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How to Show Hidden Files in Windows 11

How to Show Hidden Files in Windows 11

April 10, 2023 by Mitch Bartlett 11 Comments

By default, Microsoft Windows 11 hides specific files from view when you explore them on your hard drive. This protects important files from being deleted so that the system isn’t damaged. If you’re the geeky type, you’ll want to be able to view all files all the time. Follow these steps to show hidden files.

Option 1 – From File Explorer

  1. Open File Explorer by pressing the Windows + E keys or by searching for it in the search bar.
    Open File Explorer in Windows 11
    File Explorer search results
  2. Select the “View” tab.
  3. Place the cursor on the Show option
  4. Choose the “Hidden items” check box to view hidden items.
Show hidden items option Windows 11
Hidden Items option in File Explorer

You can also have File Explorer show the hidden file by going to options.

  1. Click on the three dots
  2. Choose Options
  3. Click View tab
  4. In Advanced settings, look for the Hidden files and folders option
  5. Choose the Show hidden files, folders, and drives and click OK
Folder options show hidden files Windows 11
Show hidden files, folders, and drives in Advanced settings

There are other types of files that you can also unhide, and those are called System Files. Below the hidden files, folders, and drives you choose to unhide, there is an option called Hide protected system files (recommended). If you want to unhide those files, uncheck the box for that option.

Hide protected operating system files Windows 11
Hide protected operating system files in Windows 11

You’ll see a warning message letting you know the dangers of unhiding these files. If you’re sure you want to go through with it, click Yes.

Option 2 – From Control Panel

  1. Search for the Control Panel and select “Control Panel” from the results.
  2. Go to “Appearance and Personalization,” then select “File Explorer Options.”
  3. Click the “View” tab.
  4. Scroll down a bit and change the “Hidden files and folders” setting to “Show hidden files, folders, and drives.” Optionally, you may wish to uncheck the “Hide protected operating system files” box as well.
    Show hidden files and system files Windows 11
    Show hidden files and system files through Control Panel

Option 3 – Via Registry

  1. Hold the Windows Key and press “R” to bring up the Run dialog box.
  2. Type “regedit,” then press “Enter.”
  3. Navigate to the following location:
    • HKEY_CURRENT_USER
    • Software
    • Microsoft
    • Windows
    • CurrentVersion
    • Explorer
    • Advanced
  4. Set the value for “Hidden” to “1” to show hidden files, folders, and drives. Set the value to “2” to not show hidden files, folders, and drives.
    Change value for hidden in Registry for Windows 11
    Change value for Hidden in Registry for Windows 11
  5. Set the value for “ShowSuperHidden” to “1” to show protected operating system files. Set the value to “2” to not show protected operating system files.
ShowSuperHidden Registry Windows 11
ShowSuperHidden option in Registry for Windows 11

Further Reading

As long as we’re on the subject of unhiding files, if you’re still in a reading mood, here is how you can hide or show hidden files in macOS. For Android users, here are 5 great methods to find hidden apps on your device. Use the search bar to find more reading material on a specific topic.

Conclusion

There are times when you’ll need to unhide specific files to get some work done on your Windows 11 computer. You can unhide those files using File Explorer, for example. If you ever want to hide them again, the steps to do so as just as easy to follow and can be done at any time. Will you permanently be showing these hidden files? Share your thoughts in the comments below, and don’t forget to share the article with others on social media.

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Filed Under: Windows

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Chuck says

    April 25, 2022 at 12:04 pm

    My license has expired on drive hard my email account. when I try to log in to drive hud in front of the screen I get a message saying my license has expired please renew in the lower part of that I have four options buy or register or renew when I try to do either one I get a pop-up that is saying something about my cart but it only lasts for one or two seconds then Ace poker solutions screen comes right on and it says poker book and training or poker software or partners apps tried numerous times it goes right past the first screen in one or two seconds cannot access nothing when I click on the lines in the upper right hand corner gives me an option to open my account at the bottom of that page when I click on my account my login page comes on for one or two seconds then goes right back to the page with the poker books and training tried numerous times try different type of things including drive HUD 2 free trial still comes up with the page about registering or by do not want to do that I may lose all of my information I’ve been gathering for a year would like some help registering if possible, thank you

  2. Kartik singh says

    July 16, 2020 at 2:02 pm

    I have nokia lumia 520.
    I want to convert it into android.I want to know that after installing the android. Will my sim card work and data connection.

  3. Jan de Vos says

    May 19, 2020 at 1:40 pm

    Thanks!

  4. Mohammad says

    April 30, 2020 at 3:06 pm

    I have reinstalled the USB driver successfully. Though, Samsung dex did not recognize my device.

  5. Neha Singh says

    March 22, 2019 at 1:52 pm

    This one worked. Thanks for the guidance. It really helped me alot.

  6. HMB says

    October 3, 2018 at 7:02 pm

    Ok, I just checked this out… here’s an example where the attrib method (below) will show files when the author’s method will not. To illustrate, configure Explorer to show all files as outlined in this article. Then,

    1) Open a 2nd Windows Explore and navigate to C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Recent Items

    2) Shift select and delete these files (or move them to a temp location; I think advanced “Disk Cleanup” tool will delete as well).

    Also, note that all the advanced “show file” setting made earlier are still intact.
    Next open a command prompt in the …\Recent Items folder. To do this:

    1) Open a 3rd explorer window and navigate *in the left panel* to C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows

    2) With your mouse over the “Windows” folder *still in the left panel*, hold down Left-Shift + Right Mouse Click to get the advanced context menu, click on “Open command window here”

    3) In the …\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows> command prompt, key in: “cd recent”

    4) Key in …\recent\> attrib *.*

    You should see a bunch of files not shown in explorer.

  7. Charles Davis says

    September 7, 2018 at 9:37 pm

    The current version of Win 10 looks and works differently, so this just confused me.

  8. Gabriel says

    July 21, 2018 at 8:42 pm

    I don`t have CurrentVersion in Windows from HKEY_CURRENT_USER, please help me!

  9. J Evans says

    July 19, 2018 at 9:01 am

    No. Unable to change entry. Received notice “Cannot edit Hidden. Error writing the value’s new contents”.

  10. dsf says

    June 8, 2018 at 4:44 am

    This saved me so much time! Thank you!

  11. Caleb says

    April 24, 2018 at 1:24 pm

    This saved me so much time! Thank you!

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Who’s Behind Technipages?

Baby and Daddy My name is Mitch Bartlett. I've been working in technology for over 20 years in a wide range of tech jobs from Tech Support to Software Testing. I started this site as a technical guide for myself and it has grown into what I hope is a useful reference for all.

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