How to show hidden files and folders in Linux

Files and folders with names beginning with . (a dot) are considered hidden and are not made visible by default in Linux. This means that file managers like Nautilus, Dolphin, or even command line tools such as ls will not automatically show files and folders with names beginning with ..

You can still use ls at the terminal to also list hidden files and folders.

1. Launch terminal
2. Go to the folder that contains the hidden files or folders.

   $ cd temp/

3. List normal files and folders in the directory using ls command.

   $ ls
   file  folder

4. List all files and folders in the directory using ls command, including hidden files and folders.

   $ ls -a
   .  ..  file  folder  .hidden-file  .hidden-folder

   Files and folders with names started with . (a dot) is considered hidden in Linux and other Unix-based operating systems such as *BSDs and macOS

   Related: How to hide or unhide files and folders in Linux

5. Show more info on the files using the ls command.

   $ ls -la
   total 16
   drwxrwxr-x 4 user user 4096 Oct 31 09:27 .
   drwxr-xr-x 5 user user 4096 Oct 31 09:26 ..
   -rw-rw-r-- 1 user user    0 Oct 31 09:27 file
   drwxrwxr-x 2 user user 4096 Oct 31 09:26 folder
   -rw-rw-r-- 1 user user    0 Oct 31 09:27 .hidden-file
   drwxrwxr-x 2 user user 4096 Oct 31 09:26 .hidden-folder

   . and .. are special folders which refers to current and one-up folder respectively

6. List files and folders using absolute path.

   $ ls -la /home/user/temp/
   total 16
   drwxrwxr-x 4 user user 4096 Oct 31 09:27 .
   drwxr-xr-x 5 user user 4096 Oct 31 09:26 ..
   -rw-rw-r-- 1 user user    0 Oct 31 09:27 file
   drwxrwxr-x 2 user user 4096 Oct 31 09:26 folder
   -rw-rw-r-- 1 user user    0 Oct 31 09:27 .hidden-file
   drwxrwxr-x 2 user user 4096 Oct 31 09:26 .hidden-folder