Hidden files - NOT Library

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Level 1

11 points

Hidden files - NOT Library

When I copy pictures or movie clips from my iMac onto a USB stick or external HD, "ghost" images, showing a "no entry" symbol, with the same file names are also copied. These only become apparent when the USB device is plugged into a smart TV or a Windows laptop. What are they and what purpose do they serve? They do take up space and when I deleted a pile of them from an external HD using my old and painfully slow Windows laptop it indicated over 1gb being deleted. How can I unhide them on my iMac OS Mojave?

Posted on Aug 16, 2019 10:24 AM

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Answer 1

Old Toad

Level 10

210,937 points

Aug 16, 2019 1:20 PM in response to tomtreb

They are hidden because their file name starts with a period (.).

You need to do the following:

1 - drag the folder from the USB Disk to your Desktop and open.

2 - use the following key combination to make hidden files visible:

Shift + Command(⌘) + .

3 - select all of the files (⌘+A), Control (right) - click and select Rename XXXXX files.

4 - in the resulting renaming window enter . in Find and IMG in Replace

You should then get IMG_GC190808_-01.jpg, etc. and visible.

You need to try to avoid any process that puts a period at the beginning of a file name. In the future you're on your PC see if you can't rename them there before transferring to your Mac.

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Answer 2

tomtreb Author

Level 1

11 points

Aug 17, 2019 6:16 AM in response to Old Toad

Thank you for your reply. If I open up the folder on my USB device on my desktop, and Shift+Command+., all I get is this:

It doesn't reveal all those ghost images that appear when I attach the USB device to my smart TV, or when I attach it to my Windows laptop with "show hidden files" selected in Windows Explorer. I am just wondering whether you misunderstood my original post, forgive me if I a wrong. The jpg images are already on my iMac, having been downloaded from my cameras and iPhone. It is when I then copy these images to a USB device to view on my TV that all these ghost images show up, together with the originals.

I am not looking to rename them, I just don't need them and want to delete them, and the only way I can do that at present is on my Windows laptop. I am not doing anything, not knowingly anyway, to put periods at the beginning of filenames. As I have said, I am not transferring files to my iMac, but from my iMac to the USB device, and it is at that point that the ghost images are created.

Thanks again for your input, if you have any further suggestions they would be welcome.

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Answer 3

Aug 17, 2019 9:06 AM in response to tomtreb

If you want to simply remove all of those dot underscore files, open the Terminal, and use the following command for the example that your USB stick is named mystick:

dot_clean -mn /Volumes/mystick

The dot_clean man page is:

man dot_clean

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Hidden files - NOT Library

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