Apple doesn't make it easy to figure out how to show the hidden files in Mac computers. In fact, making these files visible all the time requires poking around in the bowels of your Mac — in the ...

Hidden files are useful, but they are also hidden and that's annoying. Here are several ways to show hidden files on any Mac.

Any files that start with a period on a Mac are considered hidden files in the Mac OS and are not visible from within the Finder. You can see these hidden files from within the Terminal utility by ...

But that makes editing one of these files extremely difficult if you, say, want to customize your Terminal prompt. To do so without firing up vim (if you don't know, don't ask), set Finder to show ...

AppleInsider shows how to gain access to those hidden files and folders. Operating systems typically have some form of file-hiding functionality built in, and macOS is no exception.

If you need to restore hidden files using Time Machine you may run into some problems revealing them. Here are some methods for addressing this in OS X.

If you've hidden certain files away, they aren't lost. Here's how to show hidden files so you can more easily interact with them again.

Hidden files and folders appear with slightly faded out thumbnails in File Explorer, so they're easy to see at a glance, and they'll also show up in searches once you've made them visible.

Apple doesn't want you to see some files, largely for the Mac's safety and, in turn, your protection. But if you want to take a peek, there's a way.

Under the Hidden files and folders section select the radio button labeled Show hidden files, folders, or drives. Remove the checkmark from the checkbox labeled Hide extensions for known file types.