4

In my C:\Users\Me directory, I see a lot of files starting with a dot and they are not hidden files. I can see them even though I unchecked "show hidden files" box in folder options.

hidden files

I see some similar files in my C:\ directory as well. What can i do to fix this problem? I don't want them to be appear as they make my folders look messy. I'm running Windows 10.

karel
  • 13,390
  • 26
  • 45
  • 52
ErenL
  • 41
  • 1
  • 4
  • 13
    Windows does not use the dot to hide files with the show hidden files option. Windows uses a file attribute named hidden for that. A dot hides files in a linux based OS. So you can't fix this as this is the proper behaviour. You will see that when you right click any file/folder and go to properties - you will see a check box for Read-Only and Hidden. – Zina Apr 11 '16 at 15:02
  • 4
    Unlike Unix, Windows does not hide files beginning with `.`, but all files have a **Hidden** attribute, which you can set by selecting all the files you want to hide, right-click, select Properties and tick the Hidden box. – AFH Apr 11 '16 at 15:03
  • okey I know that dot files are related to Linux, but is this really the proper behavior? Isn't something wrong with my screenshot? For example; shouldn't ".cache", ".android" or "appdata" files have hidden attributes that are set to make them hidden. I believe some kind of virus caused this and wanted to learn what to do to fix this. – ErenL Apr 11 '16 at 15:22
  • 2
    Yes, it really is the proper behaviour. There is no correlation between file names and the hidden attribute, which has to be set in the options when a file is created or afterwards. There is nothing immediately suspicious about the files in your list, which appear to have been copied from an Android or other Linux file system, hence the `.` files. – AFH Apr 11 '16 at 15:36
  • 1
    Look messy? LOL! You don't want to use C: or even C:\Users\Me, those are directories for the system and programs. As I've seen above, the suggestions are true, Android and Linux isn't Windows. While it seems like a "tidy" things to do, don't waste your time, it's really not something you should think about. Rather use useful directories like your desktop, or My Documents, My Pictures, those are the directories you want to "use". All other directories are for the system and programs to use. Later, if you take up programming, you will use and access different directories for different objectives – ejbytes Apr 11 '16 at 16:23
  • 1
    Possible duplicate of [Hiding files/folders which begin with a full stop (period)](https://superuser.com/questions/364406/hiding-files-folders-which-begin-with-a-full-stop-period) – Ramhound Oct 01 '19 at 16:41

0 Answers0