Can't view hidden items except in Terminal

[aldus_vet (John Cooper)]

I’m running Sequoia 15.7.4. Command-shift-[.] kills and restarts the Finder, but hidden files still aren’t visible.

If I run a process and enter:

% defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllfiles YES
% killall Finder

…the same thing happens. No hidden files are visible.

If I run ls -a on the same folder I have open in the Finder (my home directory), I see LOTS of hidden files and folders.

Any idea how to restore hidden file visibility in the Finder?

[Halfsmoke]

TinkerTool allows showing hidden files via a GUI.

Screenshot here:

Make Finder Window Columns Resize to Fit Filenames

Originally published at: Make Finder Window Columns Resize to Fit Filenames - TidBITS Thanks to John Gruber of Daring Fireball for alerting me to an option in the Finder that I’d never previously encountered: the ability to have column view adjust the width of columns to fit the longest visible filename. I’ve been using it only for a few days, but I’m already a big fan. (Blogosphere assists in uncovering this feature come from Jeff Johnson, Michael Tsai, and DifferentDan.) Enabling Auto-R…

I’ve had TinkerTool on my Macs for years and haven’t ever had any problems with it.

[jimblock]

The free Mac app Onyx also has the ability to make invisible files and folders visible. I’ve used it for years too, also with nothing but satisfaction. It is available from Titanium Software.

[Halfsmoke]

I, too, think Onyx is a fine utility.

[david_blanchard]

I think you are missing his point. Command-Shift-. is part of macos and should show hidden dot-files. The defaults command should do the same. Both fail for the OP so there is an issue with the Finder.

I would suggest finding any preference files associated with Finder and delete them (but first make a copy and save). Then restart Finder.

[aldus_vet (John Cooper)]

Thanks, David. I did as you suggested with com.apple.finder.plist, but it didn’t solve the problem.

As you realized, I’m only looking to restore the documented behavior of the Finder. I’ve used both TinkerTool and Onyx in the past. But I shouldn’t have to!

[aldus_vet (John Cooper)]

Because it’s quick, easy, and familiar, I did download TinkerTool 10 just now. Interesting data points:

• Using the TinkerTool option to “Show hidden and system files” and clicking its Relaunch Finder button does result in the Finder showing hidden files. They appear grayed, but can be manipulated like any other file. This is the result I expected after pressing command-shift-[.].
• Pressing Command-shift-[.] when hidden files are displayed (as a result of the TinkerTool operation) hides the hidden files (after the Finder automatically relaunches).
• Pressing Command-shift-[.] again does not display hidden files in the Finder, as Apple documentation says should happen. I have to use TinkerTool again to see the files.

[josehill]

@aldus_vet

Pressing Command-shift-[.] again does not display hidden files in the Finder, as Apple documentation says should happen.

My guess is that somehow you have a custom key command associated with cmd-shift-.. Unfortunately, there is no simple, comprehensive way that I know of to show all command key customizations available in a given context, i.e., what is available when a particular app is active.

[aldus_vet (John Cooper)]

@josehill

My guess is that somehow you have a custom key command associated with cmd-shift-..

BINGO! At some point in the distant past, I’d created a shortcut in Keyboard Maestro that uses this key combination. Disabling that shortcut fixes the problem.

But it’s actually a little more interesting than that. The KM shortcut actually tests for the value of AppleShowAllFiles in com.apple.Finder. If it’s true, it deletes AppleShowAllFiles from the prefs file and restarts the Finder. If it’s false, it writes the AppleShowAllFiles into the prefs file with a value of true, and restarts the Finder.

I’m not generally clever enough to write a macro of that complexity (I’ve got a decades-old certificate in programming, but I suck at it), so I have to assume I found this macro somewhere and entered it to fix some problem I was having with this same issue way back when. Whatever its origin, it obviously isn’t needed anymore.

Thanks for helping me track this down, and thanks for the excellent guess at what was causing it.

[josehill]

Glad to hear that you were able to solve the problem, and thanks for letting us know!
Cheers!

[eric2 (Eric Rosenbloom)]

It’s not precisely the issue raised here, but since I’ve found the need to see invisible files only occasionally, and since I use the Transmit FTP client a lot (as in, it’s always on), I look at local folders in Transmit when I want to see the invisible ones.