Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Why are downloaded files being hidden?

OS X 10.6.8


Some files that I download from the internet are being hidden by the os. At first I thought that maybe the difference is that some .pdf files are protected but after review it is not just protected .pdf's being hidden from view it's non-protected .pdf's and some .jpg's too... I just noticed this happening over the past month or so. I also considered that it happened after an acrobat update but that wouldn't explain the hidden .jpg's. All file type associations appear to be normal, I have tried reassociating .pdf file types, etc and back to no avail. I dunnno', Any ideas?

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Aug 3, 2013 8:28 PM

Reply
15 replies

Aug 4, 2013 2:23 PM in response to WZZZ

Unfortunately the files in question are not "dot" files. The files that are being hidden are ordinary files with ordinary file extensions ex: filename.pdf or funnypic.jpg


When I use the terminal to show hidden files my desktop and download folder are riddled with non-dot .jpg and .pdf's that were previously hidden.


I realized what was happening when I downloaded a white paper in .pdf format, it disappeared from my save location. I save it again thinking "I must have sent it somewhere else unintentionaly", when I click to save the promp tells me the file already exists so I hit command + shift + . and sure enough the white paper is already in my downloads folder but it's hidden from view. When I show hidden files using the terminal I find all of the mysteriously lost and forgotten files I had downloaded weeks ago with the intent of reading them later.

Aug 5, 2013 4:26 AM in response to JEBeasley

I don't know why I didn't think of this yesterday. It seems the hidden flag might have been set on the Downloads folder.


I realize your entire Downloads folder isn't hidden, which if it were, this command would reverse. But see if running this gets it back to normal. If it's not all downloads, just random or selective ones, then this may not work. Anyway, worth a try.


chflags nohidden -R ~/Downloads


Sorry, doesn't need the -R option. Should just be


chflags nohidden ~/Downloads




Aug 5, 2013 7:21 AM in response to WZZZ

I tried:
chflags nohidden -R ~/Downloads
it gave me an error message:
"-R no such file or directory"


So I tried:
chflags nohidden ~/Downloads


I got no error messages but it didn't help


It does seem random in the sense that some images and pdf's downloaded from the internet are not hidden (most of them aren't) but quite a few images and pd's are hidden on download. So far it only seems to be pdf's and image files (of all types) that
1. have been downloaded from the internet
2. through the chrome browser
3. within the past few months



The pdf's were all downloaded from various sites, some are protected content (printing and edit disabled) but free to download. The images (memes, charts or infographics) were downloaded from various sites some downloaded off of facebook...
I'm not finding a rhyme or reason to it.

Aug 5, 2013 7:36 AM in response to WZZZ

I'll try creating a new admin account but since it appears to be random it might take a while to determine if anything has changed until I can re-find some previous download links and re-download files to see if they too download as invisible.
I'll update this post once I see how the new admin account (mis)behaves.


Regardless, thank you very much for your suggestions


~Justin

Sep 3, 2013 9:15 AM in response to katz583

Unfortunately no. I just made sure that all of my hidden files stay visible at all times. This really *****, I have a 2007 iMac with snow leopard and I can't upgrade to the newest OS due to outmoded hardware (planned obsolesence). Aparently my only option left is to back it up, wipe, reload, reconfigure, bla, bla, bla = A whole lot of wasted time, effort and frustration.

Why are downloaded files being hidden?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.