Learn how to view hidden files and folders in Finder on your Mac using simple Terminal commands or a keyboard shortcut to access hidden system data.
By default, Mac computers hide some files and folders to prevent users from accidentally deleting or modifying critical data, but sometimes you may need to access them, like when you want to get your hands on the stock wallpapers that are built into macOS.
Some people like to know everything that is on their computer. Admittedly, I was one of these people many moons ago when I was a Windows user. I would always make sure that Windows Explorer would show all hidden files and folders. I’m not sure why, but I liked it this way.
These days, I’m quite the opposite, as I like to see as few files and folders as possible on my Mac. But I understand some people out there have the desire to see all those system files and folders, for whatever reason that may be.
Caution: While it’s very easy to see hidden files and folders, you must edit or delete them with caution, as the operating system may need these system files, and thus they are generally hidden so that you don’t accidentally modify them. That said, if you know what you’re doing, here’s how to access them.
There are a couple of easy ways to do that.
Using a keyboard shortcut
Go inside a Finder window on Mac and press together the Command + Shift + Period/Full Stop (.) keys to unhide files and folders. Pressing the same keys again will hide those hidden files and folders.
Using Terminal
Enter the following command in Terminal and hit the return/enter key:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -boolean true ; killall Finder
You should now see hidden files and folders in Finder.
Open Terminal and copy/paste or type in the following command and hit the return key:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -boolean false ; killall Finder
All hidden files that you have revealed should now be hidden again.
If you use OS X 10.8 and earlier, use this command line in the Terminal window:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE ; killall Finder
If you want to hide files and folders again on a machine running OS X 10.8 and earlier, simply enter the following command in the Terminal app and hit the return/enter key:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE ; killall Finder
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