Hide files in Windows 10; Complete video tutorial

Whether you share your system with others and don’t want them to access your private files and folders, or you have important information on it, hiding them can be a good idea. In this regard, we want to in this article Hide files in Windows 10 teach you

Hide files in Windows 10

There are different ways to hide files and folders in Windows 10. Stay with Digiato until the end to get to know them.

Hide files and folders with Command Line

One of the simple ways to hide files and folders is to change their attributes using the attrib command in the Command Line. For example, if you want to hide a file called Sample.mp4 in the ToHide folder, you need to go through the following steps.

Open the Run window by pressing the Windows and R keys. Now type cmd.exe and click OK to open the command prompt. At the command prompt, type the following command. Instead of the path and file name, you should write the path and name of the file you want.

attrib C:\Users\Lori\Documents\ToHide\Sample.mp4 +s +h

s+ and h+ are the attributes you set for the file. The s+ attribute is considered a system attribute and indicates that the file is being used by the operating system and cannot be easily seen by you. The h+ attribute is a hidden file and makes the file not displayed by default.

Now when you open the folder containing the desired file, you will not see this file by default. To view the file again, you must click on the View option on the top bar of File Explorer and then activate the Hidden Items option in the Show/hide section.

You can even hide a folder using the attrib command. To do this, type the following command and change the path and name of the folder again:

attrib C:\Users\Lori\Documents\ToHide\AnotherFolder +s +h

To unhide a file or folder, use the attrib command again and use – instead of + for the s and h attributes:

attrib C:\Users\Lori\Documents\ToHide\Sample.mp4 -s -h

To get more information about the attrib command, type ?/attrib at the command prompt and press Enter.

Hide files and folders in Windows 10 with File Explorer

You can hide files and folders directly through File Explorer instead of typing commands in the command prompt. Although this method is more convenient, it is less secure. Before you hide a file using File Explorer, you must make sure that hidden files are not displayed. To do this, go to View tab > Options and select Change folder and search options.

Now, in the Folder Options window, go to the View tab and in the Advanced Settings box, enable the Don’t show hidden files, folders, or drives option.

To hide one or more files and folders, select them, right-click and select Properties from the menu that opens. Now, in the General tab, in the Attributes section, select the Hidden option. To prevent these files from appearing in Windows search results, click Advanced.

Now, in the window that opens, disable the options in the File attributes section and then click on the OK option.

To remove the file or folder from the hidden mode, activate the Hidden Items option in the top bar of File Explorer, in the View tab and the Show/hide section.

Hide the drive in Windows 10 through the registry

This method hides the entire drive instead of hiding files or folders. In this method, the registers of the operating system are manipulated, so before starting anything, we suggest you make a backup file of them. If you are not interested in manipulating the registry or you are not sure about it, you can see the next method.

In any case, to hide the drive using registry changes, you must first open the Run window by pressing the Windows and R buttons. Now, in this window, type the word regedit and press the Enter key.

Now, on the left side of the window that opens, go to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

Right-click on the Explorer folder, select New and then DWORD (32-bit) Value.

Name the new Value NoDrives and then double-click it. In the Edit DWORD (32-bit) window, select the Decimal option in the Base section and then write the number of the drive or drives you want to hide. To know this number, use the following table:

If you want to hide more than one drive, you need to add up all the numbers for them and then type the value in the Value Data section. Finally, click OK.

Now, after restarting your system, you will no longer see the desired drives in File Explorer. To make these drives appear again, go to the registry editor again and delete the NoDrives value you created in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer. After restarting your system, the drives will appear again.

Hide drives using the Disk Management tool

If you’re not interested in manipulating the registry, you can mount the drive using the utility Disk Management hide This tool shows the internal and external drives connected to the computer.

Press the Windows and R keys to open Run, and then type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter. Right-click on the desired drive and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.

In the Change Drive Letter and Paths window, select the desired drive, click Remove, and then click OK.

Now a warning will appear in front of you and warn you that by doing this, some programs that rely on this drive may have a problem with their performance. If you are sure to hide this drive, click Yes.

Next, the desired drive will be deleted from the Disk Management tool. Close the file explorer once and open it again. Now you can’t see the drive anymore and it won’t even show up in Windows search results.

To see the drive again, go back to the Disk Management tool and open the Change Drive Letter and Paths section for the hidden drive. Now click the Add option.

Make sure to select the option Assign the following drive letter, of course, this option should be enabled by default. Now, select the desired drive from the drop-down menu and finally click on the OK option.

Now just close the file explorer and open it again to see the drive.

Third-party apps to hide folders in Windows 10

In the following, we will introduce you some programs to hide and lock files and folders in Windows 10.

FileFriend

In File Friend, use the JPK tab to hide files or folders in a JPEG file and enter a password to protect them. This software also allows you to hide a text directly inside an image, and for this you need to go to the JTX tab.

Other features of this program include the ability to separate and connect files, as well as encrypting files and folders.

Secret Disk

Program Secret Disk Allows you to create a virtual drive or repository and hide or password protect it. Another layer of protection for this app is the need for a PIN to unlock itself.

Once the repository is visible, it will be displayed in File Explorer, and you can copy files and folders into it, and it will work with different programs, just like any other drive. But once you hide it, you won’t see it anymore.

Secret Disk does not format your hard drive or make any changes to your system. In addition, it does not encrypt any files or folders and protects the repository only by hiding and encrypting it overall.

The Basic version of Secret Disk is free, but for its paid version with more features, you need to get the Pro version. Of course, its pro version is available for free download on domestic sites.

Easy File Locker

Another free and suitable tool for hiding files and folders in Windows 10 is called Easy File Locker. The program can also lock files and folders so that they cannot be opened, modified, deleted, changed, renamed or copied. In fact, all files and subfolders in the folder that is locked are protected.

One of the features of this program is the possibility of encryption to open it. To do this, go to the system and then Set Password. Of course, there is no requirement for this, however, using the password, others cannot open the program and disable file protection. To add files and folders to Easy File Locker, use the Add File and Add Folder buttons. To change permissions, double-click them.

Click the Start Protection button to start protecting files and folders. To make the files and folders appear again, you need to click the Stop Protection button.

My Lockbox

Our latest recommended program to hide files in Windows 10, My Lockbox It has a name that can protect almost any file and folder with a password. When you are installing this program, you will be asked about the location of the folder you want to hide. When the installation process is finished, that folder will be hidden and locked automatically.

By installing this program, two icons will be added to your system desktop. One of the icons called My Lockbox allows you to quickly unlock and open the protected folder. The second icon, which is called Lockbox Control Panel, provides you with more options, and by entering the password, the following window will be available to you:

To change the desired folder and remove a folder from hidden mode, use Set Folder. The Open button will automatically open the protected folder. You can lock and unlock the folder using the buttons on the left. Tap Advanced to access more options and settings.

Frequently asked questions about file hiding in Windows 10