{"id":3287,"date":"2016-06-16T20:35:34","date_gmt":"2016-06-16T20:35:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=3287"},"modified":"2022-09-07T00:01:27","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T18:31:27","slug":"show-hidden-protected-files-right-click-toggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/show-hidden-protected-files-right-click-toggle\/","title":{"rendered":"Show Hidden and Protected Files via Right-click Menu Toggle Option"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In order to view protected and hidden files in Explorer, it takes a minimum of six mouse-clicks, which can be a big inconvenience for users. So here comes a script and registry edit that adds the &#8220;Show Hidden and Protected Files (toggle)&#8221; option to right-click menu.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>This option allows you to quickly view hidden and protected Operating System files, without needing to go to Folder Options dialog every time. This is something similar to my other script covered in article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/toggle-thumbnail-previews-right-click-menu-windows\/\">Enable or Disable Thumbnail Previews Quickly Using Right-Click Menu in Windows<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Show hidden and protected files via Right-click menu<\/h2>\n<p>Download <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/showallfiles.zip\">showallfiles.zip<\/a> and extract the contents to a folder.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/showallfiles-1.png\" alt=\"show hidden and protected files\" width=\"329\" height=\"137\" border=\"1\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Move the script file <i>showallfiles.vbs<\/i> to C:\\Windows<\/p>\n<p>Double-click <i>showallfiles.reg<\/i> to create the context menu entries in the registry.<\/p>\n<p>Now, right-click on the Desktop or in an empty area in a folder. You&#8217;ll see the option &#8220;Show hidden files and folders (toggle)&#8221;, which when clicked, displays hidden and protected files. As the name implies it acts as a toggle; clicking this menu option again will turn off display of hidden and protected files.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3289\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/showallfiles-2.png\" alt=\"show hidden and protected files\" width=\"335\" height=\"344\" \/><\/p>\n<p>To remove the option, run the file <i>undo.reg<\/i> and then manually delete <i>showallfiles.vbs<\/i> from the Windows directory.<\/p>\n<h2>Script Contents<\/h2>\n<pre>\r\n'This script toggles the display of hidden and protected files\/folders in Explorer.\r\n'June 16, 2016 - Ramesh Srinivasan for https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/\r\n\r\nSet WshShell = CreateObject(\"WScript.Shell\")\r\nstrBaseKey = \"HKCU\\Software\\Microsoft\\Windows\\CurrentVersion\\Explorer\\Advanced\\\"\r\nstrProtected = WshShell.RegRead(strBaseKey &amp; \"ShowSuperHidden\")\r\n\r\nIf strProtected = 0 Then\r\n\tWshShell.RegWrite strBaseKey &amp; \"ShowSuperHidden\", 1,\"REG_DWORD\"\r\n\tWshShell.RegWrite strBaseKey &amp; \"Hidden\", 1,\"REG_DWORD\"\r\nElse\r\n\tWshShell.RegWrite strBaseKey &amp; \"ShowSuperHidden\", 0,\"REG_DWORD\"\r\n\tWshShell.RegWrite strBaseKey &amp; \"Hidden\", 2,\"REG_DWORD\"\r\nEnd If\r\nWshShell.SendKeys \"{F5}\"<\/pre>\n<p>Feel free to modify the code as per your requirements. Happy computing!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In order to view protected and hidden files in Explorer, it takes a minimum of six mouse-clicks, which can be a big inconvenience for users. So here comes a script and registry edit that adds the &#8220;Show Hidden and Protected Files (toggle)&#8221; option to right-click menu.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[441,480],"class_list":["post-3287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows","tag-registry","tag-scripts"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":171,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/show-hidden-files-and-folders-option-missing-or-does-not-work\/","url_meta":{"origin":3287,"position":0},"title":"Show Hidden Files and Folders Missing or Does Not Work","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 9, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"The Folder Options dialog's View tab allows you to show or hide hidden and system (protected) files in Explorer. The hidden files have the HIDDEN attribute. Protected files (aka, \"super-hidden \" files) have the SYSTEM attribute. There have been many support incidents lately where the File Explorer does not show\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"show hidden files and folder does not work","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/04\/folder-options-show-hidden-files.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5044,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/hide-selected-files-hidden-attribute-right-click-menu\/","url_meta":{"origin":3287,"position":1},"title":"Show or Hide Selected Files from the Right-click menu","author":"Ramesh","date":"December 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"In File Explorer, you can hide or show selected files using the \"Hide selected files\" toggle button in the Ribbon interface. This command can be added to the context menu using the method described in article Add any Ribbon Command to the Right-click Menu in Windows 10. Show or Hide\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"show or hide Selected Files context menu","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/hide-selected-files.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/hide-selected-files.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/hide-selected-files.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1116,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/hidden-registry-settings-sendto-menu-windows-7\/","url_meta":{"origin":3287,"position":2},"title":"Hidden Registry Settings for &#8220;Send To&#8221; Menu in Windows","author":"Ramesh","date":"December 26, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"The Send To menu in Windows allows you to quickly send a file to different locations, including a CD\/DVD, USB drive, or a third-party application. We've covered a few articles on the \"Send To\" menu before, and here are the three new and undocumented registry edits that can be used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/w7-sendto-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/w7-sendto-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/w7-sendto-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":182,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-thumbnail-preview-for-pictures-w7-vista\/","url_meta":{"origin":3287,"position":3},"title":"Fix: Thumbnails Not Showing up in File Explorer","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 14, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Are your image files showing up with a generic mountain and lake scene instead of the miniature or thumbnail display in File Explorer? And video files may show up with a generic icon\/thumbnail. This article tells you how to enable thumbnails in File Explorer on Windows 10\/11 and earlier. 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Also, does the cover image appear in the background when playing an mp3 file using Windows Media\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1954,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/associate-autocad-script-scr-notepad-screen-saver\/","url_meta":{"origin":3287,"position":5},"title":"How to Associate AutoCAD Script (.SCR) Files With Notepad?","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 9, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"AutoCAD Script files and Windows Screen Savers, both use .SCR file extension. If you're trying to change the .SCR file type association to edit your AutoCAD scripts with Notepad or any other editor, you'll note that the Open With... right-click menu option isn't available for .SCR files. That's because they're\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/w10\/autocad-scr.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}