not very complicated.

These guidelines will help you hide your personal information from ordinary users who are not particularly versed in all the intricacies of working with a computer. So, more experienced users probably know about these ways to hide a folder, and will probably be able to find them. Therefore, if you really need to hide something, you hide the folder, but store it a little deeper, on drive D for example, and not on the desktop.

I want to show you one simple and safe way hide files using simple trick on Windows, hide the file inside the JPG file.

You can actually hide any type of file inside an image file, including TXT, EXE, MP3, AVI, or any other. Not only that, you can store a large number of files inside a single JPG file, not just one. This can be very convenient when you want to hide files and don't want to bother with ransomware and other file hiding methods.
In order to complete this task, you must have either WinZip or WinRAR installed on your computer.

Here are the steps to create a hidden cache:

Create a folder on your hard drive, for example, C: Test and put all the files you want to hide there. In the same folder, upload the image file into which we will “shove” the hidden files.

Now select all the files that you want to hide, right-click on them, and select the option to add files to archive. Just select the files you want to hide, not the map file. Created archive name it whatever you want, for example - “Hidden.rar”.

Now you have a folder containing JPG file and compressed archive:

Now here's the fun part! Click the Start button and select Run. Type “CMD” without quotes and press Enter. You should now see a command prompt window. Enter “CD” to get to the root directory. Then enter the command “CD Test” to get into the “Test” folder, which contains all our files.

Now enter next line(without quotes): “ copy /b DSC06578.JPG + Hidden.rar DSC06578.jpg” and press Enter. If everything went well, you should receive a response as shown below:

JPG file has been updated from compressed archive inside! Look at the size of the resulting image, you will see that it has increased by the same amount as the archive size.

You can access files hidden inside a picture in two ways.
First, simply change the file extension to .RAR and open the file using WinRAR.
Secondly, you can simply right click on JPG image and select “Open with”, and then select “WinRAR”.

That's all! This is an excellent and simple method simply because not many people know about this possibility and even those who know will not be able to suspect the files in your picture.

And those who don’t can close it right away.

Categories:

Here's another one small program-SteganPEG. It allows you to select any image in .jpg/.jpeg format and put some volume into it various files protecting them with a password. The program itself will show you how much volume can fit into a specific image.

In order to get files hidden in the picture you will need the same program and password. The interface, as you can see, is extremely clear:

Added eXe-ImagePacker (600 kb):

Here are some more programs for similar purposes:

Here's some more information

Cheap old spy movies have the most secret documents and unique jewelry was certainly located in a secret safe hidden behind the painting. I don’t know what caused the popularity of this disguise method, but you can do something similar on your computer. Free utility File Camouflage allows you to hide any file, including text, program or other picture, inside any JPG image.

- it's tiny free utility, which allows you to hide confidential information under the guise of harmless images. After downloading and launching the program, we just need to indicate the file that we want to hide, then the picture that will act as a “cover,” and the location where the result will be saved. If desired, you can set a password, without which it will be impossible to extract the file.

To retrieve hidden data, simply switch to the tab De-Camouflage a file, enter the path to the “secret picture” and the save folder. In addition, the program can integrate with Windows Explorer, adding your item to the menu " Send«.

Due to its freeness and ease of use, it may well come in handy in cases where you need to protect your files, but do not want to deal with complex security systems. With this utility, you can quickly and securely hide your data from prying eyes, without raising any unnecessary questions.

Answer
Of course, the program is free and does not require installation. But the archive has a password: http://beloe-bratstvo.ru/

Likewise, you can protect your files with a password, hide them in pictures, and post them publicly.

By the way, the program has one feature: when processing a picture, its original is not saved. That is, you will no longer have this picture without the archive - it will be overwritten. You will not be able to re-use this image to hide another file.

Therefore, it is better to do this: take a ZIP or RAR archive that you want to hide, copy it to the desktop, copy the picture there (only suitable JPG format), in which you want to hide this archive, and in the program indicate the paths to these copies, and not to the original archives and pictures. This is more correct.

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