A few days back, a client came to me and told me that he was having trouble with his Windows XP. The show hidden files and folders was not working at all. If he selected the radio button “Show hidden files and folders”, and then press Ok .. the changes would just disappear upon opening the dialog again. It was probably some virus attack after which the Windows registry was not being updated properly. So here is what I did to restore it back. There are so many methods to restore back the registry. If one method is not working, please try another one.
Method 1:
Go to registry editor by running regedit in the run box.
Go to this key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoft
WindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvanced
In the right hand area, double click hidden and change the value to 1.
Now you’re all set to go. Check it in your tools menu if the changes have taken effect.
Method 2: (By Random Hajile)
1. Click “Start” -> “Run…” (or press Windows key + R)
2. Type “regedit” and click “Ok”.
3. Find the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorer
AdvancedFolderHiddenSHOWALL
4. Look at the “CheckedValue” key… This should be a DWORD key. If it isn’t, delete the key.
5. Create a new key called “CheckedValue” as a DWORD (hexadecimal) with a value of 1.
6. The “Show hidden files & folders” check box should now work normally. Enjoy! 
Method 3: (By Denny)
1- Click Start –> Run –> regsvr32 /i browseui.dll –> enter
A confirmation message will appear like given below
2- Click Start –> Run –> regsvr32 /i shell32.dll
Wait for the confirmation and click OK.
Method 4:
If none of the above methods work, please download our Smart Virus Remover from here:
[download id=”6″]
Using this Virus Remover please restore your Windows settings and your show hidden files and folders will be set to default.
Please spare a few moments from your precious time and tell us about your experiences.
Comments
1,097 responses to “Show Hidden Files and Folders not working?”
Salaam
how are u and howz ur health kia hoo raha hai bahi
Thankz 4 Hidden Folder Option, aik aur kaam kar deen yaaar yahoo ka Account Delete kar saktaa hain and …
?
Ali Mohsin, please don’t pour personal questions here. You may ask them through email.
Yes, yahoo account can be deleted. This webpage explains everything
ok bahi plz send me Link and tell me how i can delete yahoo and hotmail Account ?
Howz ur health Buddy ?
oh thankz bhi Jaan u r Gr8
Thanksssssss Bhaiiiiii….
Ur solution worked!!!
U rock !!!
Thnks again
Great !! atlast someone got help from my article. Daman n Adi you are always welcome to ask any question related to IT. We will be glad to sort out your problem.
Nice website. Keep up the good work.
Hi!
I tried doing that. But the problem still remains.
I am able to change the status to “Show hidden files and folders” and apply the changes. But it doesn’t save it.
So next time when I open Folder Option, its again “Do not show hidden files and folders”.
You can apply the above registry tweak to show hidden files and folders permanently..
Hi Sanix, its really good to find out the solution for that problem, thanks n regards, khurram
The solution really works great. Indeed I am very much delighted to know how the bloggers of Pakistan are emerging. I am a Professional Technology Blogger from Islamabad. I started blogging in 2007 Jan and am more like a professional in this field now. Do check my blog and keep up the good work.
thanks for the reply but it does not solve the problem.it again goes to do not show files. although i have scanned with th eantivirus.
Yes, it works perfectly. Many Thanks and good luck . GP-INDIA
In one of my clien’s XP changes in Registry is also not save and take effect for Hidden folder option. Now What?
Thanks Khurram for the compliments, I will try to add more useful content to the blog as soon as I keep getting more spare time from my job.
Dj Flush, your site is really very good. I’ve added it to my feeds reader so that I may check back regularly. Yes it’s really sad to know that not much of the people from Pakistan write technical blogs. But I hope that more people will start blogging once the advantages of blogging become more like “public”.
sharad have you restarted your explorer after applying the registry tweak?
GP, glad to see you happy. Keep visiting.
Amit, have you scanned from viruses and spywares online? If not, please do a virus scan so that all the traces of the infecting virus can be removed and then apply the registry tweak. It should save and immediately take effect.
Thank You very much for the Trick, dude. You are GREAT.
the value gets back to 0 even if you change it to 1
shabahat, probably the virus is still there in your system. Try to scan your system using online virus scanner and then see our post about killing the ravmon virus here.
The show hidden files and folders isnot working at all. If Iselected the radio button “Show hidden files and folders”, and then press Ok .. the changes would just disappear upon opening the dialog again. It was probably some virus attack after which the Windows registry was not being updated properly. So here is what I did to restore it back.
I have tried all the possible solutions as prescirbed on this website, but still the problem persists. Now what should I do.
i go in the regedit and did all the setting as u mentioned but hidden folders still not working then i install ravmon.exe but the problem is still there.plz tell me some other solution to unhide my hidden folders.
my run icon is disable .. its work in save mood but when i typed ther regedit its not working .. so what to do can you solve my problem
If anyone’s still having trouble, here’s a fix that worked for me after I got the RavMon virus:
1. Click “Start” -> “Run…” (or press Windows key + R)
2. Type “regedit” and click “Ok”.
3. Find the key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerAdvancedFolderHiddenSHOWALL
4. Look at the “CheckedValue” key… This should be a DWORD key. If it isn’t, delete the key.
5. Create a new key called “CheckedValue” as a DWORD (hexadecimal) with a value of 1.
6. The “Show hidden files & folders” check box should now work normally. Enjoy! 🙂
Thanks Random Hajile for sharing your experiences… People share your experiences so that others can benefit from yours..
Dear Random Hajile, I am very thankful to for providing this solution. The problem is solved now. and the folder options are now working now. Now I can see unhide files.
Thank you once agian.
Random Hajile…Xcellent!!!!…thank u for the insightful and helpful information…all systems are GO!
Hello Dears;
How to disable “Folder Options” in win98. It can be disabled in winxp when to type gpedit.msc in run.
thanks Sanix & Random Hajile
Hi!
I have this hidden files problem. I tried you solution but it didn’t work. The hidden files doesn’t appear and, the registry continues with the 0 value, even after I change to 1.
someone has any ideas?
thanks
Well Thx everybody 4 ur valuable comments and solutionz
it is such a nice and constuctive platform 2 helpout persons all over the world
1c again thx alot
dear all,
can sum body hep me out now a days i m facing a prob wid my laptop. “it has slowed down alot”, i hav installed 2 antivirus softwares “kaspersky & AVG 7.5” to make my laptop secured from various viruses.
and another prob that i installed 1 softwre called “sony ericcson PC suite” i unintendly uninstall the software through “windows installer cleanup” now its not showing in control pannel but its icon remains on desktop and sumtym ven i start my pc it shows the messge of corruption of software kndy if sum body has any idea then help me out for both of my probs
thx n luking forward
Lohith, probaby your system is infected with any virus.Try to scan your system using online virus scanner and then see our post about killing the ravmon virus here. and download the patch
Hai,
This is Lohith from india..Actually my laptop was infected with Trojan downloader DLF.LM..Now it is removed..But show hidden files option not working…What ever you suggested i have done but its not working..Please kindly help me in this matter
Thanks everybody for taking time to comment here and sharing your valueable experiences. For those who are still in trouble even after the tweaks mentioned in the post, it seems like you people have not scanned your system for viruses and the virus keeps on activating itself after you cancel its effect. So I would recommend a thorough virus scanning of your system before applying the tweaks above.
Muhammad Rizwan, I would recommend you should always use only one antivirus for optimum performance. And secondly, the software you removed has probably not removed itself from the system startup. Go to Run –> msconfig –> startup .. and uncheck the program if it exists to stop it from starting on startup. And the desktop icon will only be a shortcut so it would be safe to delete it.
thx buddy for ur valuable recommendation.
but wht i m facing is that its not showing in startup and also the desktop icon is not deleted i dun knw y?
well
and u recommend taht i shud keep 1 antivirus ok then ca u recoomend any1 which ca really help me out.
well i hav got 1 new prob, “task manager” has been disabled by administrator msg is showing ven i press cntrol+alt+del button in order to stop any runnig application+process.
i hav run Lavasoft adaware s/w but its not working, kindly tell me the solution
absolute solution, keep up the good work.
Thanks Sanix, the patch worked fine. I have AVG 7.5 that checks for updates daily and does a full system scan after that. Even then, it didn’t detect the virus. I believe that my USB thumb drive is the culprit. Is there any other way in which I can scan my whole PC including my thumb drives? I haven’t used my thumb drives on my PC while and after running the patch.
Muhammad Rizwan, you can see my latest post about enabling task manager for your solution:
http://technize.com/2007/06/27/task-manager-has-been-disabled-by-your-administrator/
Sanix-
thank you thank you for the regedit. Saved me!
Dear Sanix,
I edited my registry (Hidden through your simple and detailed instructions) twice but my radio button is still stuck on “Do not show files”.
Do you know any other way around it?
it worked ravmon virus killer is gr88888888888
thanks a lot
Hey thanks dude.. your solution was quite helpful… irritating hours of searching and scanning were reduced to a couple of minutes.. yours was the first google search result. thanks a bunch man.
Anand
in winXP pack2 in tools menu the ” folder option ” is noty display… help me..
hi,
thanks for the suggestion.. but it does not work for me…
i did the exact procedure what u said.. but after i change the value to 1 and go to explorer to change the settings to view hidden files and folder, the settings in the registry changes back to 0..
plz help me…
thanks,
vivek
I am having trouble with my Windows XP. The show hidden files and folders was not working at all. If i selected the radio button “Show hidden files and folders”, and then press Ok .. the changes would just disappear upon opening the dialog again. I had tried on u r suggestion but it is not working again
Hi there,
I m facing the saem problem & I tried your solution but it din’t workout. Do you’ve any other option ? pls let me know.
thanks..
Dear Concern,
I have done your excersize but my problem has not be resolve kindly assist me if passible kindly provide me your no also.
thank
In fact I have another Problem. I did in the past choose to hide some files, and now the option allowing me to uncheck the “Hidden” can’t be clicked anymore! Anyone know what I can do about this?
Regards to all