Many people have complained that originally there are some files exist in the USB flash drive. However, due to some unknown reasons, the files are hidden in USB, and they don't know how to show hidden files in USB. Actually, to keep the security of the USB flash drive, some files are really hidden. For example, virus attacked files are usually hidden. And to make some files private, people may get them hidden in USB flash drive as well. Anyway, no matter for what reason the files are hidden in Flash drive, you can try the following ways to show hidden files in USB on Mac and Windows PC. Take a look at the following guides.
- Software To Show Hidden Files On Mac Free
- Software To Show Hidden Files On Mac
- Show Hidden Files On Mac
Unhide Files in USB Flash Drive via CMD in Windows
- Way 1: Show and view hidden files or folder with shortcut keys Get this way while you have the detailed location of hidden files or folder. For example, when you need to view hidden iTunes backup on Mac, just press CMD + Shift + G and enter the backup location in pop-up Go to Folder dialog. Then click Go to open the hidden folder on Mac OS X.
- Run Terminal on Mac OS X. Open Finder Applications Utilities, and you could find Terminal there.
If you've found some files are hidden in USB and you're using Windows PC, you can try the CMD to unhide fines in USB. Here are the simple steps:
Show Hidden Files in USB under Windows or Mac with Professional Tool If the hidden files are virus attacked or you have deleted them accidentally or intentionally, or the hidden files are not shown in USB drive, you can try the professional tool - iBeesoft Data Recovery to show and recover hidden files in USB drive on Mac or Windows PC.
1. Plug in the USB drive to your computer USB slot. Please make sure it is detected by your PC.
2. Click the 'Start' menu, type in cmd in the search bar, and click Enter to unhide files in USB drive.
3. Left-click cmd.exe and type in Enter attrib -h -r -s /s /d D:*.* (replace D: with the drive letter for your USB drive).
After then, you can click to open your USB, checking out whether the hidden files are showed or not. If not, you can try Method #3. It is the easiest way to show hidden files in USB drive.
Unhide Files in USB Flash Drive on Mac with Terminal Command
If you're using a Mac, you need to try the Terminal Command on Mac to show hidden files in USB drive on Mac. Here are the steps:
1. Click Finder > Applications > Utilities to open the Terminal found.
2. In Terminal, type in: defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES
3. Press Return.
4. Hold the Option key, then right click on the Finder icon in the dock and click Relaunch. It will show the hidden files on Mac right away. Next, you can click to open the USB drive.
Show Hidden Files in USB under Windows or Mac with Professional Tool
If the hidden files are virus attacked or you have deleted them accidentally or intentionally, or the hidden files are not shown in USB drive, you can try the professional tool - iBeesoft Data Recovery to show and recover hidden files in USB drive on Mac or Windows PC.
How it works to show hidden files in USB drive?
The hidden files recovery software will scan your USB drive for all files, including shown and hidden files, letting you select files to save to computer or in a directory on your USB flash drive again. Though you can't view and see the hidden files, the software is able to. It is developed to unhide files in USB drive, computer and other external hard drives. It can also unformat USB drive on Windows or Mac.
How to show hidden files in USB drive with the professional tool?
Step 1. Download and install the Unhide File software
Click the download button to get the .exe/dmg installation file. Double-click it and follow the built-in wizard to install it on your computer. It has separate versions for Windows PC and Mac tool. Please choose the right one for your computer.
Step 2. Select file types to scan
Launch the show hidden USB files software. From the very first window, you need to make sure what types of file you want to unhide. By default, all supported file types are selected. My suggestion for you is to let them all be selected. By doing this, you may unhide some files unexpectedly. Click 'Start'.
Step 3. Select USB drive to scan
Connect your USB drive with your computer by plugging it to the USB slot, making sure your computer detect it correctly. In the new window, you can see, all partitions of your computer as well as external hard drives are listed. Select the USB drive from the list to scan and click 'Scan' to show hidden files in USB on Windows or Mac.
Step 4. Show hidden files in USB drive on Windows PC/Mac
During the scanning process, hidden files are scanned and sorted into categories. After the scanning process, you can select found files to preview. When find the hidden files, select them and click 'Recover' to save them on your computer.
If you cannot view some important hidden files on your Mac computer, don't worry. Here, you can find reliable methods about how to show hidden files on Mac external hard drive. Mac file recovery software supports you to find and restore all hidden files on the Mac or external storage devices with simple clicks.
'I got some important files saved on my Mac disk and I hide them on the computer so to avoid accidental deletion. Now I want to use some of these hidden files. So do you have a simple way that can help me to view, see, and find hidden files on my Mac?'
Recently we got a question from a user whether it is possible to find hidden files on a Mac hard drive. The answer is YES. You can just follow the provided methods to show the hidden files on your Mac computer or hard disk, external storage devices.
Software To Show Hidden Files On Mac Free
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
---|---|
Fix 1. Show Hidden Files With Finder | Open a new Finder window > click on the name of your Mac under 'Devices' > click on System...Full steps |
Fix 2. View Hidden Files With Terminal | Open Terminal > Copy and paste the command into the Terminal window...Full steps |
Fix 3. Restore Disappeared Files With Software | Download EaseUS file recovery software for Mac > Choose a drive to scan > preview and recover...Full steps |
If you are a Windows user, refer to recover hidden files on PC to make hidden files show up on your Windows computer.
Method 1. Show Hidden Files using Keyboard Shortcut
This method shows you how to use the Mac keyboard to quickly find hidden files. Here are the detailed steps.
Step 1. Open a new Finder window and click on the name of your Mac under 'Devices' in the sidebar.
Step 2. Click on System, and press Command (⌘) + Shift + . to reveal or hide hidden folders in the Finder.
Step 3. To rehide hidden folders, press Command + Shift + . again.
Method 2. View Hidden Files and Folder on Mac With Terminal
Besides using the keyboard shortcut, you can also use the Terminal command-line interface to view hidden files and folders on Mac. Here's how to do it:
Step 1. Open Terminal application from Launchpad.
Step 2. Copy and paste the following command into the Terminal window:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
Step 3. Restart Finder with a command: killall Finder.
Then you'll be able to see all hidden files and folders in the Finder.
Method 3. Restore Disappeared Files With Mac File Recovery Software
In some other cases, the files got hidden due to virus attack or OS fault. Under these circumstances, you might need help from third-party data recovery software to get back your files. Here we recommend EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac. This tool enables you to find and restore all hidden files on Mac computer or external storage devices. Here are some amazing features of EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.
- Recover lost data from the emptied Trash Bin, accidental deletion, or other causes.
- Supports to repair corrupted Word, Excel, and PDF files during the recovery process.
- The whole recovery process only needs three steps. Simple and easy.
- Supports users to preview all recoverable files.
As mentioned before, this method does not require any specific knowledge and can be used by both experienced and novice Mac users. If you have lost files on your Mac, download and install this software and have a try.
Note: If your hidden files are less than 2GB, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac Free Edition can help. You don't need to pay anything with this free file recovery software.
Step 1. Select the disk location (it can be an internal HDD/SSD or a removable storage device) where you lost data and files. Click the 'Scan' button.
Step 2. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard for Mac will immediately scan your selected disk volume and display the scanning results on the left pane.
Step 3. In the scan results, select the file(s) and click the 'Recover Now' button to have them back.
Why Do Files Suddenly Disappear on Mac?
Sometimes users find their Mac files got disappeared but usually they don't know the reason. Here we list the most common reasons that would lead to file disappear on the Mac or external hard drive.
Software To Show Hidden Files On Mac
1. Accidental Deletion.
Sometimes you might delete your files without notice. Generally, if you haven't emptied the Trash bin, you can find and recover the disappeared files from it.
2. Hidden by the System.
In some cases, files are hidden by the operating system, so you can't see them on the external hard drive. It could be that you accidentally hide files, or the system hides sensitive files by default to keep things simple.
3. File System Error.
Files are not showing in an external hard drive because the disk's file system is corrupted. As a result, the computer system fails to access the entries to your files or show these files.
4. Virus Attack.
Your Mac or external hard drive might be infected by a virus or attacked by malware that would hide, delete, or encrypt the files on the drive.
Conclusion
Show Hidden Files On Mac
Here are all about how to show hidden files on Mac. No matter your files are lost or hidden by the system, you can find a way in this guide to get back your files. Please remember to be careful with hidden files. If you are not sure what you are doing, you can cause some serious damage pretty quickly.