Make an Invisible Folder

Need to hide some files on your computer from prying eyes? There are a couple of different ways that you can hide folders in both Windows and OS X. The traditional way is to create a hidden folder, but these can be easily unhidden by other people if they know what they're doing. The other option is to create an invisible folder. Instead of being marked "Hidden", the folder will be completely invisible, with a blank name and icon. It will be much harder for anyone to accidentally stumble across it.

Steps

Making a Hidden Folder (Windows)

  1. Right-click on the folder you want to hide and select "Properties".
    • To create a new folder, right-click on a blank space on your desktop or inside a folder and select "New" → "Folder".
  2. Check the "Hidden" box. Click Apply to save your changes.
  3. If the folder is grayed out but still visible, open the Control Panel.
  4. Select "Appearance and Personalization" and then select "Folder Options".
    • If Control Panel is in Icon View, then you can select "Folder Options" directly.
  5. Click the .View tab.
  6. Select "Don't show hidden files, folders, or drives". Click Apply to save your changes.

Making an Invisible Folder (Windows)

  1. Press .⊞ Win+R and type charmap. Press ↵ Enter to open the Character Map.
  2. Select "Angsana UPC" from the "Font" drop-down menu.
  3. Select a blank character from the list of characters.
  4. Click the .Copy button to copy the character to the clipboard.
  5. Right-click on the folder you want to make invisible and select "Rename".
    • To create a new folder, right-click on a blank space on your desktop or inside a folder and select "New" → "Folder".
  6. Press .Ctrl+V to paste the copied character. You should see a blank name when you press ↵ Enter.
  7. Right-click on the folder again and click "Properties".
  8. Click the .Customize tab and then click Change Icon....
  9. Scroll to the right and select one of the empty spaces.
  10. Click .OK and then Apply. Your folder will now be invisible.

Making a Hidden Folder (Mac)

  1. Click the Apple menu and select "System Preferences".
  2. Select "Keyboard" → "Shortcuts" → "Shortcuts" → "Services".
  3. Check the "New Terminal at Folder" box.
  4. Open the location that you want to create your hidden folder in.
  5. Right-click and select "Services" → "New Terminal at Folder". This will open the Terminal at the location that you selected.
  6. Type .mkdir .. The . denotes the folder as hidden.
  7. To access your hidden folder, press .⌘ Command+⇧ Shift+G. Enter the full path to the hidden folder you created into the field and click .
  8. To unhide the folder, open the Terminal in the folder's location and type .mv . .[1]

Making an Invisible Folder (Mac)

  1. Download a transparent PNG file. This image file is completely transparent, and will be used to hide the regular folder icon. You can find this by searching Google Images for "Transparent PNG" and downloading one of the checkerboard images.
    • Right-click on the image and select "Save image as" to save it to your computer.
  2. Open the downloaded file. It should open in the Preview application.
  3. Press .⌘ Command+A and then ⌘ Command+C. This will select the entire image and then copy it to your clipboard.
  4. Create the folder that you want to make invisible. You can press ⌘ Command+⇧ Shift+N to quickly make a new folder in your current location.
  5. Use the .Spacebar to create a few blank spaces as the folder name.
  6. Keep the folder selected and press .⌘ Command+I. This will open the Info window for the folder.
  7. Click the folder icon in the upper left corner. Press ⌘ Command+V to replace the icon with the transparent image you copied earlier.[2]

Tips

  • Do not forget where your new folder is, try putting it in a corner so you will not lose it.
  • Invisible folders will be visible if they're highlighted.

Warnings

  • The contents of your hidden or invisible folder can still be found using your operating system's Search functions.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://osxdaily.com/2010/05/10/create-a-hidden-folder-in-mac-os-x/
  2. ↑ osxdaily.com/2011/09/30/make-an-invisible-folder-hide-in-plain-sight/
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