How to Show Hidden Files in USB on Windows/Mac
Many people have complained that originally there are some files exist in the USB flash drive. However, due to some unknown reasons, the files are hidden in USB, and they don’t know how to show hidden files on USB on Mac or Windows PC. Actually, to keep the security of the USB flash drive, some files are really hidden. For example, virus attacked files are usually hidden. And to make some files private, people may get them hidden in USB flash drive as well. Anyway, no matter for what reason the files are hidden in Flash drive, you can try the following ways to find hidden files in USB on Mac and Windows PC. Take a look at the following guides.
- Quick Navigation
- Method #1. How to Find Hidden Files in USB via CMD in Windows
- Method #2. How to Show Hidden Files on USB on Mac with Terminal Command
- Method #3. Show Hidden Files in USB under Mac/Windows with Professional Tool
Method #1. How to Find Hidden Files in USB via CMD in Windows
If you’ve found some files are hidden in USB and you’re using Windows PC, you can try the CMD to show hidden files in USB. Here are the simple steps:
- Plug in the USB drive to your computer USB slot. Please make sure it is detected by your PC.
- Click the "Start" menu, type in cmd in the search bar, and click "Enter" to unhide USB files.
- In the Command Prompt windows, type attrib -h -r -s /s /d F:\*.* and "Enter" (replace F: with the drive letter for your USB drive).
After then, you can click to open your USB, checking out whether the hidden files are showed or not. If not, you can try Method #3. It is the easiest way to show hidden files in USB drive.
How to Show Hidden Files on USB on Mac with Terminal Command
If you’re using a Mac, you need to try the Terminal Command on Mac to find hidden files on USB drive on Mac. Here are the steps:
- Connect the USB flash drive to the Mac.
- Click Finder > Applications > Utilities to open the Terminal found.
- In Terminal, type defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles YES.
- Next, type killall Finder.
This command will cause the Finder to restart, and when you reopen the Finder, you will see hidden files on my flash drive in Mac.
Method #3. Show Hidden Files in USB under Mac/Windows with Professional Tool
If the hidden files are virus attacked or you have deleted them accidentally or intentionally, or the hidden files are not shown in USB drive, you can try the professional tool - iBeesoft Data Recovery to show and recover hidden files in USB drive on Mac or Windows PC.
How it works to show hidden files in USB drive?
The hidden files recovery software will scan your USB drive for all files, including shown and hidden files, letting you select files to save to computer or in a directory on your USB flash drive again. Though you can’t view and see the hidden files, the software is able to. It is developed to unhide files in USB drive, computer and other external hard drives. It can also recover files from formatted USB drive on Windows or Mac.
How to show hidden files in USB drive with the professional tool?
- Download and install the Unhide File software
- Select file types to scan
- Select USB drive to scan
- Show hidden files in USB drive on Windows PC/Mac
Click the download button to get the .exe/dmg installation file. Double-click it and follow the built-in wizard to install it on your computer. It has separate versions for USB drive recovery on Mac and Windows PC. Please choose the right one for your computer.
Launch the best USB drive data recovery software. From the very first window, you need to make sure what types of file you want to unhide. By default, all supported file types are selected. My suggestion for you is to let them all be selected. By doing this, you may unhide some files unexpectedly. Click "Start".
Connect your USB drive with your computer by plugging it to the USB slot, making sure your computer detect it correctly. In the new window, you can see, all partitions of your computer as well as external hard drives are listed. Select the USB drive from the list to scan and click "Scan" to show hidden files in USB on Windows or Mac.
During the scanning process, hidden files are scanned and sorted into categories. After the scanning process, you can select found files to preview. When find the hidden files, select them and click "Recover" to save them on your computer.