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How to Unhide Hidden Files in External Hard Drive – Simplest Way

author
Published By Raj Kumar
Anuraag Singh
Approved By Anuraag Singh
Published On October 8th, 2024
Reading Time 5 Minutes Reading
Category data recovery

Looking for a way how to unhide hidden files in an external hard drive? Then, this post will assist you to complete this difficult task by using the top five methods. In this post, we will let you know the best solution suggested by experts to complete this task. So let’s get started with the article.

Quick Steps to Show Hidden Files in External Hard Drive

  • Download & install the tool on your PC
  • Choose the formatted scan option
  • Then, preview your data in tool panel
  • Click on save button to export your data

With the increasing use of storage mediums like USB drives, flash drives, external hard drives, pen drives, etc. by more & more people for storing sensitive data and information in a handy manner. There are now increasing incidences of these files getting hidden or non-visible owing to causes like virus infections or any other such reason. Sometimes, the users have many pictures, documents, etc. saved on these external storage mediums. But when they try opening these, sometimes, it so happens, that nothing seems visible. The computer only shows that the particular device is empty.

how to show hidden files on external hard drive

Table of Content

Method 1. How to Show Hidden Files in External Hard Drive Using CMD

  • Firstly, you need to plug in your USB or hard drive to your machine
  • Then, go to start Here, in the search bar, type “cmd“.  Now, click enter
  • Then, “cmd. exe” is shown under the programs’ list
  • Here, you have to right-click on this “cmd. exe
  • After that, you get a command allowing you to unhide hidden files
  • Just type in “attrib -h -r -s /s /d drive letter:\*.*”, here

    Unhide Hidden Files Using CMD

View Hidden Files in External Hard Drive with Attrib Command

  • Go to Start then, click All Programs after that click on Accessories. Then, click on Command Prompt
  • In the new Windows version, you have to right-click. Now, choose RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR
  • Now, Click Start then, Go to Computer or My Computer
  • Find Removable drive Type Drive Letter: and then press enter
  • You see a blinking line going down and displaying drive letter:\>
  • Here, type in attrib command -s -h -r /s /d And then press enter unhide files hidden by virus
  • The blinking line goes down once again and then Go to drive
  • Check whether you can view your hidden files now

Note: how to fix Windows detected a hard disk problem

Show Hidden Files in External Hard Drive Windows 7

  • First, click Start And then, click flash drive for opening
  • Inside that flash drive, you can click “Organize” present at the top-left section of the displayed window
  • Now, click on the “Folder and Search Options” And then, click the tab “View
  • Here, tick the option for “Show hidden files” inside the “Hidden files and folders”.
  • Now, click on the “Apply” option then click “OK
  • Finally, You might see your hidden files getting visible now

Unhide Hidden Files on External Hard Drive by Using Properties

Once you see the hidden files using about mentioned steps, then right-click on the hidden file that is needed to permanently unhide.

  • Firstly click on “Properties
  • Now Uncheck the “Hidden” option. Now, click on “Apply
  • Click “OK” finally to unhide the required files permanently

How to Show Folder in Windows 7 & 10

  • Click Start from the lower left screen part
  • Then, go to the Control Panel
  • Click the button for “Category” on the right upper menu corner
  • From the drop-down, choose “Small Icons
  • And then, from the “All Control Panel Items“, click on the “Folder Options
  • Now, select the “View” tab And then, enable the option for “Show hidden files, folders, and drives”.  how to show hidden files on external hard drive

How to Unhide Hidden Files on External Hard Drive Windows – 100% Safe Solution

If you want to use this solution, format your hard drive first after downloading the Hard drive formatted data recovery tool on your Windows OS. This utility supports recovering formatted and reformatted data from external hard drives. It has the ability to restore deleted data from Seagate hard disk and also supports all brands of hard drives. Now we will discuss the working steps of unhiding hidden files on a hard drive.

  • Download and install the software on Windows OS

    Download Now Purchase Now

  • Now to provides two modes of file recovery how to unhide hidden files in external hard drive
  • After that preview your restored data in the tool panel how to show hidden files on external hard drive windows 10
  • Finally, click on save button to recover your lost data how to show hidden files in external hard drive windows 7

Tips: showning error while formatting the portable hard drive

Some Tips, Tricks, and Warnings

  • After unhiding the files, scan the system for trusted antivirus precaution sake
  • Always check for hidden files habitually
  • Check what sort of files usually get hidden. This will give you an idea of the virus types

Conclusion

You can follow the steps given above to unhide hidden files in an external hard drive. However, if the manual does not work for you, then try third-party software. It will provide you with satisfying results.

Few Questions Asked by Users

Q. How Can I view hidden files on my external hard drive

A. In this the above section of the blog we have mentioned manual and trusted software to unhide hidden files in external hard drives. Users can choose any solution at their ease.

Q. Is it possible to restore hidden data from an external hard drive using the command artib?

A. Yes, users can restore hidden files from an external hard drive using the command artib. by following the below steps.

1. Go to start after that click on Accessories. Then, click on Command Prompt
2. Type: “type in attrib command -s -h -r /s /d And then press enter

But, keeping one thing in your mind manually way is complicated for normal users.

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