"Colorizing" Hidden Files

I know all about showing (and then re-hiding, if need be) hidden files. What I need to know is whether it would be possible to "colorise" them, instead of just having Finder showing them as "greyed out".
For instance, if I could only explain to Finder that I want hidden files displayed in red (rather than just greyed out), I could spare myself quite a lot of eye strain when trying to tell hidden files apart from visible ones (since the "greying-out" business doesn't exactly make hidden files stand out ...).
Thanks in advance for any replies,
Luca

From the terminal, enter the following:
sudo chflags nohidden ~/path/to/file
This will change the properties of file from hidden to visible, rather than simply having finder reveal a hidden file. It will no longer be greyed out. You can then
To make the file hidden again,
sudo chflags hidden ~/path/to/file

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How to view hidden files on a mac

I have certain hidden files on my mac that i know are there because they are taking up file space i was wondering how i can make them unhidden thanks

One of those multi-purpose gizmos is overkill for this simple task (unless you already have one – I personally don't use them). Save (to any location you like) Gnarlodious's script as an app, and then slide that app into the sidebar of any Finder window. From then on one click on that sidebar alias toggles 'see invisibles' on and off. My script is virtually the same:
set {currentSetting, toggle} to {do shell script ¬
    "defaults read com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles", "ON"}
if currentSetting is in "ONO" then set toggle to "OFF"
try
    -- If you know how to, optionally insert a 'whoosh' sound here.
    tell application "Finder" to quit
    do shell script "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles " & toggle
    delay 0.25 -- Alter this value by trial & error to suit your Mac.
    tell application "Finder" to launch
on error errTxt
    display dialog errTxt
end try
Paste that block of green text (or Gnarlodious's) into Script Editor, hit your <enter> key and the text should now display in pretty colors with no error message. You can click on "Run" to test it. Save as an application with all the Options UNchecked.
If you know how to, give it a suitable icon – mine is a "switch".
Heed the warnings about interfering with 'invisible' items. Looking is fine, altering is only for those who know what they are doing – that's why they're invisible!
G5 2.1GHz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Network Drive Hidden Files

When I modify files saved on network drives, a hidden file is created on the network drive that bothers my co-workers. I originally dealt with a .DS_Store file in every folder I accessed on the network drive. I researched and found the support topic related to this issue. I used the command:
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true
There are no more .DS_Store files, but now, every time I modify something on the network drive, a hidden file appears for the modified file. For instance, I save a Word file Doc-1.doc and a ._Doc-1.doc hidden file is created. Also, if I move or copy a file to the network drive, the same thing (drag and drop x.pdf and ._x.pdf hidden folder.
The single .DS_Store file was bad enough, but now every file I access has a hidden file with it. Any commands to prevent this from happening?

The '._' files contain meta-data specific to the Mac. Contained therein are things like custom icons, the label color for the file, the file type, the file creator, etc.
The Mac only creates those files if the filesystem being written too doesn't natively handle Mac file and resource data. If you can mount the filesystem using AFP instead of NFS or SMB/CIFS, the problem will go away (and AFP also has the benefit of being faster). There's really no way to disable the creation of the '._' files outright.
There are four ways to address the issue:
1. Let your co-workers get over it. Any decent CIFS implementation will hide the '._' files so they won't see them. The files cause no harm, so it shouldn't matter.
2. Manually delete the '._' files. You can do this periodically, even write a script to do it and have it run automatically on a schedule. However, when you delete the files, be cognizant that you are throwing away some information. OS X is going to have to guess the file type, and you won't be able to use custom icons or icon label colors.
3. Use BlueHarvest ($13 download; 30-day free trial). This monitors file creation and deletes '._' just after they're written. You can set rules to delete '._' only for certain types of files too.
4. Use DAVE. DAVE preserves the file meta-data on Windows shares that support alternative data streams by saving the data in an ADS. It should work with most CIFS-type servers.
You might also ask your sysadmin if it's possible to add Mac File Services for Windows -- which lets you access Windows shares as native OS X AFP shares.

How to see the hidden files

Hi,
anyone provide the command for seeing the hidden files (or) dot files(Ex: .example.txt) in the unix.
Thanks
chelladurai

Or if you want to list only the dot files, you can do "ls -d .*".
Personally, I like to use "ls -d .* --color" as it then makes a color distinction between files and directories.
Kurt
Edited by: user11084799 on Mar 4, 2010 9:11 AM

How do I find and free the hidden files on external drive?

I cannot see , or free, space on my external drive.
It is a Seagate Freeagent 500 GB disk. I am using 100GB for photos and music. Only 38 MB are reported free. How can I reclaim the rest of the space?
I had used in the past as Time machine backup. To create space I moved to trash the file Backups.backupd (as I now have another disk for Time Machine). I can't see this file in the Trash, and I can't see the space in Finder. How do I find / free the space?
The disk format is MAC OS Extended journaled. Disk utility reports no errors. I have run verify and fix, and also erase free space, with no result.
Thank you for your help.

Erase free space only wipes clean the 38 MBs that are already free. Click here to see hidden files.
However, I'd just make a copy of the 100 GBs in use, and then complely wipe the disk.
Don't try to delete the Backups.backupd folder by Finder. It's not a good idea to mix Finder and TM.

How do I stop Mac creating files on Windows server creating hidden files?

I have my macbook connecting to a windows 2003 server share. Whenever I write a file, either by creating or editing and saving, it creates a hidden file too. I edit filename.doc then I'll also have ._filename.doc in that directory. It's distracting the windows users and causing me to become a little unpopular. How can I prevent those hidden files from being created?

This happens in part with some Mac files that contain both a resource and a data fork. Windows doesn't know how to handle these files and breaks them apart. Also, Mac OS creates certain hidden files used by the Finder that also get transferred but are no longer hidden on Windows because Windows does not recognize the "." preceding a filename as the Unix shorthand for "invisible."
There are a number of free utilities you will find at VersionTracker or MacUpdate that can prevent this and the hidden files from appearing on the Windows drive.
Zipping files before transfer will also prevent the problem from occurring.

How to remove my ex-company's server? Their IT set up hidden files to access computer anytime. I went thru all the Network

I worked for a company from my home. They had an IT company that would maintain ecverything thru the network and wirelessly.
I no longer work for the company but was able to keep the computer. Since I've left the company I have noticed they have accessed the computer. I have gone through all the steps to change the network, account settings, etc. But still - when I try to Update the Software I get an error message that I cannot access company.server. I don't want to access company.server. I want to wipe away them and their access to the computer. How can I find their hidden Network setup. I have all hidden files showing nd can't find it. Help. I want to use this computer but can't till I get those jerks' nose out! Thanks, Carole

I was afraid you were going to say that.
My desktop is 4-5 years old.
I've been messing with backing up programs onto my 200GB backup drive all evening.
I'm glad I only did work stuff on that computer and very little personal stuff.
I'll go check my disks, but they are very old. I'll have a ton of software updating on all the applications.
Would it work if I -
1st: boot-up from the original disc
2nd: Pull all files from the desktop computer onto my backup drive;
3rd: After I wipe out the computer just drag all the files and apps back upto the computer?
Or do I HAVE to reinstall all apps? Having old disks that will then need to be updated is not very fun.
Thanks, Carole

I have a 2nd gen Mac book air with Lion. The hard disk has filled up even though i keep my data , music etc on hard drive . I used disk inspector to find where problem was and it is 20GB in the hidden files under the user directory can i resolve this ?

I have a 2nd Gen MAc book Air with Lion . The 60GB hard disc has quickly filled up despite me keeping most of my data on a portable hard drive . I used disk inspector to locate the problem but found that it was was in 20 GB of hidden files in my user directory . Is this correct and is there anything i can do about it ? Using disk inspector you can not see individual hudden diretories or files. I did unhide them but there is a mass of diretories etc and so no way i could see if this is one or multiple files using the space. Library System and Applications are at 4 3 and 3 GB respectvely. The data I actually keep on there is 9GB Thanks for any help

I think the problem is Quick Time Player. I am using OS 10.6.8 by the way.
I tried it out again.
I had about 26 GB of space before I played an .avi video.
After the movie started to play (it was slow to load), I got a warning message that my startup disk was full. I opened Disk Utility and it told me I had no space left (about 20 MB or something like that was left).
I watched to the end of the movie.
Then I quit Quicktime Player.
And I shut down the computer.
I turned on the computer and checked Disk Utility. I have about 26 GB of space.
I think for some reason Quicktime Player uses up a lot of the disk space when it runs movies that are problematic. This movie I was watching did not open with vlc.
I normally use vlc to watch movies.
Probably it doesn't use up this much space when the movie is OK.
I think there's a problem with this particular movie. It is about 50 MB so it's not that big a file. I watch .smi subtitles with it. The Quicktime Player automatically loads the subtitle file in this case because the subtitle file has the same name as the movie file.
I watched about 10 movie files from the same series that I downloaded together and did not have any problem watching them. I watched them on vlc. But this latest movie had problems I think (as I repeat). It did not load on vlc even though I waited for a minute, and normally movies load instantly on vlc.
So I think that movie file caused problems. It made QT player use up a lot of hard disk space.
I had better avoid watching that movie in the future. I don't want it to wreck my hard drive.
So to sum up, everything is back to normal. I have the hard disk space that I should have. However, I am scared of damaging my hard drive due to shonky movie files that eat up all the space when they are played using QT player, and so I will not watch those files in the future, as I do not know why the files do that.

How can I see the hidden file and erase it?

I had to make a file starting "." and had to put it on my FTP client. I made it by Text Edit and Microsoft word and save it. Since it is hidden file, I can't see on my Mac but when I use the FTP client and click post, the file listing was showed up and I can check as "Show Hidden file". Then I could post the files on the FTP client. However, since I don't need it on my computer, I'd like to erase it but can't find the files. How can I find the hidden files? Thank you.

if you know the folder then navigate to that folder. Open the Terminal application in your Utiities folder and do the following::
Enable Finder to Show Invisible Files and Folders
Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. At the prompt enter or paste the following command line then press RETURN.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
To turn off the display of invisible files and folders enter or paste the following command line and press RETURN.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
Alternatively you can use one of the numerous third-party utilities such as TinkerTool or ShowHideInvisibleFiles - VersionTracker or MacUpdate.

How can I convert multiple hidden files into normal files at once?

I have a folder with a few hundred hidden files that I no longer want hidden. If I were to change each file separately it would take hours to finish. I was hoping that there was some way to convert all of these files at once with the terminal. Can anyone offer a solution? Thanks.

Can anyone help?

How do I find hidden files/folder in the Users folder?

Hi,
Is there any way to make certain files visible in the Users folder? I purchased a plug-in and in order for the update to correctly work, I need to find the old file (which is hidden.) I tried Spotlight but it didn't find anything.
Any tips/help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Open the Terminal application in your Utilities folder. Enter or paste the following command line then press RETURN.
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles Yes
To hide hidden files substitute No for Yes in the above command line.
To use Spotlight you need to enable the search for hidden files. You need to click on the "+" button next the the Save button in the search bar of the Finder. Then select Other from the Kind drop down menu. Locate the "File Invisible" attribute from the list and check it to enable it. You can now select the option to display or not display invisible files.
Download Easy Find - VersionTracker or MacUpdate - and use it instead of Spotlight. Easy Find will find everything Spotlight doesn't find.

How do I get Firefox to show hidden files and folders. It should be available under help but help only gets as far as Open Containing folder and doesn't go on to show hidden files and folders

I am trying to find the status of Adobe Flash Player on my computer. I am advised that it exists in Firefox's hidden files and folders but I cannot find such a folder

You have an older version of Flash installed - Shockwave Flash 10.0 r45
You can see that for yourself in Tools > Addons > Plugins
"Show hidden files and folders" is a function of the Operating System, not an application such as Firefox. Windows Control Panel > Folder Options > View - Advanced Settings

How do I find and remove hidden files

For some reason, after the recent install of SL my 1TB drive is extremely bloated. I have deleted or moved just about everything possible from the disk (excluding system files and applications) and it still shows that I only have 94.08 GB of space available.
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Wow ... that was enlightening. I discovered that somehow there is a hidden folder on the 1TB drive entitled "volumes" and within that folder is a subfolder entitled "Mega Drive" (my self-titled name for the 1TB boot drive), which is an exact duplicate of my previous hard drive.
A little more about how I got here. I had to computer in to the Apple Store, after upgrading to SL, for what I initially though was a hardware issue. The Genius felt it was software, did an erase and install. When I got the macing back I tried to us Migration Assistant to copy files from my Time Machine drive, it took all night so I wasn't awake when it finished. I suspect that is where this folder came from, as the next day I could not find the information on my computer, so I started manually moving the files from that drive.
The bottom line is this ... is it safe to remove trash this entire folder?

When I connect my iphone to my itunes it says loads of space is being taken up by documents , however i have no documents saved on my phone to my knowledge. how do I find and delete these hidden files ?

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You can gain access to this area by clicking on the lock in the lower right corner of the Get Info window.
Once you have input the admin password for the computer you should be able to edit the permissions on that file/directory.

"Colorizing" Hidden Files

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