List hidden files

I want to find out why so much space was taken up on a USB drive. Apparently there is no option within Finder to do that. Strangely, within Time Machine I can view hidden files when entering exclusions. Why is there not this option directly with Finder?
I have extensively used Unix in years gone by and am willing to use ls to get that information. However, I am not clear as to what the command would be to designate that volume. The disk is mounted and shows up in /Volumes as External backup. The command would be ...?
Better yet would be a link to a 'cheatsheet' for Mac OS X terminal commands. The man command does not do much good if I don't know what to look for.

Bruce Michel wrote:
I want to find out why so much space was taken up on a USB drive. Apparently there is no option within Finder to do that. Strangely, within Time Machine I can view hidden files when entering exclusions. Why is there not this option directly with Finder?
Actually there is.
When you are searching, click the Action Gear and select "Show Search Criteria"
In the dropdown boxes, under Kind, select System Files, Include; and File Visiblity, Visible or Invisible.
If these items do not show in the dropdown box, then first select Kind - Other and be sure to check them off.

Similar Messages

How to list hidden files in a directory with "ls" bash command?

I'm in the top visible directory of an iPod "IPOD (ADMIN" and I want to see the iTunes folder. How can I see the hidden folders? Alternatively is there a flag I can swtich to make them visible just inside the terminal application. I found a terminal command to do it in the Finder after you do a forced reboot.

FWIW. if these are not dot files or folders and they are hidden from finder view, you can do one of the following to make them finder visible:
chflags nohidden file-or-folder
Or if you have the developer tools installed:
/Developer/Tools/SetFile -a v file-or-folder
Use this technique instead of the finder option to make all hiden files visible.

USB/SDcard deleted/hidden files

Hi All
I realised myself quite recently that files that were 'deleted' on a USB stick were still taking up space on the USB dongle. Anyway it didn't occur to me to empty the trash because 'windows' doesn't work like that, until that is I read some of the other posts.
Even so when USB dongles or SD cards that contain or have contained 'deleted' files I've seen that the iMAC has inserted new folders on the external dongle/SD called .Trash & .Spotlight. I only saw these folders & their contents when the dongle/SD card was connected to a Cyclone Micro Media device. This explained why the Cyclone doesn't recognise these 'deleted' photo JPGs & stops the slide show i.e. because they have two dots in the filename (eg .IMAGE001.JPG) which the Cyclone doesn't like.
Sorry to whitter on ... my questions are:
+- can the Mac OS display files that are hidden (as you can do on windows) in the Trash (or elsewhere for that matter)+
+- why doesn't the Finder display of the Trash identify the full path name - by that I mean identify the actual device that holds the 'deleted' file. It doesn't seem to me that the 'deleted' files on a particular device can be identified from the list? or havn't I found the method yet?+
+- would dropping into unix reveal such information and could you then delete the 'deleted' files held on a specific external device?+
thanks -- keith

HI red4vr,
welcome to the forums.
http://osxdaily.com/2009/02/25/show-hidden-files-in-os-x/ explains how to hide/show hidden files in the finder. As well as how to list hidden files in the terminal, and in the save/open dialog box. There are lots of hidden files on the computer that you should under no circumstance try to delete. A good rule of thumb is if you didn't make the folder, or what's in the folder; don't delete it. don't rename it, don't move it.
If this is some thing you want to do on a regular basis you may want to use a program like 'blind." http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/22495/blind this program adds a tool bar button to hide/show hidden files.
You are correct about the trash can, it shows every thing (not counting hidden files) in the trash for all the drives connected. If you want to tell what is on a specific external volume. You can goto that trash folder.
ie: finder, menu bar, go menu, goto folder, /volumes/NameOfVolume/.Trash
Have a great new year

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 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.

Bash script to remove hidden files

Hello, I produced this script to clean folders from hidden files
#!/bin/bash
files=$(find . $ -iname '*~' -o -iname '.*' $ -type f)
#count the hidden files
n=$(echo "$files" | wc -l)
if [ $n -eq 0 ]
then
echo "No hidden file found"
exit 0
fi
#prompt to the user the found files
echo "Hidden files found:"
echo "$files"
printf "Remove? [y/N] "
read input
input=$( echo $input | tr '[A-Z]' '[a-z]' )
#take action if confirmed
if [ "$input" == "y" ] || [ "$input" == "yes" ]
then
find . $ -iname '*~' -o -iname '.*' $ -type f -exec rm '{}' \;
echo "Hidden files removed"
else
echo "Nothing was done"
fi
exit 0
As you can see I've not been able to deleting reading from $files, but I have to call a second time the find command. So first improvement is to get rid of it (keeping managing spaces in file names correctly, of course).
Other suggestions are welcomed!

falconindy wrote:Or really... just use one of the several well-formed examples in this thread.
Yeah there's one solution using arrays formulated by Trilby, and improved by aesiris. Kind of reminds me of the episode Sheldon Cooper says, "Notify the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary: the word 'plenty' has been redefined to mean 'two'."
As for your earlier post:
falconindy wrote:
No, this simply doesn't work because the entirety of the find result will be quoted as a single filename. You really should just do this all in find...
find . -name '.*' ! -type -d -exec rm -i {} +
The + thing is a good example of saving resources, however the op doesn't want to prompt the user for authorization for every single file (rm -i). Maybe two invocations of find? By the time the user has finished reading the file list, other files may have been created and they will be removed without authorization.
falconindy wrote:Manipulating IFS is entirely wrong for the purposes of reading a list out of a simple string variable (which is wrong on its own -- this is why arrays exist).
I believe that calling a functioning, standards-compliant solution "entirely wrong" means to call it "not as clean as you would desire". So, back to the drawing board:
files=$(find . -type f)
echo "$files"|xargs -d$'\n' rm
Although my earlier post proved one can work with IFS, you were right after all, it is not necessary. Hope you don't spot any further problems or my code will end up being a single word!

Deleting hidden files

Silly question...but I need help! I have a flash drive that all the data has been erased from, yet the memory if full. I am pretty sure the deleted files are being stored in a hidden trash folder, however, I can find anyway to view the hidden files. Do you know how I can view the hidden trash folder on a flash drive, so I can erase it and free up the memory? Thanks!!

Ok, now you have two posts listed there so I am going to assume you are new to Macs and just not familiar with how they do things.
Now the terminal is the Mac equivalent of the Windows Command Prompt. (I'm also assuming you're a switcher).
If you navigate to the applications folder within it you'll find another folder called 'Utilities'. Open it and double click the icon called Terminal. A small window will appear.
If you copy and paste the text that VK suggested-then press enter, (defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles True; killall Finder) it should enable the hidden files, by the way when done use this new command to disable hidden files, (defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles False; killall Finder).
But as suggested if you plug the flash drive back in wait a few seconds the Mac should find it. (make the finder the active application ie. make sure it says finder in the top left of your screen and open finder prefs by pressing ⌘, go to the general tab and ensure that the show external discs box is checked).
The flash drive icon should pop up on your desktop. Once that happens click and hold on the trash icon until empty trash appears and select it. Your space should come back to you.
As for formatting, I believe VK has just posted.
Message was edited by: gumsie

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

Hidden files taking up disk space

My son has been using my wife's computer and has instaled several apps including a screen capture prgram called debut. Now the computer gives a message that it is out of disk space. I set the view options to "calculate all sizes". When I look at the contenst of the user folder, they do not add up to what the finder says is there. The finder says there 92 gigs used, but the contents as show only add up to about 45 gigs. So I'm guessing that one of these apps has installed some sort of "hidden" files. Searching around the community here, I saw it was suggested to use OmniDiskSweeper. When I run that it shows that my "Library" folder inside my wife's "User" folder is about 50 gigs. However, that "Library" folder is not visible in the Finder view. Does anyone know why that would be? Also, having used DiskSweeper to reveal all the files, how do I know what is safe to delete from that "Library" folder?

This is what I do....I open terminal and issue the following commands (you need to be an administrator)..it will take a few minutes to run since it's counting up space
cd /
sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g
This gives a listing in GB at your root level
It should look something like this
MacPro:/ xxxxx$ sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g
Password:
1          ./.DocumentRevisions-V100
1          ./.fseventsd
2          ./.Spotlight-V100
0          ./.TemporaryItems
0          ./.Trashes
0          ./.vol
31          ./Applications
1          ./bin
0          ./cores
1          ./dev
1          ./home
5          ./Library
1          ./net
0          ./Network
0          ./opt
1          ./private
1          ./sbin
4          ./System
44          ./Users
1          ./usr
1          ./Volumes
85          .
85          total
I'm using 31GB in applications and 44GB in users. That's the majority. If you see big numbers in ./Volumes for example, that is the sign of a failed TM restore, etc...
Now I cd into Users (cd Users) and rerun the same command
MacPro:Users xxxxx$ sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g
1          ./bootadmin
44          ./xxxxx
1          ./Shared
44          .
44          total
You can see that I'm using all the 44GB, not the user bootadmin, not shared
Now if I cd into xxxxx and rerun the command I get this
MacPro:~ xxxxx$ sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g
1          ./.cups
1          ./.dropbox
1          ./.dvdcss
0          ./.idm
1          ./.ssh
0          ./.Trash
1          ./Applications
1          ./Desktop
10          ./Documents
1          ./Downloads
1          ./Dropbox
21          ./Library
1          ./Movies
1          ./Music
12          ./Pictures
1          ./Public
0          ./Sites
44          .
44          total
So I have 10GB of documents, 21GB in my Library, 12GB of photos
One more time in Library (cd ~/Library)
(truncated for brevity)
I have 7GB of application support and 12GB of mail
So with simple commands I can trackdown strageness with storage. You can't know what to delete but you can ask here "why is this folder using so much space?" Your son may have his own account and is using 40GB of space now. My own son has downloaded several games on his mac where each one is 15GB.

Show hidden files won't stick

Hi,
I'm setting up an i7 Mac Mini with Mavericks and trying to show hidden files. Using Terminal I do the old
$ defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
$ killall Finder
But hidden files are still invisible.
When I try to read back it reports:
The domain/default pair of ([...]com.apple.finder, AppleShowAllFiles) does not exist
I've opened the plist up in XCode and every time I add it there it disappears as soon as I issue the `killall Finder` command.
Anybody know why this might be?

Back up all data.
This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership and access-control lists to the default. If you've set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it.
I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.
Step 1
If you have more than one user account, and the one in question is not an administrator account, then temporarily promote it to administrator status in the Users & Groups preference pane. To do that, unlock the preference pane using the credentials of an administrator, check the box markedAllow user to administer this computer, then reboot. You can demote the problem account back to standard status when this step has been completed.
Triple-click anywhere in the following line on this page to select it:
{ sudo chflags -R nouchg,nouappnd ~ $TMPDIR.. ; sudo chown -R $UID:staff ~ $_ ; sudo chmod -R u+rwX ~ $_ ; chmod -R -N ~ $_ ; } 2>&-
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.
You'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The command may take a few minutes to run, or perhaps longer if you have literally millions of files in your home folder. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear, then quit Terminal.
Step 2 (optional)
Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1 or if it doesn't solve the problem.
Boot into Recovery. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open.
In the Terminal window, type this:
res
Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
resetpassword
Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.
Select the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if it's not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if it's not already selected.
Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.
Select
 ▹ Restart
from the menu bar.

Hidden files starting with colon not showing in finder--how to delete?

Was playing around with an AppleScript to generate vcards and initially didn't get the path name right. The result (oops) is that a whole batch of vcard files were written into the MacintoshHD-level directory.
The file names start with colons. I can't see them in the Finder, but I can see them in Terminal:
xxx-xxx-computer:/ xxxx$ ls
:Users:xxxx:Desktop:AddressBookVcards:xxxxx.vcf
:Users:xxxx:Desktop:AddressBookVcards:xxxxx2.vcf
(and so on, followed by the normal directory names you'd see in the Finder)
Is there any way to get this list of hidden file names in the finder so I can delete them easily with drag and drop? Any other suggestions? Thanks.
MacBook Pro 15"/2.16Ghz/2GB RAM Mac OS X (10.4.9)

Hi RKNYC,
   This is a subtle issue. The path separator is the character that delimits directory names in the path. As Camelot said, the path separator is never a valid filename character. The complexity comes in the fact that OS X has two ways of specifying a path, each with a different path separator. The classic OS use a colon as a path separator but UNIX components use a forward slash as a path separator.
   Instead of eliminating both characters as valid filename characters, Apple made an interesting choice that really is the only way to eliminate just one character. If you put a forward slash in a filename in a carbon app, it will be allowed because carbon apps use classic paths internally so only a colon is disallowed. However, if you list the same file with a UNIX tool, you couldn't see a forward slash because that would be illegal. Instead, you see a colon in the place of the slash. There's an illegal character and the other one and if you put the other in a filename, it will change depending on context.
   What happened to you is almost certainly the opposite of my example above. AppleScript can handle both contexts but the syntax for UNIX paths is tricky. What you probably did was use a UNIX path in a classic context. AppleScript took you to mean that you wanted a file at the top level of the drive that has a very long filename with lots of slashes in it. That is, your slashes were taken as filename characters: the other character. Then when you listed it in a UNIX context, those slashes turned to colons.
   In order to get AppleScript to understand UNIX paths — to treat a forward slash as a delimiter — you have to specify the path as a POSIX path, like so:
Posix file "/var" as alias
That acts as a handle to a file, which you can create if it doesn't already exist. An alias doesn't have to exist while a file does.
   There's one thing I don't understand: why the files would be invisible. I hate that AppleShowAllFiles option. I've got a lot of UNIX apps that store their preference files as hidden files (filenames beginning with a period) at the top level of my home directory. I couldn't find a thing if I had to sift through all of that. However, your filenames don't begin with a period and I just checked; on my machine, filenames beginning with a colon are shown in the Finder — they just begin with a slash. (the Finder is a Carbon app)
Gary
~~~~
   An effective way to deal with predators is to taste terrible.

Version 10 "File Open" command does not list older file versions

When using the "file open" command in Illustrator 10, I noticed that the file list that appears in the window does not show older versions of illustrator files even though the File Type drop down box indicates "All formats". If I go to the file directory through Windows and then double-click the old version file (say Illustrator version8), the file automatically opens in Illustrator 10 without any problems.
Is there a setting in Illustrator 10 that allows all files to show up in the "File Open" command?

While I don't doubt you're experiencing this problem, I am at a loss as to how it can happen.
Short of parsing every file in a folder, Illustrator cannot possibly "know" the versions. I could be wrong, but the only criterion for appearing in the file | open dialog is the file extension -- that is, when you select 'All Formats,' Illustrator shows all files that can be opened on the basis of file extension (.ai, .eps, .pdf, etc.).
I tried playing around with the Read-Only and Hidden file attributes, but that made no difference. If you have things set up to show Hidden files in Explorer, they'll show up in AI 10's File | Open dialog.
This is baffling.

Creating hidden files

Is it possible to create your own hidden files, for your own personal use? If it is, can you tell me how to do it?

Any file with a . at the start of the name is invisible ...
You might do better creating a password protected folder, here's how:
Launch /Applications/Applescript/Script Editor
Paste this in:
on opening folder This_Folder
repeat
tell application "Finder"
set dialogresult to display dialog "Restricted Folder. Please enter the password to access folder:" buttons {"Ok", "Close"} default button 1 default answer "" with hidden answer
copy the result as list to {PWText, button_choice}
set button_choice to the button returned of dialogresult
if button_choice is equal to "Ok" then
set PWText to the text returned of dialogresult
if not PWText = "your password" then
display dialog "Access Denied" buttons {"Ok"} default button 1
else
display dialog "Access Granted" buttons {"Ok"} default button 1
exit repeat
end if
else if button_choice is equal to "Close" then
tell application "Finder"
close folder This_Folder
exit repeat
end tell
end if
end tell
end repeat
end opening folder
Click 'Compile' then 'Save As'
(Where it says "your password" insert the one you want)
Then CTRL-click on a folder / (Enable Folder Actions if not on) / Configure Folder Actions / Activate and select your script.

Show/Hide Hidden Files

When I am on my home network and logged into my other machines (one oc and one other mac) I get to see all the hidden files and it becomes quite confusing. I know its a simple toggle in Windows to show or hide hidden files. Is there a way to do this easily in Mac

Hello:
It's very easy.
1. Open Automator.app
2. It will open with a drop down menu.
In the drop down menu select >custom > choose
3. In the variables list choose "Run Shell Script", double click it,
a command box will open.
4. type in (the first line) defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
5. press return
6. type in (the 2nd line) killall Finder
should see this in the box:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder
7. At the top left of your screen select > file > save as plugin
8. A box will open > Save Plug-in as:
9. Give it a name like "Show Hidden Files" (without the quotes).
10. Make sure "Plug-in for: finder" (second line) is selected also. Click Save.
You are almost done.
Repeat the process substituting:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder
In step 6 and
"Hide Hidden Files"
in step 9.
Now both commands are placed on the finder context menu.
You can Access them using Control + Click or setting up a secondary mouse button.
Kj

Anti-Virus Soft. Finds Hidden File/ Odd Name - But Not Virus. How Do I Find

I used my anti-virus software CLAMXav to check files. It found odd named file that starts with dot. Apparently file is not a virus. Tried finding above file with Terminal (and Spotlight); but no go. So how do I do it.

There are lots of hidden files and folders in OS X that start with a dot. When a file has a dot at the beginning of its name, it's automatically hidden from the user. That's why programs won't let you save a file with a dot as its first character.
In short, they're hidden for a reason. To keep the user from saying, "What are these for?", and then deleting all of them simply because they don't know whey they're there.
You'll find tons of .DS_Store files. Pretty much each and every folder has one, including your desktop. These keep track of that folder's location on the desktop, size, position, listing option and a few other things. You can delete them, but the OS will just keep recreating them.

List hidden files

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