When it comes to protecting our content, be it files or folders on any PC, the simplest and, above all, safest method is to use user accounts. Each user account is protected by a PIN, without which it is impossible to access its content. However, sometimes, it is not an option to create a user account, the only option being to hide the content that we do not want to share with other people.
And when I refer to hiding, I do not mean to protect a folder or file with a password, but to hide the information in the system so that no one but us can access its content. If we protect the content with a password, it is synonymous that we are hiding something.
Create invisible folders on the Windows desktop
When we say invisible, we really refer to invisible folders, folders that we can create on the Windows desktop and where we can store all the information that we want to have at hand, but in a hidden way so that nobody can access its content.
The first thing we must do is create a folder using the right mouse button and selecting the New – Folder option. Next, we replace the default name with an ASCII character that we will get after pressing and holding the Alt key and the number 255.
We will see how the folder does not show any name . Next, we go to the properties of the folder, clicking the right mouse button on the folder and selecting the Properties option. Within this section, click on the Customize tab and then on Change icon.
Next, we select one of the white icons shown in this section, click on Accept, and Apply. At that moment, we will see how the folder has become completely invisible on the desktop. It is only possible to detect its presence by moving the mouse around the desktop, a task that, obviously, absolutely no one does unless they are looking for something specific.
To prevent someone from finding this folder, it is best to place it in a part of the desktop where there are no other icons, whether they are applications, folders or shortcuts. In this way, the user of the equipment will not have the need to pass the mouse over that area and will have the possibility of finding it.
Hide files and folders inside directories
Natively, Windows does not show hidden system files, both in Windows 10 and Windows 11. However, within the explorer options we can modify this option so that these types of files are shown.
We can take advantage of this functionality to create hidden files and folders on the computer in any directory other than the Windows desktop. To hide a file or folder we just have to access its properties through the right mouse button and check the Hidden box.
From now on, the folders and files will only be shown if from the Windows Explorer ribbon, in the View section, we check the Hidden items box. To differentiate the hidden elements, they show both the icon of the file or application more clearly.
From the command line
But, if we want to save the files and folders in a directory that is not available through Windows , we must resort to the Command Prompt. In this way, we can navigate to the directory not available from Windows, such as the folder of each user and store the file there in a hidden way. To move between directories we use the following command to access directories
cd nombrediretorio
And this one to go back to the lower directory
cd...
Once inside the directory, we will use the Attrib command with the -h parameter to hide it. For example, if we want to hide the Softzone directory, we will use the following command
attrrib +h Softzone
To make the directory visible again, the command we must use is
attrib -h Softone
If it is a file, the command to use is the same, but we must include the file extension.