How to hide files and folders on Windows
While your Windows computer should be pretty well locked down with a password or maybe even some kind of biometric protection, it's impossible to guarantee that no one else is ever going to get access to it, whether itas a thief swiping your unlocked laptop from a coffee shop or one of your kids wanting to play a few games while you're doing something else.A
Whatever the reason, knowing how to hide files and folders from view can be really useful. These files won't pop up during normal file browsing, and they'll be difficult to find even if someone is specifically looking for them.
And you've got a choice of ways to go about it, rangingAfrom features built into File Explorer to third-party options.
Using Windows File Explorer
By default, Windows File Explorer hides certain files and folders from view. Typically, these are important system files, which shouldn't be accessed or edited. You can see these files and folders if you want to:
- From any File Explorer window, click the three dots in the top toolbar.
- Click Options on the menu that pops up.
- On the View tab, enable Show hidden files, folders and drives.
- Click OK to confirm.
To hide any of your own files o …