Mac OS X: Hiding files and folders - how it works

Under Mac OSX, files and folders can be hidden relatively easily. This makes them less easy to find, but they can still be found and opened with Terminal.

How to hide files and folders on Mac?

If you want to hide a file or folder on your Mac, you just need to rename the folder or file name via Terminal so that it starts with a dot. These files will automatically stop appearing in the Finder or on the desktop. If you want to hide the files to make them more difficult to access, you should also encrypt them. An encryption offers a lot more protection against access from the outside.

1. Open the terminal by pressing the command key + space bar. Now type the word "Terminal" and press Enter.
2. Navigate to the parent folder where the file or folder you want to hide is located.
3. To do this, use the command "cd" to jump back and forth between directories.
4. Now simply write "mv <name of the folder or file> .<name of the folder or file>" without < and >.
5. "mv" here stands for move. Sie verschieben sozusagen die Datei in eine neue Datei mit demselben Namen und einem Punkt davor.
6. Geben Sie den Befehl „ls“ ein, um sich alle Dateien und Ordner innerhalb des Verzeichnisses anzeigen zu lassen. Die Datei sollte jetzt einen Punkt davor haben.
7. Gehen Sie mit dem Finder in das Verzeichnis, um zu schauen, ob die Datei wirklich unsichtbar ist.