How to Find Hidden Files and Folders in Windows 10. View hidden files and folders in Windows. How to Find Hidden Files and Folders on Windows.
When you open a folder in Windows Explorer, you expect to see the complete contents – all files, all subfolders. However, this is not necessarily the case. If the folder you are watching contains hidden files or folders. Windows will not show them unless you have enabled viewing hidden files in File Explorer.
How To Show Hidden Files In Windows 10
If you want to know how to find hidden folders in Windows 10 and any hidden files they contain, you will need to use some of the methods we have listed below. This includes using the secret search tools in File Explorer and Windows PowerShell to find them, as well as using third-party alternatives such as FreeCommander.
How to Find Find Hidden Files and Folders on Windows 10 Using File Explorer
If you’re trying to find a missing file or folder, the best way to do it is to use File Explorer’s search tool. Using the advanced search options, you can find any folders or files that were hidden when viewed (automatically or manually) in an open explorer window.
- To do this, open a new Explorer window using the taskbar (if the Explorer icon is pinned) or via the Start menu. You can also right-click the Start menu and select File Explorer to open a new window instead.
- In a new explorer window, open the folder (or drive) that you want to search. Using the search bar in the upper right corner, enter the attributes: H and press the enter key to start the search. This looks for all files and folders in that folder that have the “hidden file” attribute applied in the Properties menu.
- If you want to further customize your search, you can add a file or folder name (or partial name) to the search. To do this, enter the name of the file or folder before or after the attributes: H parameter in the search bar (for example, file attributes: H). If you want to find a partial match, you can use a wildcard (e.g. fil * attributes: H) for that.
- When you find a file or folder, you can trace it back to the saved location by right-clicking the file or folder and choosing Open File Location from the pop-up menu.
Searching for Hidden Files and Folders Using Windows Powershell
While the explorer method described above offers the easiest way to find hidden files and folders in Windows 10. It’s, not necessarily the fastest. If you want to quickly find missing files on your computer, Windows PowerShell is a good alternative.
You can also use the newer Windows Terminal, but PowerShell remains the default option for Windows 10 users. The commands below are PowerShell specific and will not work with the older version of the command line.
To get started, open a new PowerShell window by right-clicking the Start menu and choosing Windows PowerShell (Admin).
In a new PowerShell window, navigate to the folder or drive you want to find. For example, typing cd C: will move you to the root (first) folder on your primary system drive, allowing you to search the entire drive.
Typing cd C: Program Files means that the search you are doing will only work through any files and subfolders contained in the Program Files folder. After moving the folders, enter ls -Force to see a list of the files and folders they contain (including any hidden files or folders).
Once in the folder to start searching, type the following command in a PowerShell window and press Enter to run it: Get-ChildItem -Filter *. * -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | where {$ _. Attributes -match “Hidden”}.
How to Find Hidden Files and Folders on Windows
This will search for all hidden files and subfolders in the current folder position and list them in a PowerShell window.
If you prefer to list the folder directory to start searching, add -Path location to your command after Get-ChildItem, replacing location with an appropriate file path.
For example, Get-ChildItem -Path C: Folder -Filter *. * -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | where {$ _. Attributes -match “Hidden”} will search for all hidden files and subfolders in the C: Folder directory. If the file path contains spaces or other special characters, you need to enclose them in quotation marks (for example, Get-ChildItem -Path “C: New Folder”, etc.).
If PowerShell detects a large number of hidden files and folders, the output of the PowerShell terminal will scroll quickly through the entries, making it difficult to parse. To make this easier, you can save the output of the Get-ChildItem command to a text file, allowing you to search and browse at your leisure.
To do this, add> log.txt to the end of your command (for example, Get-ChildItem -Path “C: New Folder” -Filter *. * -Recurse -Force -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | where {$ _. Attributes matches “Hidden” }> log.txt). This creates a file named log.txt in the current active folder that contains the terminal output of the Get-ChildItem command.
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You can set an alternate file path (eg> C: Folder log.txt) or file name (eg hiddenlog.txt) as needed.
If you created a log file, you can view its contents directly in a PowerShell window by typing cat log.txt (replacing log.txt with the correct file path and filename). You can also open the file as usual using Explorer and Notepad.
Locating Hidden Files and Folders Using Third-Party Apps
The best methods for finding hidden files and folders in Windows is to use File Explorer or Windows PowerShell as described above. If these methods are too slow or don’t offer the complex search criteria you need, you can alternatively use third-party apps to find hidden files on your computer.
While there are various tools that support this, one good option is to use the free FreeCommander tool. This File Explorer replacement includes a powerful search tool that allows you to find hidden files and folders on your PC.
To get started, download and install FreeCommander on your computer and launch it after the installation is complete. To start searching in the FreeCommander window, press Ctrl + F on your keyboard, or select File> Search to open a new search window.
In the Find Files / Folders window, enter search criteria for file or folder names in the File Name field on the Location tab. You can use fully qualified filenames or search for partial matches using a wildcard character (such as file or fil *).
In the “Search in” box below it, select a folder to start your search. You can enter this manually (for example, C: to search the entire system drive) or click the Add> Browse button to identify them individually.
Then select the Timestamp / Size / Attr tab and make sure the Hidden attribute checkbox is checked so that the check mark is visible. Leave all other checkboxes with a solid black checkmark (make sure they are enabled), or select them twice to uncheck them and remove all files containing these attributes from the search.
Select any other search criteria you need from all available search tabs. When you’re ready to start your search, select “Find to Start”.
The search results appear in the Search Results tab at the bottom of the search window. To open any of the hidden files or folders found by FreeCommander, right-click the entries and choose Open.
Managing Your Files on Windows 10
Finding out how to find hidden files in Windows 10 is easy – if you know where to look. Whether you’re using File Explorer, Windows PowerShell, or third-party applications like FileCommander to get the job done, the steps above should help you find previously hidden files and folders.
The next step is to properly manage your files. There are many advanced search tips for finding missing files, but you may also want to back up important files to make them easier to access in the long run. You can also search for large files in Windows to free up disk space for other files and applications.
View hidden files and folders in Windows 10
View hidden files and folders in Windows 10
How to Find Hidden Files and Folders in Windows
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