Show Hidden

Shows or hides hidden files in mac finder. In old versions of OSX this isn't a feature of Finder.

It's a very basic shell script. Here's the full thing.

#show or hide hidden files in mac finder

show=$(defaults read com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles)
if [ "$show" == "TRUE" ]
then
    defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE;killall Finder
else [ "$show" == "FALSE" ]
    defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE;killall Finder
fi

exit

This script has been wrapped in a .dmg file for ease of use.

[Note]: Only works on OSX. It shouldn't damage anything if you run it on another system with bash installed but it won't do anything either.

Requierments

A version of OSX around 10.6 OSX 10.6.8 is the only thing this has been tested on. If you have a simi-modern version of OSX/macOS this functionality is now built into Finder.

The key combination is Command + Shift + . or ⌘⇧. in a more mac symbology.

Running

Two methods of running are provided.

Method 1. The script

• Download the script or copy it from this readme and place it in a folder on your path.
• Add execute permissions. Example chmod u+x /path/to/script/show_hidden.sh
• Run from the commandline.

Method 2. The app

• Download the .dmg.
• Open the .dmg and drag the application to the Applications folder.
• Run from the application menu

Or download the .app and either manualy move to the Applications directory or run it from the

The DMG

If you want to recreate the .app file.

1. Open Automator.
2. Select Application as the type.
3. Find and drag Run Shell Script to the sequence.
4. Copy and paste the contents of show_hidden.sh into the script window.
5. Name and save in Application format.
6. [Optional] To add a custom icon: i. Obtain the image you want to use. ii. Open in Preview. iii. Save as AutomatorApplet.icns being sure to select ICNS format. iv. Open the .app by right clicking and selecting Show Package Contents. v. Go to the Contents/Resources directory and replace the existing AutomatorApplet.icns file with your custom one. vi. Close the .app in Finder

If you want to recreate the .dmg file.

1. Follow the instructions here and add a symbolic link to the Applications folder.
2. Or use a tool such as create-dmg. I can vouch for this tool working on OSX 10.6 as of version 1.0.8.