By Achilles Hill | Last Updated
Supposing that you hide the important files and folders in your computer by means of downloaded softwares, you can think about hiding them by using the built-in Command Prompt. Moreover, after they are hided through cmd, they can be displayed again. And this text will show you how to hide or unhide files and folders with cmd immediately.
Video guide on how to hide or unhide files and folders with CMD:
Example: Hide a folder named "Documents" in Disk C.
Step 1: Simultaneously press Windows key and R key to open Run dialog box, input cmd and click OK to open Command Prompt.
Step 2: Input "attrib +s +h c:\documents" (without double quotation marks) in the Command Prompt window and click Enter.
Tips: In this attrib command, "+" stands for setting an attribute, "s" represents system file attribute and "h" means hidden file attribute. Moreover, "c:" is the drive letter and "documents" is the folder name. By analogy, if you want to hide a folder in another hard disk, you can use the attrib command by changing the drive letter and folder name.
For instance, suppose you would like to hide a folder titled "Summary" in E disk, you can input "attrib +s +h e:\summary" (without double quotation marks) in the Command Prompt and press Enter.
Example: Hide a folder called "Summary" in Disk E.
Step 1: Type e: in the cmd and tap Enter to go to Disk E directory, as shown in the following picture.
Step 2: Input attrib +s +h summary and press Enter.
Tips: Use this attrib command through changing the folder name (referred to "summary") to hide another folder.
Accordingly, there are two methods to unhide folders.
Input attrib –s –h c:\documents and hit Enter.
Note: In the attrib command, "-" means clearing an attribute.
Step 1: Enter e: and tap Enter.
Step 2: Input attrib –s –h summary and press Enter.
Example: Hide a txt file named "goals" in Disk E.
Enter attrib +s +h e:\goals.txt and tap Enter.
Tips: "goals.txt" refers to the full name of the document (including file extension name). So, you can change the file name and use the attrib command to hide other files.
Input attrib –s –h e:\goals.txt and press Enter to unhide the "goals" document.
Now, you can try the above methods and see if they work well in your computer.
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