Windows command-line command to list hidden folders

Question

Is there a command on the Windows command-line that can list hidden folders?

I've tried dir -a:dh but that doesn't work for me.

score 37 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 30 '11 at 15:00

37

Use the following command:

dir /a:hd C:\folder\

The difference between what you were typing and this command is that you were using a - to indicate the switch, not a /. In most windows command line applications, this doesn't matter, but in the case of the dir command, you must use a slash, not a dash.

The /a switch changes which attributes are displayed. h shows hidden files and d shows just directories. Make sure you keep the trailing slash on the end of the folder path. I just tested, and it worked fine.

answered Apr 30 '11 at 15:00

nhinkle

37,390

What's the point of the : character in /a:hd? Omitting it and simply doing dir /ah seems to work well.... – Pacerier Apr 25 '15 at 20:24
How can I make dir display all files folders and the attributes of each item? – Royi Jun 29 '17 at 18:33
see https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc755121(v=ws.11).aspx – Woodchuck Oct 27 '17 at 03:19
2

I get "dir : Cannot find drive. A drive with the name '/a' does not exist." when I run "dir /a:hd" – geronimo Apr 15 '22 at 14:30
It looks like Royi and Pacerier might be in Powershell prompts? When I open up a cmd.exe it works as advertised (and doesn't work in, eg, a VS Code Powershell terminal). More info. cmd /r dir /a is a neat workaround. – ruffin Jun 14 '22 at 19:13

score 17 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 30 '11 at 14:49

17

dir/a should show hidden folders.
dir /a:d shows all directories.
dir /a:h shows all hidden files.

Try dir /adh (without the colon) to combine.

edited Apr 30 '11 at 14:49

Gareth

18,809

answered Apr 30 '11 at 11:38

Andrew J. Brehm

5,222

And "dir /ad-h" shows only non-hidden directories, like "dir". – Andrew J. Brehm Apr 30 '11 at 11:40
1

Why the down vote? The answer is correct. – Andrew J. Brehm Apr 30 '11 at 17:26
Btw if we only do dir /ad (as opposed to dir /ad-h and dir /adh), what's the default h behavior? – Pacerier Apr 25 '15 at 20:29

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered May 06 '19 at 07:10

7

To list all files and folders, including hidden and system ones, use dir with /a flag:

dir /a C:\

answered May 06 '19 at 07:10

izogfif

303

1

If you use the parameter /a without specifying any attributes, the command dir displays the names of all files, including hidden and system files. from https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/administration/windows-commands/dir – cachius Sep 21 '23 at 07:49

Windows command-line command to list hidden folders

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