Yes, I know it’s like curing the disease by killing the patient, but I did say that it’s the easiest way to go about hiding your folders. If you really don’t want to trouble yourself with code, there’s a very easy and extremely fast way to hide your folders on Mac, by using the FileVault.īasically, it turns your hard drive into a Fort Knox-like vault that cannot be opened without the proper cipher, which in this case is the username and password associated with your admin account. How to Hide Folders on Mac using FileVault Now, the next time you will launch Finder, all desired folders will be hidden. Navigate to the following line and type in or paste the following:Īlias hideFiles='defaults write AppleShowAllFiles NO killall Finder /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app. Type in or paste the following line:Īlias showFiles='defaults write AppleShowAllFiles YES killall Finder /System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app When prompted, type in the username and password associated with your active admin account. Type in or paste the following line: sudo nano ~/.bash_profile Again, you will need to fiddle around with the Terminal. Albeit temporary, we can easily turn this into a more permanent solution.

How to hide folders on your Mac by using Terminal AliasesĪliases are macros or shortcuts to various commands. If you look closely, you’ll see that the folder’s path has appeared. Drag-and-drop the folder onto the Terminal window. Fill it with stuff that you want to hide. Type in the following line: chflags hidden Double-click to enter the Utilities menu. From the left panel, select Applications. So, here’s how to hide files/folders using Terminal. Don’t worry it’s just a couple of command lines. There’s also a way to hide folders on Mac, but it involves using the Terminal. How to hide folders on Mac using Terminal Get yourself acquainted with the Terminal (Mac’s version of Windows’ command prompt) because, as it happens, it’s the only way to hide folders on Mac without resorting to third-party tools. It may not apply to Mojave or whatever else Mac OS you’re running, but at least you’ll get an idea of what you’re up against. Because I really don’t want to rile up all you wonderful Mac users, I’ve decided to do a follow-up on the whole hiding your folders in plain view dilemma.

How to lock a folder in mac