Tip: Show all files and folders on OSX

Blogged on January 16, 2008 at 15:09

This is more of a “note to self” than a post, but it can come in handy to some of you too!

If you want to see all files and folders on your Finder (including /usr, /var, .DS_Store, etc…) run the following command in the terminal:

defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES

Then restart the Finder (Option+Right-Click on the Finder in the dock > Relaunch) and you’re all set! To undo, simply run the same command changing the variable (YES) to NO.

The obvious downside of this is seeing… well, everything! Those annoying .DS_Store files in every folder, the multiple config files (like .bash_profile, etc…) but it can be useful especially when backing up or moving a lot of files/folders or accessing hidden files and folders on backups.

Hope it’s useful for anyone as it has been for me… at times!