Have you ever wondered how many files exist on your Mac but are hidden from your naked eyes? Well, such files are way more in existence than you would imagine. They are scattered all across your operating system, including the ~/Library folder. These files occupy a significant portion of your storage system.
In this article, we’ll guide you regarding how you can hide or unhide your files on Mac. Additionally, we will also be discussing ways to detect and delete duplicate files accumulated within your Mac system.
Hiding/Unhiding Files
Using Mac’s Finder
Finder offers the easiest way to look for all sorts of files not just stored locally, but also on the iCloud or any removable disk. To unhide files on your macOS, follow these simple steps:
- Head to the Go menu.
- Select Computer.
- Go to the folder named Macintosh HD.
- Press the command + Shift + Period altogether. This is a shortcut to unhide hidden files.
- If you want to undo the process, press the same three keys simultaneously once again.
Using a File Manager
Using a different file manager such as DCommander or ForkLife may alter your Mac’s default interface. However, it is still possible to hide files. Here’s how:
- Click on View.
- Select Show View Options.
- You’ll see a box Show hidden files. Uncheck the box and your files will be hidden.
Unhiding the same files again is also possible. To do so, check the box Show hidden files again.
Using Terminal
Although most everyday users are unaware, Mac’s terminal is quite powerful in terms of the commands it can comprehend and perform.
- Click on Go.
- Select the Utilities option.
- Once Utilities is open, look for the Terminal icon and open it.
- To show the hidden files, write these commands in the Terminal:
- To hide hidden files, type in the following commands:
- To show the hidden files, write these commands in the Terminal:
- defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles false
- killall Finder
- Click on Go.
- Select the Utilities option.
- Once Utilities is open, look for the Terminal icon and open it.
- To show the hidden files, write these commands in the Terminal:
- To hide hidden files, type in these commands:
- To show the hidden files, write these commands in the Terminal:
Finding & Removing Duplicates from Mac
We all know how infuriating duplicate files can get, especially media files such as images, videos, audios, etc. Not only do they occupy and waste a significant portion of your Mac’s SSD but they also hinder your device’s overall efficiency.
If you get rid of such duplicate files, you can manage to recover plenty of storage space, which could then be used for other more important files. An efficient way to look for and get rid of duplicate files will be to use an automatic tool.
One such tool is Clone Files Checker. Using an efficient MD5 Hash Algorithm, CFC can accurately detect duplicates or similar files within your Mac’s SSD or any removable devices attached. Once the scanning and deletion process is over, you’ll be amazed at how much space you were able to recover within minutes. Curious to know more about the key features of CFC? Read below!
Clone Files Checker – Key Features:
- Whether you want to work with images or documents, archives or videos, CFC supports them all! No matter what the file type is, CFC will accurately detect all duplicates.
- If you are thinking that CFC is just another duplicate finding app that compares files on the basis of filenames, you are wrong! Instead, CFC evaluates each and every file on the basis of its content. For example, each image is evaluated on the basis of a number of factors such as resolution and pixels.
- With CFC, you can also select files in bulk on the basis of different factors such newest/oldest or the file location.
- Clone Files Checker has a built-in image viewer where you could view the detected duplicates once the scanning is complete and results are displayed.
- Once the search for duplicates is over, CFC allows users to either relocate all the detected duplicates to a specific location or to delete them permanently. If you are sure that you wouldn’t need the files later on, you could choose the latter option.
Once you try the app and see its results, you’ll realize how significant it is.