In Windows 10, as in previous Windows operating systems (XP, 7, 8), not all folders are visible to the user; some of them are hidden. This was not done by accident, Windows hides from you system folders where files important for the operating system are stored, so that you do not accidentally delete them and thereby make your computer inoperative. But there are times when you need to see hidden folders (to remove unnecessary junk, clean your computer from virus activity, etc.). To do this, you need to make these folders visible, this will be discussed in this article. how to make hidden folders visible in Windows 10.
Attention!!! Take the contents of hidden folders seriously, as the operation of your computer/laptop depends on them.
First, let me explain, there are two types of hidden files or folders:
1) Hidden files and folders. These are folders in the properties of which the attribute H - hidden (hidden) is selected. If you wish, you can hide any folder by setting this attribute in the properties of the folder or file. Sometimes viruses can hide from you like this.
2)System files and folders. In the properties of which the S - system attribute has been added. These are files and folders that are critical to the operation of the operating system and simply opening hidden folders will not give you the opportunity to see protected system files.
In this article, I will look at two ways to show hidden folders in Windows 10:
1) Using the View tab;
2) Using the Explorer Options menu.
How to make hidden folders visible in Windows 10 using the View tab.
This method is extremely simple and will require a minimum of effort and time from you. But it will not allow you to see protected system files, only hidden files and folders. The first thing you need to do is open Explorer or any folder on your computer/laptop.
In the top field, select the View tab and check the box next to "Hidden elements".
After this, hidden folders will become visible to you. If you want to return everything back, uncheck the box accordingly.
How to see hidden folders in Windows 10 using File Explorer Options.
This method will allow you not only to see hidden folders, but also to display protected system folders.
To use this method, press the key combination “Win” + “Q” and enter “Explorer Options” in the search bar.
In the Explorer Options window that opens, go to the View tab. If you want to see:
- hidden folders Windows 10, check the box "Show hidden files, folders and drives";
As in any other system, in Windows 10 you can configure many settings related to directories and their contents. However, the folder options in Windows 10 have a slightly expanded appearance compared to other similar OSes. And you can access the settings in several alternative ways.
Where are the folder options in Windows 10?
First of all, you should know the difference between general settings that apply to all folders and personalized settings for a particular directory.
For a selected directory, the folder parameters in Windows 10 can be viewed in the same way as in all other systems, by right-clicking on the directory in standard Explorer. However, if you want to view global settings or change basic folder settings, there are other methods.
How to open Folder Options in Windows 10?
In the system, access to setting up folders is made in several main ways, each of which duplicates any other.
In the very simple version Folder options in Windows 10 can be viewed if you use the “File” menu in standard Explorer, where you select the options line.
The exact same menu is called up from the view section (again, in Explorer) when you click the Options button.
Another method is to use the classic “Control Panel”, which, in order not to go in a roundabout way, is accessed by the control command in the “Run” menu. Here you select the Explorer settings section.
Finally, you can change or customize folder options in Windows 10 by setting Control Panel to show items by category, selecting Appearance and Personalization, and then going to File Explorer options.
What can you learn from the settings?
As for changing the basic settings, a wide field of activity opens up for the user. On the general settings tab, you can configure the method of opening directories (single or double click, in the same or in different windows), enable the display of the most frequently used directories in the Quick Access Toolbar or in the file manager.
Most of the settings are on the view tab. Not to mention enabling hidden objects, there are several fields here that many users simply don't pay attention to. For example, for advanced antivirus scanning or search, you can enable the display of system and protected files. You can also enable calling Explorer windows as processes independent from each other, and even use a special “Wizard” public access" and much more.
Saving parameter changes will only affect the currently active location, unless you apply them to all folders (there is a special button for this).
Among other things, in the search settings on the corresponding tab you can specify the desired parameters that are set by default (by name, by content) using analysis of archives or system directories, etc. In general, there are enough parameters.
Instead of a total
But in general, if we talk about the preferred method of accessing the main parameters, for a specific directory it is easiest to use the right click, and for general settings regarding global parameters - the “File” or “View” menu, where you go to the corresponding line or button . Logging in through the “Control Panel” looks quite long and extremely inconvenient, although in some cases, when disabled (and this happens), this method seems optimal. And you cannot do without this if you need to restore files, folders and default settings when other methods do not work.
Settings for Win 10 folder properties will allow you to make working on your computer more convenient, add security to the system, or make any other changes to the PC Browser.
General settings
Open Windows Explorer (any directory). In the Explorer toolbar, click on “File” and select “Change settings...” from the context menu. You can also edit catalog properties in the control panel, category “Design and Personalization”.
The first step is to examine the contents of the “General” tab. There you can configure the method of opening folders (double or single click), as well as other parameters. There is also a separate item responsible for opening all folders as new explorer .exe processes.
View Tab
All main parameters are located in the “View” section. Here you can turn the display on and off hidden elements, customize icons, activate the function of opening folders in new windows. And these are not all the features present in this tab.
Recommendation: do not turn on display system files, if you do not need to work with them. The fact is that it is more difficult for virus programs to work with hidden data. Accordingly, the risk of infection of system components is greatly reduced.
One of the innovations in Win 10 folder properties is Sharing Wizard. This is a handy utility for configuring sharing settings. You can also use it to set the elements displayed in the side block of the Windows Browser.
It is worth understanding that initially all settings apply only to the folder where you are currently located. But there is a special item - Apply to folders. It will save changes for all directories on the computer.
Search
By the name of the tab you can understand that it will allow you to configure the search mode launched from Explorer and the Start menu. Separately, it is worth noting the indexing parameters. The system can be configured so that it search queries I checked not only files, but also archives. You can also exclude system files from search results. This will speed up the procedure.
Optimizing folders in Windows Explorer is a setting option that does not relate to the traditional understanding of the term “optimization” as applied to the software product field. This is not a maximization of beneficial settings for the sake of performance when working with folders, but the possibility of using table view Explorer of templates for displaying individual file characteristics. Templates apply to specific types of content that are stored in folders. Individual user folders Windows profile– “Images”, “Documents”, “Video”, “Music” - are initially configured for their content type. By calling the context menu on any of these folders and selecting “Properties”,
in the “Settings” tab of the properties window we will see the “Optimize this folder” column, which allows you to select one or another type of content – “General elements”, “Documents”, “Images”, “Video”, “Music”.
The specified user profile folders have a preset content type. The only thing that can be corrected as part of their so-called optimization is to check the box for applying the template to all subfolders, so that the settings are applied to the subfolders.
Default for all others Windows folders The “General Elements” content type is selected, but this type can be changed to any other by selecting it from the drop-down list and clicking “Apply” at the bottom of the window.
Templates for displaying file characteristics are a selection of certain table columns in Explorer for each type of content. Some of the columns are active by default, and some are provided for potential and can be used in the tab Windows Explorer 8.1 and 10 "View". When you click the “Add Columns” button, a list appears for adding table columns. In order for the required columns to be displayed in the table, you need to check their box.
In the table view of the Windows 7 system explorer, to add columns for other file characteristics, you need to call the context menu at the top of the table. The same method works for Windows 8.1 and 10 systems.
For folders optimized for the Shared Items content type, the default Explorer table displays file modification date, file type, and size columns. Potentially, characteristics such as creation date, authors, tags, title may be involved. The “Documents” content type, in addition to active and inactive columns of general elements, also provides an inactive column of file categories. For the “Images” content type, the image size and tags are additionally displayed. By checking the appropriate boxes, the columns for creation, modification, photo taking, and rating dates can be activated.
The “Video” content type in the Explorer table, in addition to displaying standard file characteristics, is also configured to display the default duration of video files by time. Potentially, it is possible to use columns for the creation and modification dates of video files.
We get the most characteristics in the Explorer table when optimizing folders for the “Music” content type. In the case of audio files, the system explorer can be turned into something like a functional audio player interface, displaying the music genre, artists, albums, their year of release, track duration, etc.
What does this folder optimization give? Tabular display of files with their various characteristics is convenient when working with large amounts of data. To find required file, for example, having forgotten its name, but remembering some other property, the table in Explorer can be sorted precisely by this property. If you sort files by one or another criterion, individual files below or above a certain property can be deleted, copied or moved in batches by selecting them with the keys Shift + Page Down or Shift + Page Up, respectively. However, in order to be able to sort the Explorer table by individual file data, the files themselves must be optimized for this data.
For the convenience of working with the Explorer table, it is not necessary to apply folder optimization settings for a particular type of content. For any folder in Windows environment You can customize your own selection of table columns in Explorer. To do this, in Windows 8.1 and 10, in the “View” tab, you need to click the “Add Columns” button, then click “Select Columns”. In the window that appears, you need to tick individual columns from a huge list of possible ones that will be displayed in the Explorer table, and click “Ok”.
The same window for adding table columns also appears when you click “More details” in context menu called at the top of the table. This way you can add columns to a Windows 7 Explorer table.
Have a great day!
IN operating system Windows 10 all folders have properties and they can be changed. To do this, you can use the classic Control Panel or Explorer options.
Where can I find folder properties in Windows 10?
In order to open folder properties, you should do the following:
- Open Explorer and go to the “View” tab, select “Options”.
- From the list, select “Change folder and search settings.” A new window will open in which three tabs will be available: “General”, “View”, “Search”. Each tab is responsible for certain folder properties.
- In the “General” tab, you can set folders to open in a new window or in the same window.
- Here you can also specify how to open the folder: with one or double click.
- Depending on the build of Windows 10, in the “General” tab there is also a “Privacy” item, which is responsible for quick access to frequently used folders and files. You can also clear Explorer history here.
- The View tab has changed little. Here you can set the display of hidden folders and files, menu thumbnails, and restore the initial view of the window. This tab gives greater access to folder properties.
- In the “Search” tab, you can specify how Windows 10 should respond to requests when searching for system files and folders, including non-indexed ones. Here you can also add archives and application folders to the search list.
Also, the settings of any folder in Windows 10 can be configured in the classic way. To do this, right-click on the folder and select “Properties”.
In this case, the options will be available in the following five tabs: “General”, “Access”, “Settings”, “Security”, “Previous versions”.
The General folder will contain folder parameters such as size, location, creation date, attributes (hidden or read).
In the “Access” tab, you can specify access to the folder for an individual user or several.
In the “Settings” tab, you can optimize the folder for storing documents, music or other files. Or choose a general type.
The “Security” tab is responsible for security, and in “ Previous versions"You can see the presence or absence of previous identical folders (relevant if the folder has been renamed).
