Know how to see hidden folders in Windows 11 It is essential if you or another user have hidden files so that they are not visible to everyone. Let's see what you have to do to access that content.
In reality, it is very simple, you just have to follow a few steps and, however, this is a functionality that not everyone handles. Therefore, here is a small guide that will help you.
Why create hidden folders?
First of all, let us recommend the option to create hidden folders that Windows 11 makes available to you, because it can be very useful if you share your device with other people and You don't want everyone to access your information.
There are many reasons to use this functionality, but here are the most common ones:
Protect sensitive information
The purpose of this functionality is to preserve our personal or sensitive information by keeping it out of sight of other users who use the same computer. This reduces the risk of another may accidentally modify or delete information that is important to you.
Organize the system
If you don't like visual noise and prefer to keep your desktop clean, hiding folders that you don't use regularly makes it a little easier so that your wallpaper isn't full of icons.
Additionally, using this system also allows you to differentiate between content that requires frequent access and content that does not. This way, when you have to look for specific information, it will be much easier for you, because you will know more or less which folder it may be in.
Avoid accidental modifications
Both Windows and some applications create files and folders that are essential for their operation. If you remove them from view, you prevent a user who is not knowledgeable about these issues from being able to alter those files, or even delete them, and cause significant damage.
Manage projects
If you are involved in different projects at the same time, hiding from view those that you are not actively working on at that moment will help you gain productivity, because It will keep you from getting distracted.
Facilitate user administration
When a computer is used by several people, the ideal is for each one to have their session but, if in your case this is not possible, it is best to resort to hiding folders to limit access to confidential or critical data.
How to create hidden folders?
Create hidden folders It's quite simple, here is a brief summary of the steps you have to take if you use Windows 11:
- Right-click the folder you want to hide and select "Properties".
- In the “General” tab, select the box "Hidden".
- Confirm your action by clicking on “Accept” > “Apply”.
How to see hidden folders in Windows 11
Now that we have hidden the folders, how can we access them when we need them?
The first thing we are going to do is go to the file explorer and click on the “View” button that appears in the top options bar. This will display a pop-up menu in which we see options such as “Very large icons”, “List”, etc., but we are going to ignore all this. What interests us now is “Show”, which appears right last in this drop-down menu.
This will open another menu, within which we will select the “Hidden Elements” option, which also appears at the bottom. What we achieve in this way is to see all the hidden folders, which differ from the rest because they appear semi-transparent, with less consistent colors than usual. We click on the folder that interests us, and we can now see the content.
As you have seen, when it comes to how to view hidden folders in Windows 11, the steps you have to take are not many or very complicated. Therefore, if you want to add another layer of security to your information, we recommend encrypting it with a password. This way, even if another user reaches the hidden folders, You won't be able to see what's in them.
How to protect a folder with a password?
There is third-party software that can help us with this task, but with Windows 11 we don't really need to go to it.
Using EFS
EFS or Encrypted File System is a feature of this operating system that allows us to encrypt files and folders, but it is only available in the Pro, Enterprise and Education editions.
To encrypt a folder you have to:
- Right-click on the chosen folder and select "Properties".
- In the "General" go to “Advanced”.
- Check the “Encrypt content to protect data” box and confirm by clicking on “Accept” > “Apply”.
- You can choose whether you want to apply the changes only to the selected folder or also to its subfolders and files. For greater security, we recommend you encrypt everything.
After encryption, Windows will ask you to make a backup copy of your encryption key, so that you do not lose access to those files that you have protected. Follow their instructions and put the backup in a safe location.
The problem with this encryption is that it only protects data when the user is offline. If there is another user who logs in with your account, they could have access to the encrypted folders. For this reason, in many cases third-party applications are used, which provide more complete security. In your case, you can use alternatives such as 7-Zip or WinRAR, but there are many more.
How to view system folders and files
By default, there are a series of system folders and files that are not shown to users, because any alteration to them can cause a critical failure. However, it is also possible to access this information:
- Open the file explorer and click on the three dots icon that appears in the upper right.
- From the drop-down menu choose “Options” > “Folder Options” > “View” > “Advanced Settings”.
- Uncheck the “Hide protected operating system files” option and you're done.
You already know how to see hidden folders in Windows 11, so don't hesitate to take advantage of this functionality to keep hidden folders that you don't need to always have present or don't want others to see.