Apple Event: May 7th at 7 am PT
I opened a file from the finder. Worked on it, saved and closed it. It no longer was in the folder. I unhid the files using the Shift + Command + . (period) shortcut .
How do I changed these files to unhidden?
Any thoughts on why this happened?
iMac 27″, macOS 10.12
Firstly, let's address why files might be hidden in the first place. In macOS, certain files and folders are hidden by default to prevent users from accidentally modifying or deleting critical system files. These hidden files include system files, configuration files, and files that are typically not meant to be accessed or modified directly by users. However, users can choose to show hidden files using the Shift + Command + . (period) shortcut, as you've mentioned.
To change the visibility of files from hidden to unhidden, you can select the files or folders in Finder, then right-click (or Control-click) on them and choose "Get Info" from the context menu. In the Info window that appears, you'll see a checkbox labeled "Hidden." Simply uncheck this box to make the selected files or folders visible again.
As for why this happened in your case, it's possible that the file you opened, worked on, and saved may have been inadvertently moved to a hidden folder or directory, or it may have been marked as hidden during the save process. Alternatively, there could be a system or software-related issue causing files to become hidden unexpectedly.
If you continue to experience issues with files becoming hidden or if you're unsure why certain files are being hidden, it may be worth checking your system settings and preferences, as well as reviewing any recent changes or updates that may have occurred on your iMac. Additionally, reaching out to Official Apple Support may provide further insights or assistance in resolving the issue.
Firstly, let's address why files might be hidden in the first place. In macOS, certain files and folders are hidden by default to prevent users from accidentally modifying or deleting critical system files. These hidden files include system files, configuration files, and files that are typically not meant to be accessed or modified directly by users. However, users can choose to show hidden files using the Shift + Command + . (period) shortcut, as you've mentioned.
To change the visibility of files from hidden to unhidden, you can select the files or folders in Finder, then right-click (or Control-click) on them and choose "Get Info" from the context menu. In the Info window that appears, you'll see a checkbox labeled "Hidden." Simply uncheck this box to make the selected files or folders visible again.
As for why this happened in your case, it's possible that the file you opened, worked on, and saved may have been inadvertently moved to a hidden folder or directory, or it may have been marked as hidden during the save process. Alternatively, there could be a system or software-related issue causing files to become hidden unexpectedly.
If you continue to experience issues with files becoming hidden or if you're unsure why certain files are being hidden, it may be worth checking your system settings and preferences, as well as reviewing any recent changes or updates that may have occurred on your iMac. Additionally, reaching out to Official Apple Support may provide further insights or assistance in resolving the issue.
Thank you for the quick response. I am not seeing a "hidden" box that is checked. Here are (2) screen shots of the get information box. The first is the top of the window and the second is the bottom of the window. Thoughts?
The file is not misfiled & everything is named correctly. When I open the file, after showing invisible files, it is in the correct folder, but faded out indicating it is invisible.
So how do I make an invisible file visible?
The only so-called hidden feature that the Get Info panel provides is whether the file extension is hidden or not. There is nothing on that panel to hide or unhide the file itself, whether it is a UNIX hidden file with a dot prefix, or one hidden using the UNIX command chflags.
A user should not deliberatly name a file or folder with a preceding "." and the most common reason for a file going missing is the user didn't pay attention to where they were saving the file.
Nothing you can do in the Finder or an application itself will hide a file from you — unless you naively precede the filename with a "." character. In UNIX Systems, and macOS is representative, a file or folder name preceded by a "." character is automatically a hidden UNIX file.
Depending on the application you were using, it may have saved the file in the last folder used to save the previous file and not the one you thought. When you misplace a file, it is best to turn to Spotlight for help in locating it. For instance, if I wanted to see the Pages documents I created today:
kind:pages created:04/23/2024
The shift+cmd+. command is a toggle, so issuing it again in the Finder window will turn off showing the UNIX dot files.
So here is some new information. I dragged the invisible Word file to my Desktop. It was still invisible.
I opened it in Word and received a message that the file was damaged. I clicked to repair it. Now the file is visible on my desktop. I then moved it back to the same folder on the server (with a different name) and it remained visible.
Any thoughts?
Not certain why Word creates those ~$ files. I found one by accident on my Desktop a couple of days ago. Only one so far. Word is deliberately applying the UNIX chflags hidden flag on that file to make it hidden to the Finder until one performs a shift+cmd+. shortcut in a Finder window.
Great that you found a workaround, but tough to tell the original cause.
Unhiding files in Mojave + Why is it hidden in the first place?
