Applications folder is empty--how to restore?

For some reason, my Applications folder in the finder is empty. All the applications exist, but i have to use Find or Spotlight to get to them (except those in the dock).
Any idea how to restore this?
Cheers

A couple of things:
1. The only thing Terminal shows as hidden is the custom icon for the /Applications folder itself, which is perfectly normal and shouldn't be changed. There is no reason to run the sudo command.
2. OS X has not used nor automatically created a .hidden file in...umm...forever. Not since Panther, although the Finder in both Tiger and Leopard will actually read a .hidden file if one exists. But unless one has been just running update since Panther, or you have created a .hidden file yourself, there won't be one.
I suspect the poster is simply opening the wrong Applications folder, that there is an Applications folder in the home folder, and that is one being opened. To check:
1. Type the name of a program in Spotlight in the menu bar
2. The "Top Hit" will be the program
3. Press and hold the Command key and click on program in the Spotlight list
A Finder window will open with that program high-lighted. You should see all the other programs as well, and you should be in the proper Applications folder. Change the View of the folder to Column view. In the Sidebar your startup drive should be select, in the next column the Applications folder will be selected, and in the next column all the applications will be listed, with the one you entered in Spotlight selected.
Francine
Francine
Schwieder

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Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
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Applications folder is empty--how to restore?

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