Showing hidden files still not working after enabling 'ShowAllHiddenFiles'

[briandev]

Hi, all. I've tried the following:

new-host-3:root# defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE; killall -HUP Finder
new-host-3:root# defaults read com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles
TRUE
new-host-3:root#

However, even after restarting Finder and verifying this boolean value has been changed, it still doesn't show hidden files (e.g., .htaccess). Is there anything else that needs to be done? I've tried restarting as well.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[GGJstudios]

To show hidden files in Finder, copy and paste the following two commands into a Terminal window (press enter after each line):

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles true
killall Finder​

To hide hidden files in Finder, copy and paste the following two commands into a Terminal window (press enter after each line):

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles false
killall Finder​

 

[briandev]

To show hidden files in Finder, copy and paste the following two commands into a Terminal window (press enter after each line):

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles true
killall Finder​

To hide hidden files in Finder, copy and paste the following two commands into a Terminal window (press enter after each line):

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles false
killall Finder​

Thanks for posting. I just tried this now (since it was slightly different than what I tried) and it didn't work. After Finder restarted, I went into some files that I know contain .htaccess and I don't see them. I also don't see .DS_Store in any folders.

 

[GGJstudios]

Thanks for posting. I just tried this now (since it was slightly different than what I tried) and it didn't work. After Finder restarted, I went into some files that I know contain .htaccess and I don't see them. I also don't see .DS_Store in any folders.

Did you copy and paste, or just type? It's never failed to work for others. You might also try restarting your Mac.

 

[briandev]

Did you copy and paste, or just type? It's never failed to work for others. You might also try restarting your Mac.

I will try restarting again. I tried restarting for my initial command I typed as mentioned in my original posts. Both attempts were copy/pasted, not manually typed.

I can verify that it is showing as true:

new-host-3:root# defaults read com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles
true
new-host-3:root#

----------

I will try restarting again. I tried restarting for my initial command I typed as mentioned in my original posts. Both attempts were copy/pasted, not manually typed.

I can verify that it is showing as true:

new-host-3:root# defaults read com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles
true
new-host-3:root#

UPDATE: I have resolved the issue. You need to enter in this command as a local user, not root. It's working now! Hope this helps someone in the future.

 

[Mal]

UPDATE: I have resolved the issue. You need to enter in this command as a local user, not root. It's working now! Hope this helps someone in the future.

That's because when you run the defaults command, it modifies the specified file (com.apple.Finder.plist in this case) in the current user's home directory. That means when you do this logged in as root, it does it in the root home directory, and therefore it wouldn't affect your main user account. It would work if you logged into the GUI as root, but most people don't do that often (and shouldn't).

jW

 

[Jesse Smith]

How do you get it so that once they are showing, you can just click and edit the files (.htaccess)? I got all .htaccess files set to open with TextWrangler, but clicking it does nothing.