If you are on a Unix-line operating system like macOS or Ubuntu and want to know the list of hidden files and folders at a given location, you can make use of the ls command with -a option.
The hidden files and folders are prefixed by a dot and are not visible if you use ls command without the -a option.
Code2care@Mac % ls -l
total 16
drwxr-xr-x 5 c2ctech staff 160 Apr 16 10:31 AI
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 c2ctech staff 96 Apr 19 20:09 AndroidStudioProjects
drwx------@ 3 c2ctech staff 96 Apr 13 21:51 Applications
drwx------@ 9 c2ctech staff 288 May 6 23:13 Desktop
drwx------+ 7 c2ctech staff 224 Apr 22 20:16 Documents
drwx------+ 120 c2ctech staff 3840 May 6 17:15 Downloads
drwxr-xr-x@ 5 c2ctech staff 160 Mar 24 14:09 IdeaProjects
drwx------@ 93 c2ctech staff 2976 May 6 00:46 Library
drwx------ 4 c2ctech staff 128 Mar 16 13:09 Movies
drwx------+ 4 c2ctech staff 128 Mar 16 13:06 Music
drwx------+ 6 c2ctech staff 192 May 5 22:59 Pictures
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 c2ctech staff 96 Apr 25 14:02 Postman
drwxr-xr-x+ 4 c2ctech staff 128 Mar 16 13:03 Public
drwxr-xr-x 25 c2ctech staff 800 Apr 5 19:34 anaconda3
drwx------ 5 c2ctech staff 160 Mar 16 13:07 iCloud Drive (Archive)
-rw-r--r-- 1 c2ctech staff 29 Apr 18 19:33 vimrc
Now, let me add -a option.
Code2care@Mac % ls -la
total 168
drwxr-x---+ 53 c2ctech staff 1696 May 7 15:37 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root admin 192 May 5 22:16 ..
-r-------- 1 c2ctech staff 7 Mar 16 13:03 .CFUserTextEncoding
-rw-r--r--@ 1 c2ctech staff 10244 May 5 23:22 .DS_Store
drwx------+ 7 c2ctech staff 224 May 6 23:13 .Trash
drwxr-xr-x 3 c2ctech staff 96 Apr 5 19:36 .anaconda
drwxr-xr-x@ 12 c2ctech staff 384 Apr 19 20:13 .android
drwxr-xr-x 4 c2ctech staff 128 Apr 11 20:51 .aws
-rw------- 1 c2ctech staff 2912 May 4 23:25 .bash_history
-rw-r--r--@ 1 c2ctech staff 487 Apr 5 19:34 .bash_profile
drwxr-xr-x 3 c2ctech staff 96 Apr 25 19:30 .cache
drwxr-xr-x 2 c2ctech staff 64 Apr 5 23:27 .conda
-rw-r--r-- 1 c2ctech staff 23 Apr 5 19:36 .condarc
drwxr-xr-x 4 c2ctech staff 128 Apr 26 10:40 .config
drwxr-xr-x 3 c2ctech staff 96 Apr 5 19:36 .continuum
drwx------ 3 c2ctech staff 96 Apr 8 14:54 .cups
-rw-------@ 1 c2ctech staff 16 Apr 19 20:11 .emulator_console_auth_token
drwxr-xr-x@ 12 c2ctech staff 384 Apr 23 16:49 .gradle
-rw-r--r--@ 1 c2ctech staff 2175 Apr 11 12:17 .h2.server.properties
drwxr-xr-x@ 2 c2ctech staff 64 May 6 00:46 .ipython
drwxr-xr-x 3 c2ctech staff 96 May 6 00:47 .jupyter
-rw------- 1 c2ctech staff 20 May 6 00:08 .lesshst
drwxr-xr-x 3 c2ctech staff 96 Apr 25 19:30 .local
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 c2ctech staff 128 Apr 6 17:29 .m2
-rw-------@ 1 c2ctech staff 1161 May 4 21:41 .mysql_history
drwxr-xr-x 4 c2ctech staff 128 Apr 5 21:37 .pyenv
-rw-r--r-- 1 c2ctech staff 311 Apr 5 19:34 .tcshrc
-rw------- 1 c2ctech staff 6631 Apr 18 22:09 .viminfo
-rw-r--r-- 1 c2ctech staff 29 Apr 18 19:36 .vimrc
drwxr-xr-x@ 4 c2ctech staff 128 Mar 20 17:44 .vscode
-rw-r--r-- 1 c2ctech staff 675 Apr 5 19:34 .xonshrc
-rw-r--r-- 1 c2ctech staff 86 Apr 5 13:34 .zprofile
-rw------- 1 c2ctech staff 70 May 6 19:30 .zsh_history
drwx------ 41 c2ctech staff 1312 May 7 15:36 .zsh_sessions
-rw-r--r-- 1 c2ctech staff 554 Apr 19 20:46 .zshrc
drwxr-xr-x 5 c2ctech staff 160 Apr 16 10:31 AI
drwxr-xr-x@ 3 c2ctech staff 96 Apr 19 20:09 AndroidStudioProjects
...
...
-rw-r--r-- 1 c2ctech staff 29 Apr 18 19:33 vimrc
As you may see above, when I ran the ls -la command, there are so many of the hidden configuration files made visible under my Mac home directory.
Facing issues? Have Questions? Post them here! I am happy to answer!
- Command to know the Available Memory on Linux System
- How to install curl on Alpine Linux
- How to backup a file in Linux/Unix
- Install Java Runtime Environment (Oracle or open JRE) on Ubuntu
- What is the Default Admin user and Password for Jenkins
- How to tar.gz a directory or folder Command
- Copy entire directory using Terminal Command [Linux, Mac, Bash]
- Fix: bash: ipconfig: command not found on Linux
- Command to check Last Login or Reboot History of Users and TTYs
- Linux: Create a New User and Password and Login Example
- ls command to list only directories
- bash: cls: command not found
- How to exit from nano command
- Installing and using unzip Command to unzip a zip file using Terminal
- What does apt-get update command does?
- ls command: sort files by name alphabetically A-Z or Z-A [Linux/Unix/macOS/Bash]
- How to remove or uninstall Java from Ubuntu using apt-get
- scp: ssh: connect to host xxxx port 22: Connection refused Error
- Sort ls command by last modified date and time
- Create Nested Directories using mkdir Command
- How to Exit a File in Terminal (Bash/Zsh)
- Command to know the installed Debian version?
- How to connect to SSH port other than default 22
- How to save a file in Nano Editor and Exit
- Install OpenSSL on Linux/Ubuntu
- [Tutorial] How to Customize Notepad++ Toolbar - NotepadPlusPlus
- How to get file path in Idea IntelliJ IDE - Java
- PHP Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent - PHP
- How to Setup AWS Credentials using Visual Studio Code - AWS
- How to Clone Bitbucket repository to Local Computer - Git
- Eclipse : The type java.lang.CharSequence cannot be resolved. Indirectly referenced from required .class files - Java
- How to know the version of Teams installed - Teams
- Replace tabs by spaces or comma Notepad++ - NotepadPlusPlus