Show/Hide Hidden Files and Folders using Registry

The instructions below would help you to:

• Show (or hide) hidden files and folders using the Registry Editor.

Showing all files and folders is good in certain ways. Windows, by default, disables this option to keep the users from accidently deleting files. It is a good practice to hide those files and folders if you don't want to mess with them. They have been created that way for some good reasons. However, to many of us, specially the software programmers, it might be more convenient to work with files/folders when we have them all displayed.

IMPORTANT This article contains information about registry modification. Modifying the registry incorrectly might cause critical problems to your computer. Make sure you understand the registry and back it up before modifying it.

If you just want an easy way to show/hide the hidden files and folder without messing up with the registry editor, see this article here.

Use this trick at your own risks

Here's how to enable/disable hidden files/folders using the "Registry Editor"

1. Open the "Registry Editor" ("Start" >> "Run", then type "regedit" and Enter).
2. Expand to the following key:
   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\
   CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced
3. If the value "Hidden" exists, double-click on it to edit its value to (1 = show hidden, 2 = do not show)
4. If the value "Hidden" does not exist, create it as follows
   Name: Hidden
   Type: DWORD
   Value: 1
   (1: show hidden, 2: do not show)