How to hide files and folders on Windows 10

No matter what kind of content you keep on your computer, you’ll always find reasons to hide certain files and folders. Perhaps you have important documents and videos that you want to keep under wraps, or you simply want to prevent users from accidentally deleting certain files if you’re sharing your PC with other people.

For whatever the reason it might be, on Windows 10, you can quickly hide a file or folder in two different ways, including using File Explorer or using the attrib command using Command Prompt.

In this Windows 10 guide, we’ll walk you through the easy steps to hide a file and folder on your computer. In addition, you’ll learn the steps to access those hidden items as needed.

How to hide files and folders using File Explorer

The easiest way to keep content hidden is using File Explorer.

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Navigate to the file or folder you want to hide.

Right-click the item and click on Properties.

Click Apply.

Click OK.

Click OK again to complete the task.

Once you’ve completed the steps, the hidden items will not be visible anymore, because by default Windows 10 doesn’t show hidden files.

If you want to access your hidden items you’ll have to type the complete path to the hidden folder or file you want to open and press Enter. For example: C:\Users\admin\Desktop\Files\Secret Files\Great Secret.txt.

Or you can open File Explorer, click on the View tab and make sure to check the Hidden items option. Then you can browse your hidden items as you would normally do with other content.

At any time, you can make the files and folders visible again by using the same steps mentioned above, but this time on step 4 make sure to clear the Hidden option.

How to hide files and folders using Command Prompt

Alternatively, you can also use Command Prompt to hide files and folders on your computer.

1. Open Start.
2. Do a search for Command Prompt and click the result.

Type the following command to navigate to the items you want to hide and press Enter:

In the command replace the path after cd with the path to your file or folder.

Type the following command to hide a folder or file and press Enter:

attrib +h «Secret Files»

In the command replace «Secret Files» with the name of your folder or file. Quotation marks are only necessary when there are spaces in the name.

If you’re trying to hide a folder with files and subfolders, which you also want to keep hidden, then you’ll need to use these steps as well.

While in Command Prompt type the following command to navigate inside the hidden folder and press Enter:

cd «Secret Files»

In the command replace «Secret Files» with the name of your hidden folder.

Type the following command to hide all files and folders inside the hidden folder and press Enter:

After completing the steps, the items with the hidden attribute will no longer be visible.

Making hidden files and folders visible again

If you change your mind, you can use the following steps to remove the hidden attribute for files and folders.

1. Open Start.
2. Do a search for Command Prompt and click the result.

Type the following command to navigate to the hidden items location and press Enter:

In the command replace the path after cd with the path to your file or folder.

Type the following command to make the items visible again and press Enter:

attrib -h «Secret Files»

In the command replace «Secret Files» with the name of your folder or file. Quotation marks are only necessary when there are spaces in the name.

In the case you also set the hidden attribute for files and subfolders inside of a folder, then do the following to remove the attribute.

While in Command Prompt type the following command to navigate inside the hidden folder and press Enter:

cd «Secret Files»

In the command replace «Secret Files» with the name of your hidden folder.

Type the following command to remove the hidden attribute from all files and folders inside the folder and press Enter:

Which method do you prefer to hide files and folders on Windows 10? Tell us in the comments below.

More Windows 10 resources

For more help articles, coverage, and answers on Windows 10, you can visit the following resources:

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Hiding files from other users on Windows 10 Home

I’ve got multiple users with unique logins on my home PC, which has a second drive for file storage. I’d like to keep my files on the file storage drive hidden/private from other users, but currently, any user can see those files.

Is there a way to have my files private to me and other users files private to them on the same PC?

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Hi Paul. I’m Greg, an installation specialist and 9 year Windows MVP, here to help you.

You would give only your account permission to access an entire drive or specific folders, like this: https://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/.

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it’s resolved.

________________________________________________________
Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

Windows MVP 2010-20

Over 100,000 helped in forums in 10 years
I do not quit for those who are polite and cooperative.
I will walk you through any steps and will not let you fail.

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How to Hide Files and Folders in Windows 10

By: Waseem Patwegar

In case of a common home computer, there is always the possibility of important Files or Folders being accidentally modified or deleted by kids or someone else in the family. An easy way to prevent this from happening is to Hide Files and Folders in Windows 10 using methods as listed below.

Hide Files and Folders in Windows 10

The simplest way to Hide Files and Folders in Windows 10 is to access File Properties and designate the selected File as being “Hidden” in the Attributes section of the File Properties.

This easy method of Hiding Files and Folders in Windows 10 should be good enough for Family Computers where the intention is to prevent kids or anyone else in the family from accidentally deleting or modifying important files and folders.

Another method of Hiding Files and Folders in Windows 10 is to make your computer treat your important Files/Folders as System Files, which it automatically hides.

The second method requires the use of command prompt to hide/unhide files, which makes it difficult for anyone with average computer skills to snoop on your files.

Hide Single File or Folder in Windows 10

Follow the steps below to hide individual Files and Folders in Windows 10

1. Right-click on the File/Folder that you want to hide and then click on Properties option in the menu that appears.

2. In the File Properties window, scroll down to the “Attributes” section and then check the little box next to Hidden and click on Apply (See image below).

3. On the “Confirm Attribute Changes” pop-up, choose whether you want to “Apply Changes to this Folder only” or “Apply Changes to this Folder, Subfolders and Files” and click on OK (See image below).

Depending on your selection, the selected Folder or the Folder along with all its Subfolders and Files will become hidden, once you click on OK.

Hide Multiple Files and Folders in Windows 10

Follow the steps below to Hide Multiple Files and Folders in Windows 10.

1. Right-click on the Windows Start button and then click on File Explorer option in the menu that appears.

2. In the File Explorer Window, select the Files/Folders that you want to hide, click on the View Tab in the File Explorer top menu bar and then click on Hide selected items option (see image below)

3. On the “Confirm Attribute Changes” pop-up that appears, choose whether you want to “Apply Changes to the selected Folder only” or “Apply Changes to selected Folder, Subfolders and Files” and then click on OK (See image below).

Unhide Files and Folders in Windows 10

When Files and Folders are hidden, they no longer appear in File Explorer. However, you can easily Unhide Files and Folders that you had previously hidden on your computer by following the steps below.

1. Click on the Windows Start button and then click on File Explorer option in the menu that appears.

2. In the File Explorer Window, click on the View tab and then check the ‘ Hidden items ’ option in Show/hide toolbox (See image below).

Checking the Hidden Items option will reveal the Hidden Files/Folders in that location. The hidden Files/Folders will appear with partially transparent icons, so that you can clearly distinguish Hidden Files from regular ones (See above image).

Truly Hide Files and Folders in Windows 10 Using Command Prompt

The methods to Hide Files and Folders in Windows 10 as described above are only good for Home or Family Computers, where no one is really trying to snoop on your files.

In order to truly Hide Files and Folders in Windows 10, you can either make use of various Third Party Tools as available in the market or make use of a workaround in Windows 10.

The workaround involves making Windows 10 computer to treat the Files/Folders that you want to Hide as System Files. Once this is done, Windows Operating System will Automatically hide these files, just as it hides other System Files.

1. Right-click on Windows Start button and then click on Command Prompt Admin option in the menu that appears.

2. In the command prompt window, type attrib +h +s followed by The File Path and hit the enter key on the keyboard of your computer.

In the above image, a File named as “Family” is located on the desktop and its File Path can be written as C:\users\funaccount\desktop\family.

Hence, in the command prompt window, we are typing the attribute command as attrib +h +s c:\users\funaccount\desktop\family . The letters “h” and “s” in the attribute command instruct your computer to treat the selected File/Folder as Hidden and as a System File.

3. Type the Attribute command as required in your case (depending on the location of your File) and hit the Enter Key on the keyboard of your computer

Once the command is executed, the File/Folder named in the “Attrib” Command will be treated as a System File by your computer and it will become hidden.

Important: Make sure that you note down the file path for the hidden files, you will need this to unhide the file.

Unhide Files and Folders in Windows 10 Using Command Prompt

You can make the Hidden Files visible again by replacing “+” sign with “-” in the “attrib” command and running it again on your computer.

1. Right-click on Windows Start button and then click on Command Prompt Admin option in the menu that appears.

2. In the command prompt window, type attrib -s -h C:\Users\funaccount\Desktop\Family and hit the Enter Key on the keyboard of your computer.

Once the command is executed, you will see the hidden Files/Folders appearing back on your computer.