You might have some things on your Chromebook that you don’t want wandering eyes to see. Thankfully, it’s super easy to hide files and folders on Chrome OS. Unlike when hiding files on Android, you don’t need any special software to do it.
First, click the “App Launcher” icon in the bottom-left corner to see all of the apps on your Chromebook. From there, open the “Files” app.
Next, find the file or folder you would like to hide and click the three-dot menu icon in the top right.
Select “Show Hidden Files.” That might seem like the opposite of what we’re trying to do but stick with us.
Right-click the file or folder you want to hide and select “Rename” from the menu.
Simply add a period to the beginning of the name and hit Enter.
Now click the three-dot menu icon again and this time unselect “Show Hidden Files.”
That’s it! The files or folders you renamed will disappear from the file list. It might seem redundant, but you do need to show the hidden files every time you add a period to a file or folder.
How to View Hidden Files and Folders on a Chromebook
Now you’ve hidden some files and folders, how do you see them again? Go to the folder where you have hidden files and click the three-dot menu icon in the top right.
Select “Show Hidden Files” from the menu.
That’s all there is to it! This is a super simple trick and it works thanks to Chrome OS being built on Linux. It’s not a super secure way to hide things—anyone with access to your Chromebook can toggle that “Show hidden files” option—but it can clean up any clutter you have.
RELATED: How to Hide Files and Folders on Every Operating System
