OS X: Show hidden files and folders in Mac OS X Finder

Contributed by incursor February 14, 2008  
Tagged: Apple Mac

I received a request to show how to show hidden files and folders in the Mac OS X finder. Using this terminal command, any OS X user can unhide all hidden files and folders. This will make them visible when browsing through Finder.

First, open Terminal.

Type this command, then press enter:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

To allow the files to be shown, you must restart Finder. You can do this by holding the Option key, click and hold the Finder icon. When the context menu shows, select Relaunch.

Finder will now restart.

Now all hidden files are showing!

To hide files again, type:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE

In the terminal instead, and restart Finder.

You can also restart finder by using the following command from the terminal:

killall Finder