How to hide a folder from search. How to hide files on your computer. Change your appearance

Experienced PC users often use camouflage techniques for their folders with important information in order to hide her from prying eyes and thereby avoid accidental deletion or unwanted viewing by others. We will tell you about these simple methods that even beginners in working on a computer can easily master.

Windows stores a large number of various files, some of which we do not see, thanks to the functionality. This moment allows you to save important system information untouched and help in a situation where you urgently need to hide a necessary element or the entire folder with data.

Let's select the folder and rename it “Important”. Let's right-click on it and go down to the "Properties" command. In the window that opens, change the attribute parameter by activating hidden elements - “Important” will disappear. If the folder is not hidden, but has acquired some transparency - in the parameters Windows systems The “Show hidden files, folders...” command is activated and needs to be removed. Go to the control panel, select the small icons to view and open the “Folder Options” window. Next, go to the “View” tab and activate “Do not show hidden files...”. You will find the hidden folder later by returning to the original settings. Next, we will give a funny way to create an invisible daddy right under your nose - i.e. on the desktop. Open the sign WinRAR archiver program– it is the best existing software for working with archives, run installation file.



If an icon appears with three stacked books, the archiver is installed. Return to your top-secret folder, click the mouse and select from the list the command with the WinRAR icon “Add to archive”. If necessary, come up with a different name for the daddy, for example: patch - this name is present in almost all applications. Next, select the archive format and set a password. If you wish, you can encrypt the file names. To store your archiver, find a secluded place somewhere in your file folder installed programs on the main drive, then there is a chance that it will not be detected and will not be deleted.

It should be noted that there are a lot of additional software for Windows. This includes ransomware programs both for personal needs and for work purposes, but unless absolutely necessary, you should not expose your PC to malicious code, which strives to leak into the system from sites on this topic.

Sometimes there is a need to protect personal files or folders. This is especially true if more than one person is working with the computer. One solution is hiding. Of course, it will not help in the case of experienced user. But it will hide information from unsuspecting eyes.

How to hide/show files and folders on a Windows 7 computer

Standard method

To hide a file or folder, you need to go through two steps:

Disable visibility of hidden folders

If the “Do not show...” option is set in the settings, then hidden files and folders will still be displayed, with the only difference that compared to ordinary element the label of such objects is duller.

Changing folder/file settings

After these steps, the folder or files will become hidden and will not be displayed.

Enable visibility and view

To show hidden elements, you need to go to the folder settings and check the box next to “Show hidden files, folders and drives”. And for a specific object to stop being invisible, you need to uncheck the “Hidden” option.

How to make a folder invisible - video

Via Total Commander

This method is related to the previous one in that in “Folder Options” there should also be a checkmark next to the item “Do not show hidden files, folders and drives”.

How to view files and make them open

To display hidden files and folders, you must press Ctrl + H.

To make documents visible again, you need to use the Alt + A combination and uncheck the “Hidden” checkbox.

Via Free Hide Folder

If you want to make sure that no one can see hidden information, then you can use Free program Hide Folder, which requires setting a password.

Free Hide Folder does not hide separate files. Available for free download in the Internet.

1. When you launch the program for the first time, a window will appear in which you need to enter and confirm a password. By the way, you will also need it when uninstalling the program.
2. The next window will ask you to enter registration code but this is not prerequisite. To continue working, you need to select Skip.
3. Then click on the Add icon and select the folder that you want to hide.
4. After the folder is selected, a message will appear indicating that it is advisable to make a Backup. It is advisable to follow the advice.
   

   Backup saves information about the program. If the latter is deleted, then after reinstallation access to hidden folders will be restored.

In addition to Add, in general window there are buttons for:

How to find hidden information and transfer it to a flash drive

Free Hide Folder hides folders so that they cannot be found using search. The only way is to open the program and select the Unhide tool. Another special feature is that it does not hide documents located on removable disks.

Because Windows search cannot detect documents hidden using Free Hide Folder, you cannot use copying. Thus, invisible folders cannot be transferred to removable disks.

Using an image and an archiver

For this method you will need a folder with files, any image and the WinRAR archiver. The program is available for free download on the official website. In this case, the processor bit capacity must be taken into account. To find out, you need:

You can take any image, there are no restrictions.

1. Add the desired folder to the archive.
2. Place the archive and the image in one folder, preferably located in the root of the disk.
3. By using Win combinations+ R launch the Run tool, enter cmd line and click “OK”.
4. In the command line, go to the folder where the archive and image are located. To do this, enter the cd command and the address. IN in this case this is cd c:\.
5. Then press Enter.
6. Now in the line you need to write the names of the image, archive and new file. Also, extensions must be specified in all three positions. In this case it turns out: COPY /B Image.jpg + FolderWithFiles.rar ImageWithArchive.jpg.
7. Press Enter. If everything was written correctly, a message will appear on the command line indicating that the files were copied.

If you now open the created file, only the image that was taken as a basis will open.

The original files can be deleted.

How to view hidden files

To be able to view files hidden in the image, you need to open the illustration itself with using Win RAR.

But the archiver must first be added to the list of programs that can open images:

1. In the “Open with” menu, click on “Select program”.
2. Click on “Browse” and in the window that opens, find the folder with the archiver.
3. Open the folder and select the program launch shortcut.
4. Next, WinRAR will appear in the list of programs that can open the image. You also need to uncheck the “Use the selected program for all files of this type” option. Otherwise, all images will be opened using the archiver.

When the user opens the image using the archiver, it will be visible that there is a folder inside.

But don't hide too much information in one file. If it takes up tens of megabytes, even an inexperienced user will become suspicious.

Possible mistakes

How to enable the “Show hidden files and folders” option

Sometimes a situation occurs that the user activates the “Show hidden files and folders” option, but the switch automatically switches to the “Do not show hidden files and folders” position. In this case you need:

Otherwise, the parameter must be created. To do this, right-click on a free area of ​​the window, select “New”, then “DWORD Value”. Call it CheckedValue and give the value 1.

1. Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced.
2. Find the Hidden parameter (with value 0), type REG_SZ, in the list and delete it.
3. If the list contains a Hidden parameter, type REG_DWORD, then change its value to 1. Otherwise, the parameter must be created.
4. Find the SuperHidden parameter, type REG_DWORD, in the list and change its value to 1.
5. Press "F5" to refresh the editor window and close it.

What to do if Folder Options is missing

This usually means that viruses have entered the system. Perhaps the antivirus simply failed to identify and remove malware. And so that the user cannot visually detect them, the authors of such applications use the “Hidden” or “System” attributes. In addition, the “Folder Options” menu item is removed.

Even if the malware is removed, the antivirus will not be able to restore this item. This will need to be done manually:

Perhaps after virus attack The Registry Editor was not blocked. In this case, you can use it:

1. Using Win + R, launch the Run tool, enter regedit line and click "OK".
2. Go to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer.

In the right part of the window, find the NoFolderOptions parameter, type REG_DWORD. Double click LMB open it and set the value to 0.

Hiding files and folders - simple and quick way protect personal information. Of course, the first two are less reliable, and sophisticated users may accidentally or intentionally discover the secret. But FHF and the archiver will hide personal data even from experienced eyes.

Hi all!

This feature is simply necessary when someone else is using your computer.

After all, this “someone” can “accidentally” spy on your personal information.

Or children use the computer - their “activities” can generally lead to the destruction of personal data.

I'll tell you how to hide files on your computer, using the example of the currently most popular operating system for personal computers– Windows 7. I use it for both work and entertainment, and I think most readers do too.

Established funds

So, let's get straight to the point. The first method is based on using the capabilities of Windows itself - those tools that are created to hide important operating system files from the user in order to avoid harm to it. The method allows you to make arbitrary files and directories invisible. The important thing is that in this case any conflicts with Windows are excluded, since everything is done using its own means.

How it's done? For experiments it is better to create new folder:

1. select a free area on the desktop,
2. click right click mice,
3. click “Create”,
4. then - “Folder”.

That's it, a “New Folder” has appeared on the desktop. Now open its properties (again through the right button) and check the “Hidden” attribute, click “Ok”.

As a result, the new folder should either disappear or become semi-transparent. In the second case, additional manipulations need to be done.

We turn to the “Control Panel” (through the menu opened by the “Start” button), where in the “Folder Options” section, open the “View” tab and check the box next to the line “Do not show hidden...” (at the bottom of the list of options). Click “Ok” and that’s it, the new folder on the desktop has become invisible!

To “return” it (as well as any other hidden directories), that is, to make it visible and accessible, you just need to set it to “Show hidden files, folders and drives.”

The method is proven and reliable, does not require additional programs and some special knowledge.

There is only one minus - a person who is well versed in computer intricacies can easily find your personal files if desired, by disabling hiding in the settings. But someone who doesn’t know how to find what’s hidden will try to “dance” away from the search, however, even after entering the name of the hidden file correctly, he will not receive any information about it from the operating system - there is no file, and that’s it!

A tricky way to hide information

If you want to make it so that some video file on your computer cannot be watched, then you can simply change its extension (the icon of the video file will change and it will not be possible to play it with a simple click).

To do this, select “Rename” in the menu with the right mouse button, edit the file name - replace (or remove) all the characters after the period, usually there are three of them. Although... it’s better not to even change it, but to add another dot, and after it put three new symbols, which obviously will not match any standard extension.

For example, the following are suitable: 00A, 11B, 5AB... (with numbers). In the future, to return the normal extension, you will simply need to remove the added one.

This method works with files of any type (but not with folders): Word documents, pictures, executable files...

The problem may be that the extensions are not showing operating system. Then you need to go into the parameters before renaming (as described in previous paragraph), turn off hiding extensions, and turn it on again after renaming.

A knowledgeable person, of course, will be able to figure this out, but this may take a lot of time.

You can hide it in the archive

A good option might be to use . An appropriate program, for example, WinRAR or 7-Zip, will help you securely hide documents or photos. As a rule, there is no need to select strong compression in the settings, but assigning a password to the archive is mandatory.

By moving files and folders to a password-protected archive, you will leave no chance for anyone to use them. Write down the password so you don’t forget.

The network is full of software, problem solver if not hiding files, then prohibiting or restricting access to them. As a rule, these are encryption programs. I strongly advise you to use such programs carefully (and!), otherwise your files may become inaccessible to you.

For those who want to understand this topic thoroughly, or simply become a more experienced PC user, there is a training course “ Computer genius" I advise you to take it, as a result of training you can learn a lot of useful and interesting things from the world of computers.

Sincerely! Abdullin Ruslan

Sometimes you need to hide a file or folder from prying eyes on your desktop: from children, wife or husband, or bosses. Our instructions have 4 ways to do this in 1 minute.

Method 1: popular

Create a folder

First, create a regular folder. This can be done on your desktop or any other place where it is convenient for you. Right-click in the free area → “New” → “Folder”. You can put any name.

Making the icon transparent

Right-click on the new folder and open Properties.

On the Settings tab, click the Change Icon button.

Find the transparent icon in the list of available icons, select it and click OK. You can also download it separately and specify the path to it.

In the folder properties window, click “Apply”, “OK”.

Now the folder has become transparent, only the name remains.

Hiding the folder name

Right-click on the folder - Rename. With a clamped Alt key On the numeric keypad (right) enter the code 0160. This is a non-breaking space symbol. Release Alt and press Enter. If that doesn’t work, try replacing the code with 255, or holding down the Fn button on the laptop together with Alt.

Some laptop models do not have digital block keyboards. In such cases, type non-breaking space in Word using a combination Ctrl keys+ Shift + Space. Copy and paste into the folder name.

Method 2: alternative

I have on virtual machine I didn’t want to install with Windows 10 hidden icon for the folder. It was possible to make it only for a shortcut to a folder, but it was indicated by an arrow in the corner. So I found additional method make an invisible folder.

In the folder properties, check the “Hidden” option.

In Explorer, open the “View” tab and check the “Hidden elements” checkbox.

This option can also be changed through the Control Panel:

Open Control Panel. It is located in Pusk. Find it through the search or right-click on the Start icon - Control Panel.

Select Appearance and Personalization.

On the “View” tab, at the very end of the list, select the “Do not show hidden files, folders and drives” option.

Click "Apply" - "OK".

Method 3: simple

If you don't want to mess around with the OS settings, use free program Free Hide Folder, which can be downloaded from the official website: http://www.cleanersoft.com/hidefolder/free_hide_folder.htm. It hides the folder completely: it cannot be found even through a search.

After installation and launch, the program will prompt you to enter a password with confirmation. On next step You will be asked for a registration code, you can skip it with the “Skip” button.

To hide a folder, add it to the program using the “Add” button. A warning appears about the creation backup data to access the folder in case of uninstalling and reinstalling the program, so as not to lose access to it, click “Backup”. Click "OK" and the folder will disappear.

To access the folder in the program, click on the Unhide button.

Method 4: genius

Another unusual way hide the folder - inside the image. Make a copy before you start important files so as not to lose them in case of failure.

For example, let's take a folder with important data and a photo with a secret cat.

This is a photo with a secret cat.

Make an archive secret folder(V zip format or rar).

Create a folder, the closer to the root of the disk, the easier it is. For me it is C:\setupik\ . Move the pops this archive and a photo of the cat inside this folder.

Open a command prompt: press Win + R, type cmd and click OK.

Use the cd command to navigate to the created folder. Like this: cd c:\setupik\ .

Enter COPY command/B kot.jpg + secret.rar secret-img.jpg . Change the file names to your own: the first is a photo of a cat, the second is an archive with a hidden folder, the third is new file with a secret picture.

After running the command, open the created secret-img.jpg file. You will see the same picture with a cat. But if you open this file using an archiver or change the extension to rar or zip, you will see hidden files. Magic!

How to find a hidden folder

In the first case, a folder with an invisible icon and name will become visible if you select it. This can be done with the key combination Ctrl + A (select all) or manually select the entire desktop area.

In the case of a hidden folder using an attribute, you can find it when you enable the display of hidden files and folders through the control panel. That is, you need to repeat the described steps in reverse order.

You can also access a hidden folder if you write down its path somewhere. For example: C:\Users\Admin\AppData\My hidden folder. Paste this path into Explorer and the desired folder will open.

As you can see, there is a chance that your hidden folder they will find it by chance. Therefore, it is better to remove it from the desktop somewhere away. And the most reliable way- put a password on the folder. When archiving a folder in WinRar, the options will allow you to set a password and hide file names.

I want to show you one simple and safe way hide files with a simple trick in Windows - hide a file inside a JPG file.

You can actually hide any type of file inside an image file, including TXT, EXE, MP3, AVI, or any other. Not only that, you can store a large number of files inside a single JPG file instead of just one. This can be very convenient when you want to hide files and don't want to bother with ransomware and other file hiding methods.
In order to complete this task, you must have either WinZip or WinRAR installed on your computer.

Here are the steps to create a hidden cache:

Create a folder on your hard drive, for example, C: Test and put all the files you want to hide there. In the same folder, upload the image file into which we will “shove” the hidden files.

Now select all the files that you want to hide, right-click on them, and select the option to add files to archive. Just select the files you want to hide, not the map file. Name the created archive whatever you want, for example, “Hidden.rar”.

Now you have a folder containing JPG file and compressed archive:

Now here's the fun part! Click the Start button and select Run. Type “CMD” without quotes and press Enter. You should now see a window command line. Enter “CD” to get to the root directory. Then enter the command “CD Test” to get into the “Test” folder, which contains all our files.

Now enter next line(without quotes): “ copy /b DSC06578.JPG + Hidden.rar DSC06578.jpg” and press Enter. If everything went well, you should receive a response as shown below:

JPG file has been updated from compressed archive inside! Look at the size of the resulting image, you will see that it has increased by the same amount as the archive size.

You can access files hidden inside a picture in two ways.
First, simply change the file extension to .RAR and open the file using WinRAR.
Secondly, you can simply right click on JPG image and select “Open with”, and then select “WinRAR”.

That's all! This is an excellent and simple method simply because not many people know about this possibility and even those who know will not be able to suspect the files in your picture.

And those who don’t can close it right away.

Categories:

Here's another one small program-SteganPEG. It allows you to select any image in the .jpg/.jpeg format and put a certain amount of various files into it, protecting them with a password. The program itself will show you how much volume can fit into a specific image.

In order to get files hidden in the picture you will need the same program and password. The interface, as you can see, is extremely clear:

Added eXe-ImagePacker (600 kb):

Here are some more programs for similar purposes:

Here's some more information

In cheap old spy movies, the most secret documents and unique jewelry were invariably located in a secret safe hidden behind the picture. I don’t know what caused the popularity of this disguise method, but you can do something similar on your computer. Free utility File Camouflage allows you to hide any file, including text, program or other picture, inside any JPG image.

- it's tiny free utility, which allows you to hide confidential information under the guise of harmless images. After downloading and launching the program, we just need to indicate the file that we want to hide, then the picture that will act as a “cover,” and the location where the result will be saved. If desired, you can set a password, without which it will be impossible to extract the file.

To retrieve hidden data, simply switch to the tab De-Camouflage a file, enter the path to the “secret picture” and the save folder. In addition, the program can integrate with Windows Explorer, adding your item to the menu " Send«.

Due to its freeness and ease of use, it may well come in handy in cases where you need to secure your files, but do not want to deal with complex systems protection. With this utility, you can quickly and securely hide your data from prying eyes, without raising any unnecessary questions.

Answer
Of course, the program is free and does not require installation. But the archive has a password: http://beloe-bratstvo.ru/

Likewise, you can protect your files with a password, hide them in pictures, and post them publicly.

By the way, the program has one feature: when processing a picture, its original is not saved. That is, you will no longer have this picture without the archive - it will be overwritten. You will not be able to re-use this image to hide another file.

Therefore, it is better to do this: take a ZIP or RAR archive that you want to hide, copy it to the desktop, copy the picture there (only suitable JPG format), in which you want to hide this archive, and in the program indicate the paths to these copies, and not to the original archives and pictures. This is more correct.

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