A hidden directory or hidden file on a computer is a directory (folder) or a file that is, by default, not shown to the user. Hidden directories are most often used to hide important operating system (OS)-related files essential for the running of an OS. In computing, a directory, catalog, or folder, is an entity in a file system which can contain a group of files and/or other directories. ...

Viewing Hidden Directories

If you are using Mac OS X, then you can enable the Finder (desktop application) to display hidden files by opening the application 'Terminal' which should be pre-installed in the Utillties folder of your Application folder. In Terminal, type 'defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE' the press return, then type 'killall Finder' and press return then, if you want, type 'killall Terminal'. Mac OS X (official IPA pronunciation: ) is a line of proprietary, graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. ...

If you are using Windows, open up a new Explorer window, such as My Documents, and in the menu bar, click on 'Tools' then 'Folder Options...'. Then, click on the 'View' tab and in the list should be the option to 'Show hidden files and folder'. Check it and click on 'OK' or 'Apply'. 1. ...

In iPodLinux you can enable the viewing of hidden files by going into 'Setting', then scroling down to 'Show Hidden Files' and enable it. iPod running iPod Linux iPodLinux is a µCLinux-based software distribution targeted specifically to run on Apple Inc. ...

It may be possible to view hidden files in other programs.

Unix and Unix-like

In Unix-like operating systems hidden files' and directories' name is prepended with dot (e.g. /home/user/.config). Showing or hiding this directories is determined by file manager (e.g. mc shows them by dafault). Diagram of the relationships between several Unix-like systems A Unix-like operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, while not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. ... A filename is a special kind of string used to uniquely identify a file stored on the file system of a computer. ... Dot can refer to several different characters: full stop, or period, primarily used in writing to end a sentence. ... A file manager is a computer program that provides a user interface to work with file systems. ... Midnight Commander (mc) is an orthodox file manager for Unix-like systems and a clone of Norton Commander. ...