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Glam Journal

How do I see hidden folders in Linux?

Author

Matthew Perez

Updated on March 19, 2026

How do I see hidden folders in Linux?

To view hidden files, run the ls command with the -a flag which enables viewing of all files in a directory or -al flag for long listing. From a GUI file manager, go to View and check the option Show Hidden Files to view hidden files or directories.

How do I display hidden files Linux?

The easiest way to show hidden files on Linux is to use the ls command with the “-a” option for “all”. For example, in order to show hidden files in a user home directory, this is the command that you would run. Alternatively, you can use the “-A” flag in order to show hidden files on Linux.

How do I reveal hidden folders?

Select the Start button, then select Control Panel > Appearance and Personalization. Select Folder Options, then select the View tab. Under Advanced settings, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and then select OK.

How do I unhide files in Linux?

To toggle show/hide hidden files or folders use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + H . in Linux and Unix systems, the files starting with . (a dot) are hidden files.

How do I show only hidden files in UNIX?

As you see output includes all the files including hidden dot files. To just display dot files use any one of the following command: $ ls -a | egrep ‘^\….Bash list only hidden files.

Tutorial details
Difficulty levelEasy
Root privilegesNo
RequirementsBash
Est. reading timeN/A

How do I show hidden files in terminal?

You can do this by simply typing ls then pressing return on your keyboard. Should you wish to be shown all the hidden folders and files as well located in the Terminal simply type ls -a and the following will appear: Please note these hidden files and folders are only viewable in the Terminal by using this method.

Which command is used to display hidden files?

Using the command line command dir /ah displays the files with the Hidden attribute. In addition, there is a System file attribute that can be set on a file, which also causes the file to be hidden in directory listings.

How do I show all hidden files?

View hidden files and folders in Windows

  1. Open File Explorer from the taskbar.
  2. Select View > Options > Change folder and search options.
  3. Select the View tab and, in Advanced settings, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives and OK.

How can I see hidden files in Ubuntu?

Show all hidden files If you want to see all hidden files in a folder, go to that folder and either click the view options button in the toolbar and pick Show Hidden Files, or press Ctrl + H . You will see all hidden files, along with regular files that are not hidden.

How do I show only hidden folders?

As you see output includes all the files including hidden dot files. To just display dot files use any one of the following command: $ ls -a | egrep ‘^\….Bash list only hidden files.

Tutorial details
Est. reading timeN/A

How do I show only hidden files?

Open File Explorer from the taskbar. Select View > Options > Change folder and search options. Select the View tab and, in Advanced settings, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives and OK.

How do I open a hidden file in Ubuntu terminal?

While you have the file browser open, just hit “Ctrl + h”. That will allow you to view the hidden files and folders. Terminal: The “ls” command will only display files and directories that aren’t hidden unless you supply the -a switch.

How can I see hidden folders in Linux?

Click the “Show hidden” option in your file manager of choice to view hidden files and folders on Linux. For example, in the Nautilus file manager used on Ubuntu and other GNOME-based Linux distributions, click the View menu and select Show Hidden Files.

How do I open a hidden file in Linux?

From the terminal emulator Open the terminal emulator. Either Ctrl+Alt+t or clicking its icon will do. Navigate to your desired directory using ‘cd ‘ and ‘ls’. Use ls to see your directory contents. Type “ls -a” (without quotes) to see all files, hidden and unhidden.

How to show hidden files in Linux?

1. First,browse to the directory you want to view.

  • 2. Then,press Ctrl+h. If Ctrl+h doesn’t work,click the View menu,then check the box to Show hidden files. Note: Ctrl+h works in newer Ubuntu and
  • 1. First,create a test file. Use the touch command to create an empty test.txt file:
  • 2. Then,hide the file by moving it under a new filename. The period (.) at the beginning of the new filename indicates that it’s hidden:
  • 3. To verify the file is now hidden,display the contents of the current directory:
  • How do I open a file in Linux?

    In order to search for files using the Linux command line, you will need to open a terminal window. There are many ways to open a terminal window. One way that is sure to work on most Linux systems is to press the CTRL, ALT and T key at the same time.