Hide Your Personal Files and Folders in Linux

The term “Linux” symbolizes security. Because of its never before witnessed high level of security, Linux is “the” operating system platform that is preferred by users globally, for whom making his system secure holds the utmost of priorities. Be it a virus threat or the system’s internal workings, any Linux based operating system boasts of being almost invincible to external or internal misfits that can disrupt the system’s normal functional activities.
Talking about security, what an user would primarily do is to hide his personal data from others who can access his computer. This data may include certain files or folders. Hiding such files or folders is a child’s play in any Linux based operating system. We here, at Tech-Tips-Geek, look upon the process to hide your personal data, to view them and to revert them back or to un-hiding them if an user wishes to do so.

Steps to Hide a File or Folder :

We here take a folder for example to demonstrate the process of hiding it. The same process applies to a file to be hidden. Follow the following steps to hide a file or folder in Linux :
1. Open the drive containing the folder and navigate to its location.

2.3. Rename the folder by putting a “.” (dot) at the beginning of its current name. Press ENTER.4.

 Select the folder to rename it. Renaming a folder can be accomplished by right-clicking on it and then selecting to “Rename”, or by simply pressing F2 after selecting the folder.

 The folder is now ready to be hidden. To hide the folder, click on the “View” tab in the menu bar and select to un-check the box next to “Show Hidden Files” or simply press F5. The folder vanishes.

You have successfully hidden a folder in Linux without much effort.

Viewing the Hidden File or Folder :

 In the menu bar, click the “View” tab and select to check the box next to “Show Hidden Files”. This can also be done by simply pressing “Ctrl + H”.

Your hidden folder appears to you, enabling you to access it right away. This of-course doesn’t change the hidden property of the folder. Re-hiding the folder involves just clicking on the “View” tab once more and un-checking the box next to “Show Hidden Files” or pressing “Ctrl + H” once again.

Proceed in the following steps to view the folder you have hidden :1. Navigate to the location of the hidden folder.2.

Un-hiding the File or Folder :

Un-hiding a hidden file or folder in Linux is a much simpler task. The process is described below :
1. Follow the steps to view the hidden folder as mentioned above.
2. After the folder can be viewed, select to rename it once again.
3. Just remove the “.” (dot) you had placed at the beginning of the name of the folder and press ENTER.

The folder has been un-hidden.
Hiding a file or a folder is a basic example of the highest level of security that Linux provides its users with. This, and a lot more makes Linux the “numero uno” operating system for a secure workstation.