How To Hide Files And Folders On Mac? | Step By Step Guide.

When someone asks you to use your phone, do you become nervous? Since that phone contains your entire life, you obviously don’t want just anyone to have access to it. Consider a Mac. Many people store highly sensitive or personal information on their Macs, frequently material linked to their jobs, in addition to syncing a lot of their data from iPhones.

In this article, we’ll guide you on how to hide files and folders on Mac.

How To Hide Files And Folders On Mac?

Can you hide folders on Mac? The answer could be Yes. We have different tested solutions to hide your files and folders on your Mac. Let’s go through them one by one.

1) Using Hotkeys

Let’s start with the quickest keyboard shortcut for hiding a file or folder. The benefit of this technique is that you may hide and unhide files using the below same shortcut.

Command + Shift + period (.)

To hide or unhide your files and folders:

1. Go to Finder
2. And press the Command + Shift + period (.) keys. The hidden folders and files will be greyed out.

Anyone can access your private files by pressing Command + Shift + Period on a keyboard without using a password to verify their identity. And trust us when we say that even a novice hacker knows this shortcut. This means that it is a poor method of file protection. Additionally, you will need to manually hide each file and folder.

2) Using Third-Party App

People who use your Mac might not be interested in spying on you. They are forced to act since they can see your personal files and images that are kept on your desktop. By the way, the names of your files and folders can expose a lot of information that you don’t want to share.

One Switch is a great tool to keep in your menu bar, so you can always hide desktop contents with one click. Do this before handing your Mac to other people to make your desktop blank. One Switch also has many other quick actions — keeping your Mac awake, muting the mic, changing screen resolution, and more. You can pick the ones you use often and bring them into the app’s menu for quick access. Here is how to hide folders on MacBook desktop

3) Using Terminal

Try the Terminal approach of gathering all of your sensitive files into one folder and then hiding that folder if it doesn’t scare you off. Although laborious, it’s not particularly difficult. Here’s how to use Terminal to create a secret folder:

• Launch Terminal and type chflags hidden

• Create a new folder on your Mac and place all the files you wish to hide in it.

• Drag and drop the folder onto the Terminal

• Press Return

That’s it; once you drag the folder onto Terminal, you’ll notice that its path has changed. This is now the path of your hidden folder. You can employ the same technique to reveal the folder. However, use the following command to unhide your files and folders: chflags nohidden.

4) Using FileVault

By using FileVault to make an invisible folder, you can secure your files provided that no one else has access to your Mac user credentials. The data that is saved on your Mac is encrypted by FileVault, making it impossible to view or copy this data without inputting your credentials.

Here’s how to use FileVault to make a folder private:

1. Go to Apple menu > System Preferences
2. Select Security & Privacy
3. Select the lock icon to make changes and type your password
4. Select Turn On FileVault
5. Select a recovery method, then save your modifications.

5) Using Library

Did you know that your Mac stores all the files that shouldn’t be accessed easily in a hidden location? Of course, it’s the Library folder. It might be challenging to find a Library via the Finder because Apple has been actively revising the architecture of the Finder in recent years. On a Mac, the Library folder comes in three different flavors, and not all of them are hidden by default. We advise utilizing this tried-and-true technique to access your Library in order to prevent confusion:

1. Launch Finder
2. Go to Go > Go to Folder
3. Enter the path ~/Library and select Go

Using the keyboard shortcut Command + Shift + period (. ), you can show any hidden file or secret folder in the Library. You must first move your private files to a different folder before dragging them into Library. Keep in mind that you should be keeping track on your Library content because that type of folder typically consumes a sizable portion of the Other storage and is difficult to declutter.

6) Using Apple Developer Tools

Another Terminal hack allows Mac users to hide and reveal files. But there’s a limit. On your computer, Xcode must be installed. So, you may refer to it as a developer hack. We do not advise installing Xcode only for the purpose of being able to hide files because it is a large and resource-intensive application. However, if you do utilize it, feel free to apply this trick:

1. Launch Terminal
2. And type setfile -a V
3. Enter Return to run the command
4. Repeat the above instructions with every file
5. To unhide files and folders with Xcode, type the command with one exception, lowercase v – setfile -a v

7) Adding A Dot Before File Name

A dot (.) in front of the file name is one feature that all hidden files have in common. This means that if you rename your file to begin with a dot, macOS will treat it as a hidden file by default:

1. Right-click on your file
2. Select Rename and insert a dot (.) in the front of your file name
3. Choose Confirm
4. Your file will immediately turn grey that is invisible

8) Using Another Account

Create a special user account where you keep sensitive data if you don’t have the time to look for files and hide them one at a time on your Mac. This might be a really good workplace division. You might, for instance, utilize one of the accounts for personal affairs and the other for work-related activities. On macOS, follow these steps to add an account:

1. Go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Users & Groups
2. Select the lock icon to make changes and type your password
3. And click the Plus button and create a new account

f you are still confused with the steps, you can contact Apple service center. We, Techyuga provide all types of software solutions for Apple devices. Contact us for more details.

Conclusion “How To Hide Files And Folders On Mac”

That’s How to hide files and folders on Mac? Several various approaches are available, depending on your tool selection and Mac proficiency. It’s crucial to keep in mind that none of these techniques actually “hides” anything, so anyone who looks carefully enough will still be able to see all of my files.

Consider using FileVault in Mac OS X or other third-party programs to encrypt or further conceal files. Contact TECHYUGA for your all queries related to your MacBook.

Hope you find this blog useful. If you have any questions, you can leave them in the comment section below. I will be happy to respond.