Show Hidden Files in Finder

Advanced, Article, Finder, Mac OS X, Terminal | March 28th, 2008

There are times that you need to access some of the hidden files that by default Finder hides to make sure users don’t mess around with them. If you need to access these files, this quick tutorial will help you do so.

Warning: Using Terminal can be very dangerous and is for advanced users only. Be very, very careful with what you do in Terminal as you can cripple your Operating System.

1. Open up Terminal. This application is located in Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
2. Type in defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE and hit enter. You won’t see any notice telling you the command was successful, but this means it was. In Terminal, if you don’t get an error telling you the command was incorrect, then the command was accepted.
3. Type in killall Finder and hit enter. This command essentially restarts Finder.
4. Open Finder and you will now see all your hidden files. Once again, be careful with what you do here. Any wrong moves and you could cripple your Operating System.

Once your ready to hide the files again enter the same commands into Terminal, but instead of TRUE use FALSE.