The need to hide information on a computer may arise for various reasons. Perhaps you like to play on your work computer, but so that your boss doesn’t see your passion, you have to hide the label of your favorite toy. Someone may share a PC with their family members, and do not want others to know about their hobbies. Therefore, many users wonder how hide a folder on a computer running Windows 7,8 or 10? It turns out that there are several ways, three of which we will consider in this article. Let's start with the simplest.
All modern versions of Windows, from XP and higher, support a standard tool for hiding folders and files. The only drawback of this method is that people who know it will be able to make the hidden folder visible again. However, let's look at it in more detail. So let's go to Windows control panel, click on Folder Options. Go to the View tab and among the additional parameters we find Hidden files and folders, put a tick next to the “” item. Click on OK. 
Now hidden folders will not appear in the window.
Next you need make the folder itself hidden, to do this you need to follow a few simple steps. Right-click on the folder and select Properties from the menu items. Check the box next to Hidden. Click the Other button and uncheck Allow indexing... Click on Apply and OK. 
After these steps, the folder will not only be hidden, it will also not appear in search results, which is important.
How to find a hidden folder on your computer? Now you need to uncheck the " Do not show hidden files, folders and drives» in the control panel (see photo at the beginning of the chapter). The hidden folder will be needed again, and if you need to make it visible again, we repeat all the previous steps, just do not remove it, but check the appropriate boxes.
An easier and faster way to hide a folder on your computer in Windows 10 or 7 is to use the free Free Hide Folder utility, which you can download from the link. In the window that appears, just click on , the program will still work. You also need to come up with a username and password so that no one else can use this utility.
To hide a folder on Windows 10, open the program and click on the Add button. Here we indicate the path to the folder that needs to be hidden. A warning will pop up indicating the need to create a backup. Agree, because... If you accidentally delete the program, all data about the location of the folder will also be erased. If there is a backup, you can upload it to the newly installed utility and find the folders.
Now the folder cannot be found on your computer, either through standard Windows tools or through search. The only way to see hidden folders on your computer is to launch Free Hide Folder again, enter the correct username and password, select the hidden folder and click on Unhide.
This method of how to hide a folder on a computer in Windows 7 or 10 is quite original and at the same time reliable. The bottom line is that the folder will be hidden in the photo. Let's assume that you want to hide some folder with important information from prying eyes. To do this, perform the following steps:
It’s a rather complicated method, but original, and it’s unlikely that anyone will think of looking for your files in photography.
The Windows operating system supports the function of hiding objects on your computer. Thanks to this feature, developers hide system files, thereby protecting them from accidental deletion. In addition, hiding elements from prying eyes is also available to the average user. Next, we will take a detailed look at the process of searching for hidden folders on your computer.
There are two ways to search for hidden folders on your computer - manually or using a special program. The first is suitable for those users who know exactly which folder they need to find, and the second - when they need to view absolutely all hidden libraries. Let's look at each of them in detail.
Find Hidden's functionality focuses specifically on finding hidden files, folders, and drives. It has a simple interface and even an inexperienced user can understand the controls. To find the information you need, you only need to perform a few steps:
Now you can go to the location where the folder is located, edit it, delete it and perform other manipulations.
It is worth noting that deleting hidden system files or folders can lead to system crashes or a complete stop of Windows.
Hidden File Finder not only allows you to find hidden folders and files on your entire computer, but also, when turned on, constantly scans your hard drive for threats disguised as hidden documents. Searching for hidden folders in this program is carried out as follows:
When you need to perform an advanced search for hidden folders using certain filters, then the Everything program is best suited. Its functionality is focused specifically on this process, and setting up a scan and launching it is done in just a few steps:
Windows OS allows the administrator to access all hidden folders, but he will have to search for them himself. This process is not difficult to perform; you only need to perform a few steps:
All that remains is to search for the necessary information on your computer. To do this, it is not necessary to view all partitions of the hard drive. The easiest way is to use the built-in search function:
Unfortunately, this method is only suitable if the user knows the name, size or modification date of the hidden folder. If this information is not available, manually reviewing each location on the computer will take a lot of time; it will be much easier to search through a special program.
There is nothing complicated in searching for hidden folders on a computer; the user only needs to perform a few steps to get the information he needs. Special programs further simplify this process and allow it to be completed much faster.
Let's look at how to hide a folder in Windows 7 and 10, as well as find hidden materials and view their contents.
Hiding files and folders in the operating system is a reliable way to hide important information or protect it from accidental damage or deletion.
The function is useful in the following cases:
Developers from Microsoft have provided the ability to hide . This function is primarily necessary to prevent users from deleting important system files and libraries.
Can configure the display of hidden folders and files. There are also third-party applications to work with this function.
The essence of the first method is to use standard Windows Explorer. Its settings provide the ability to manually select what information can be displayed in the system and what information should be hidden from the eyes of other users.
Follow the instructions for Windows 7, 10:
After setting up Explorer, you can mark the desired folders as hidden. To do this, follow these steps:
If the system does not prohibit showing hidden items, users will see important system files, temporary documents of open programs, and files that have been manually designated as hidden. The icons for these folders and shortcuts will be dimmer than usual, so they can be easily identified among other data.
The method described above will help hide hidden folders in Windows 10. The instructions for Windows 7 will be similar, since the Explorer settings interface is identical in both versions of the OS.
For more convenient interaction with hidden elements, it is better to use special programs. Free Hide Folder is one such utility. It is free and compatible with all versions of Windows.
Let's take a closer look at how to work with hidden files and folders in Windows using Hide Folder. The program interface is very simple, but is presented only in English.
Follow the instructions to hide the directory:
Other features:
Hidden folders in Windows 7, 10 can be created not only by changing the properties of files and directories. One of the simplest methods is to customize the appearance of the folder, as a result of which it becomes invisible.
Follow the instructions:
You must enter special invisible characters as the directory name. They appear when you simultaneously press the Alt key combination of numbers 255. The final view of the folder is shown in the figure below. As you can see, it can be selected, but during normal interaction with the desktop it is not visible.
The disadvantages of this method are that Explorer still displays the directory, even though it does not have an icon or name. Also, another user may discover the folder if they decide to select all the items on the desktop or in another directory at the same time.
Another method of hiding folders is radically different from all those described above. It involves the use of basic steganography techniques - the science of classifying the very fact that secret data exists.
If you have a folder with secret files and you don't want anyone else to see it, you can follow these steps:
After repeating the above steps, you can test the result of the work. Open the final file SecImage.jpg - you will see the first image you selected. At the same time, if you open this document using an archiver or change the resolution from JPEG to RAR, you will still have access to the archive and will be able to view the contents.
The advantage of this method is that a potential attacker is unlikely to realize that the system uses this method of hiding information. In addition, it is very difficult to identify exactly which picture the archive is hidden in, while all other methods are quite easy to deactivate.
If you want to check if there are hidden objects on your computer that other users have created, you can use the built-in OS features to find the hidden folder or file.
The easiest way to show hidden folders in Windows is to use the Explorer settings window already mentioned above. Open “File Explorer Options” and in the advanced settings, check the “Show hidden folders” box:
To find an invisible folder on the desktop, press the CtrlA key combination. This will allow you to select all the elements and find out if there are invisible objects in the system. You can search for folders in Explorer in the same way.
After connecting the flash drive to the computer, it becomes part of the operating system Explorer, so its contents will be affected by all the parameters set in Windows. To open hidden folders in Windows on a flash drive, just change the advanced settings of Explorer to “Show hidden files”, as already described above.
You can only secure the contents of a flash drive using programs that set a password on a USB drive:
Now you know about all the possible ways to hide a folder in Windows or how to find and open it. If you have not previously encountered setting up invisible folders, we recommend that you first use the standard Explorer settings.
For users who need to constantly hide information, we recommend working with the Free Hide Folder utility or hiding the directory in a picture. This increases the chances that the information will remain confidential, even if someone deliberately tries to find the folder.
It happens that the Windows operating system hides some of its folders from users by making them hidden. For example, having picked up a virus in the Host file, it happens that it becomes invisible. More precisely, the Host file itself is visible, but its duplicate, which seems to complement it, is hidden from view. And to view it you need to configure the display of hidden files.
In this article we will look at 3 ways to open hidden folders and Windows 7 files or, conversely, hide them. This is done very simply.
METHOD 1. Open some window with folders, and in the upper left corner we find the “Arrange” tab. In the menu that opens, select the line “Folder and search options”
In the folder settings window that opens, select the “View” tab at the top. Find the item “Show hidden files, folders and drives” and mark it with a dot
Click the “Apply” and “Ok” button. All is ready.
METHOD 2. Again, open some window in Windows Explorer with folders and files. Press the “Alt” key. An additional panel will appear in the upper left corner.
In the additional panel, select the “Service” tab and then in the drop-down menu select the line “Folder Options”
And again we get to the settings window, where we first select the “View” tab and then “Show hidden files”
METHOD 3. This viewing method is suitable for those who have the Total Commander program installed
So, open the Total Commander program.
In the top panel, select the “Configuration” tab
In the settings window in the left panel, select “Panel Contents”
On the right side, check the box R12; Show hidden/system files (advanced only)
Click the “Apply” and “Ok” button
Here are three simple ways to view folders!
