How to View Hidden and System Files and Folders in Vista

Contributor Icon Contributed by Hack_Vista  
Tag Icon Tagged: Microsoft Vista  

This tutorial shows the user how to view hidden files and folders on their system.


Seeing your hidden files and system files in Vista is not much different than in XP. Here are the step-by-step directions. Remember that system files are hidden for a reason. Don’t go messin’ around with stuff.

1. Click the round blue Start thing in the left corner
2. Click Control Panel
3. Click Folder Options
4. Click the View tab
5. Click Show hidden files and folders
6. If you want to see system files as well, unclick Hide protected operating system files (Recommended)
7. Click OK

 

73 Comments -


  1. anonymous said on October 8, 2008

    My friend thought it was funny to hide a 3gb folder on my memory stick (taking up all the memory). Needed this to find and delete it.

    Thank you for your help.

  2. Jonathong said on October 9, 2008

    Thanks dude, godsend :P

    (not used to silly vista)

  3. Celine said on October 15, 2008

    Alrighty, thanks so much!

  4. Mr F Shields said on October 16, 2008

    how do you delete the notes on the recent items on widow svista

  5. Lindsey said on October 16, 2008

    Help! I’m trying to hide my sensitive files because I have an employee coming in this weekend. I hid three of the directories in my main folder, but now I can’t even figure out how to view them myself! How do I un-hide them? I’m in the root directory (called “Lindsey,”), it’s one tier up from My Documents. When I click on “customize this folder” i get an error message saying properties for this item (Desktop?) are not available!!

  6. james said on October 18, 2008

    My question was how to see the pictures in an album formatt and not how to find files.

  7. robz said on November 6, 2008

    Chrs Thank you xxxx

  8. lovelyslickyvixen said on November 8, 2008

    the folder option isnt there! how??

  9. sud said on November 20, 2008

    very gud info

    thanks…..

  10. sud said on November 20, 2008

    type folder options in search in control panel

  11. VistaMan said on November 25, 2008

    good stuff buddy.. thanks alot, i had totally forgotten how to findem’

  12. DeAdnre said on November 28, 2008

    Or on the left side click “Classic View” and then look for “Folder Option” Once again.

  13. Cam said on November 30, 2008

    Awesome! Thanks a lot man! I accidentally hid a bunch of folders on my desktop and did not know how to view them again!

    This really helped!

  14. Will said on December 4, 2008

    Same here, I had a 2 hidden folders on my SD Card which I only noticed when I put it into my PS3. (Which I Just Deleted From My SD Card)

  15. Chris said on December 7, 2008

    This was useful to me, but for the opposite reason. I was trying to turn off the viewing of hidden files. People who are reading this, this article is very informative, but just don’t bother with hidden files. They’re annoying, trust me, and there’s a reason they’re hidden. Tampering with them at all can crash your entire system, I know from experience.

  16. hh said on December 20, 2008

    ya

  17. scottishguy said on December 20, 2008

    might be worth mentioning… IF you go into control panel but you cannot see the icon “folder options”.. then you should click on “classic view” text on the left… this will reveal the folder options icon amongst others..

  18. J said on January 1, 2009

    Control panel > Appearance and Personalization

  19. Drew said on January 22, 2009

    Thanks for this I hid some folders by mistake! Many thanks pal

  20. dave said on January 31, 2009

    Help!

    Hi! I have several folders hidden in my computer, i followed the steps bellow, but just can’t unclick “do not show hidden files and folders”, it just doesn’t let me do that. I entered the folder options in mode “run as administrator”, but still doesn’t work. Any idea? Thanks.

    david

  21. Rico said on February 16, 2009

    I have the same problem as David’s. I have clicked the “show hidden files and folders” and then click Apply button but doesn’t take any effect. When I open the Folder Options box again, the radio button still points to “Do not show hidden files and folders”. Even when I unchecked the “Hide extensions for known file types” and “Hide protected operating system files”, it did not work. Need help here…

  22. Glenn said on February 27, 2009

    Thankyou, i hid a folder and could not find it when i needed it, helped a lot thanks

  23. kitty said on March 8, 2009

    my computer doesnt allow me to select show, it only has DO NOT show hidden files, and it wont let me un click it! i have 3 gig of photos hidden (my sister sneaks through my stuff) how can i access it???

  24. Xem8wt said on March 16, 2009

    U own. Thanks for your help

  25. Rohan said on April 10, 2009

    I still have files that arnt showing up?

  26. Igor said on April 12, 2009

    But i dont have Folder Options in my Control Panel!!!!
    grrrrrr this post suck!

  27. Shakya said on April 14, 2009

    wonderfully helpful, thankyou

  28. Shakya said on April 14, 2009

    try classic view…..

  29. jayson byrd said on May 10, 2009

    sweet. tysm

  30. Mohammed said on May 13, 2009

    I do the three Methods that you have shown me including the download of smart virus remover and it DIDN’T WORK this problem driving me criusy PLEASE tell me what to do

  31. aaron said on May 26, 2009

    if your smart enough you could just write folder options come on common sense

  32. glen said on June 3, 2009

    Thanks for that post. It was very handy. TY

  33. troy said on June 6, 2009

    THANKS BUDDY ……………was driving me nuts

  34. surj said on June 9, 2009

    thanks

  35. franc said on June 15, 2009

    hey’ thank u so much…

  36. HoTTiE 4 YoU said on July 8, 2009

    thanks so much i made one of my albums on my computer hidden and i found it but the picture i was looking for wasnt on it so thank goodness i fouind this site ur a life saver i was like ditto i cant find it… lol

  37. Anonymous said on July 29, 2009

    How do you View Hidden and System Files and Folders in Windows 7 Ultimate (evaluation copy) ?

    I am in need of help on this, apparently this needs to be done because my email program incredimail is sending blank e mails.

  38. Anonymous said on August 3, 2009

    plz help me if any one know that how to hide system file once it unhide,window file continiously showing on my desktop,once i have click unhide the file n folder to see my hidden files but forgot to click on ‘hide protected system file option’,and then i found system files are visible on desktop,even clicking on hide protected system file option afterward.

  39. Anonymous said on September 19, 2009

    hello just found this quick step by step its almost perfect :) please add in the step that folder options is in the apperance tab thanks :)

  40. Anonymous said on September 28, 2009

    there is no folder option in my vista’s control panel

  41. Anonymous said on October 20, 2009

    Cheers. I know without having to think how to do this using XP, but, as always with anything that’s a newer version, they have to change things and you have to relearn how to do some of the simplest things..! Quite frustrating when you just want to get on with things. But, once I knew where to look, it was easy.

  42. Anonymous said on November 1, 2009

    i ve done what u said..but the hidden files are not showing still. when i check the folder options it has automatically gone back to do not show hidden files agin itself…hmmm

  43. Anonymous said on November 12, 2009

    hello sir, i did the steps suggested by you, but it doesnt work, acually each & every time when i open view tab it ever shows “dont show hidden files & folders” , then i changed it to ” show hidden files & folders” & then “apply” & “ok.” but it doesnt work at all, again when i open view tab it shows “dont show hidden files & folders” , though i changed all the settings.

  44. Anonymous said on November 30, 2009

    My hidden files and folders shown them self without me doing this and no one has been on my laptop to do it :S, does any one no why?

  45. anonymous said on December 13, 2009

    hey i am unable to find my hidden files
    i tried the tip

  46. Anonymous said on December 15, 2009

    Didn’t work. But thanks.

  47. Anonymous said on January 16, 2010

    It didn’t work for me unfortuntely. It keeps going back to “do not show hidden files and folders”… Why doesn’t it work like in XP? it was so easy to just click that button on and off…

  48. Anonymous said on January 21, 2010

    still i can’t open the hidden file

  49. Anonymous said on January 29, 2010

    cannot search for “folder options” – not found
    no folder options in my control panel, on Either view! Grrrrr doing my head in!

  50. Jro said on February 3, 2010

    Thankyou. I kept on seeing all these files that I no longer needed when my virus scanner was running, but I couldn’t find them. Now I can finally delete them. Get my computer running a bit better.

  51. Anonymous said on February 14, 2010

    tHanks very mUch..
    i was so worriEd cOz i caN’t view thE hiddEn files..
    mY dad wAnts to see tHe hard copies..
    iF i tOld him tHat i cAn’t sEe the fiLes..
    hE’ll pRobably kill mE..
    iT really hElpeD me a lot..
    thAnk you..:)

  52. Anonymous said on February 28, 2010

    thanks alot frnd

  53. beast300 said on April 22, 2010

    dude, its totally gone! i did this exact thing and it didnt show. the recent virus mustve done it. how do i get it back?

  54. Khans said on June 3, 2010

    thanks so much for your info. keep posting.
    thanks again

  55. xyz said on June 20, 2010

    ahh thanx a million
    i couldnt find the folder options until now !! :)

  56. Vikrant33 said on June 21, 2010

    thanx….

  57. Ksbhjabdvhyuduad said on July 6, 2010

    if you just search ‘folder options’ and click the word, then you’ll see a new window open. then follow the instructions. simple as.

  58. Pryce1 said on July 26, 2010

    I have two laptops on Vista. One I can change the hidden folders and files from show to hide.

    The other I can’t. The ’show hidden files ‘ option is greyed out.

    I need to see the hidden files on the second macine. Any ideas please?

    Thanks

    Ian

  59. Wws Admin said on August 16, 2010

    Doesn’t work. I still cannot find Temporary Internet Folders which are hidden.

  60. Frosenx said on August 18, 2010

    sorry but i dont have anything called folder option in my controlpanel!is there anyway else to find it thanks.

  61. Rameakbal said on September 16, 2010

    thanks

  62. Anon8674 said on September 21, 2010

    MY GOD THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!!!!! UR A TOTAL LIFE SAVER!!!!!!!!!!!! I SPENT DAYS ON THIS IMPORTANT FOLDER!!!!!!!! THANK U SO MUCH!!!! U SAVED MY LIFE AND CAREER!!!!

  63. Florent Gill said on October 4, 2010

    It was amazing and I am quite pleased with the outcome.

    Thanks a lot

    F Gill

  64. Habnouf said on October 10, 2010

    i dont see folder option!!! and in windows explorer i dont see tools!!

  65. Vinit shah said on November 3, 2010

    dear,i can’t get proper language in folder in view option.plz help me…..

  66. Sy Holloway said on December 18, 2010

    can the “hide/view hidden files and folders” function be put in to a batch file?

  67. mani said on January 4, 2011

    how c hidden file with another function .

  68. Crisha said on March 7, 2011

    Dude, THANKS. A stupid as this sound, I’ve been trying to get files from my SD memory card from my cam for ahem, far too long. I could finally get me some space and take more pictures, and also upload pictures in my computer WHICH I’VE TRYING SO FREAKIN HARD. Thank you! :)

  69. Vanessia_1999 said on April 7, 2011

    1. Click the round blue Start thing in the left corner bottom of your computer..to the very left that look like a flag (this is your start button)
    2. Click Control Panel
    3. Click Folder Options
    4. Click the View tab
    5. Click Show hidden files and folders

  70. amstelleer said on June 5, 2011

    This helped so much I got all my documents, programs, and everything back hoorah!

  71. rilyn said on July 4, 2011

    thanks. it helps me :))

  72. Dante said on September 8, 2011

    Thank you very much for your useful information but I got a different problem.
    I tried to Hide my hidden files and folders but they keep Showing them.
    I selected: Don’t show hidden files, folders or drives and also i selected Hide protected operating system files
    It keeps change this option to SHOW Hidden files, folders and drives.

    Please help .. how can I Hide those folders?

    Thank you soo much

  73. Hassan said on January 1, 2012

    Thank you Dude.
    Very helpful lines.

 

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