How to Show Hidden Files on a USB Using Windows, CMD, or Software

These days, many people store their personal data on USB flash drives, portable hard drives, memory cards, and other external hard disks. Sometimes, these files get lost after system upgrades, program installations, virus attacks, or for some unknown reasons. You didn't delete them intentionally or format the disk. In this case, how to show hidden files on USB when they are invisible at their location? On this page, you'll learn how to unhide files and folders on USB with 3 methods, including Windows, CMD, and a third-party USB drive recovery software.

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How to Show Hidden Files and Folders on a USB Flash Drive

Hidden files and folders on a USB drive are defined as a group of items that occupy disk space but typically do not show up. These files may be set to hidden by default in Windows, or a virus could have made them hidden. If you've lost important documents, pictures, or videos, and you're sure you didn't delete any of these, they're most likely hidden somewhere. You need to take the appropriate steps to unhide files from your portable device as soon as possible.

Many people have experienced the frustration of seeing all their files vanish, and not knowing what to do about it. Before we get into the methods on how to view, check, and show hidden files on various USB drives, let's first discuss why your files might go missing. If your USB drive, memory card, or other storage device is showing no data, it could be due to a virus or malware infection. Malware sometimes marks the files on the device as hidden, so you won't see them when you open the device.

Fortunately, you can recover virus-infected files from a USB drive, hard drive, or memory card. Here, you'll learn how to fix a blank SD card and show hidden files on a memory card or USB drive with three effective methods.

You might want to watch this video tutorial first:

Solution 1: Recover Hidden Files from USB with Software

If you can't show hidden files via Control Panel or CMD, you may turn to a powerful solution from Data Recovery Wizard. This professional data recovery tool can help you recover hidden files from flash drive, hard drive, as well as USB flash drive, memory card, external hard drive and more storage devices.

By performing the 3-step hidden file recovery, you will see your hidden files again.

Step 1. Select the virus-infected drive to scan

Run an anti-virus file recovery software on your Windows computer. Select the infected disk to scan for lost or hidden files. Note that:

• If the files are hidden or deleted due to a virus on an HDD, it is recommended to install the software on a different partition or external USB drive to avoid overwriting data. • If the infected device is an external hard drive, flash drive, or memory card, it is safe to install the software on the computer's local disk.

Step 2: Review all scan results

The "Data Recovery Wizard" will immediately start scanning the virus-infected hard drive for deleted or hidden files. To quickly locate the needed files, you can use the "Filter" or "Group by Type" feature to display only pictures, videos, documents, emails, and so on.

Step 3: Preview and recover the deleted/hidden files

Once the scan is finished, you can preview the files that were found. Select the ones you need and click the “Recover” button. You should save the recovered files to a different secure location on your computer or storage device instead of where they were originally lost.

Solution 2: Show Hidden Files on USB with Windows File Options

1. Press the Windows+E keys to open File Explorer in Windows 10/8/7.

Step 2: In the "Folder Options" or "File Explorer Options" window, click on the "View" tab. Under "Hidden files and folders," click the option to "Show hidden files, folders, and drives."

Step 3: Click “Apply,” then “OK.” Your files should now appear on the USB drive.

Solution 3: Show Hidden Files on USB using CMD

When you want to show hidden files on an external hard drive, USB drive, memory card, or any other storage device, the Command Prompt (CMD) is your second option. Here, you'll learn the full attrib command for hidden files.

To display hidden files using the Command Prompt, follow these three steps:

Step 1 Plug the USB drive into your computer.

Step 2. Press the Windows + X keys and click on “Command Prompt (Admin)” from the menu that appears.

Step 3. Type attrib -h -r -s /s /d G:\*.* in the Command Prompt window (replace G: with the drive letter of your device), and press Enter.

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After doing this, go to your USB flash drive, hard disk, or memory card and check if you can see all the hidden files.

Use a CMD alternative to display hidden files

While executing commands manually is suitable for tech experts, incorrect commands can do more harm than good. For safety and ease of use, we highly recommend trying a command-line alternative – CleanGenius. This handy tool lets you check and fix filesystem errors, enable/disable write protection, and update your system with a single click, without the need to type complex commands.

With just a few simple steps, this one-click repair tool will show hidden files.

Step 1: Download the free CleanGenius tool.

Step 2: Launch CleanGenius and click on “Optimize” from the left panel. Then, click on “File Display” from the right panel.

Step 3: Select your hard drive and click 'Perform'.

Step 4: When done, click on this link to view the hidden files.

If you can't find the file you're looking for, try this alternative solution: Recover hidden files from your USB flash drive and memory card using a data recovery software tool.

"Frequently Asked Questions about Showing Hidden Files on USB"

To assist you, we've gathered three questions that might be of interest to you.

Why can't I see my files on my USB?

This is most likely due to a virus attack. Apart from virus infection, there can be other factors that cause files on a USB not to show:

• Files and folders hidden from the USB drive
• Data accidentally deleted
• Operating system on the computer fails to recognize the file system

2. How do I view hidden files on a USB?

Files on a USB device can become hidden for various reasons. To display or recover hidden files from a virus-infected USB flash drive, hard disk, memory card, or portable drive, you can use the Control Panel, CMD commands, or data recovery tools.

3. How to recover hidden files from SD card?

To recover hidden files from an SD card, we recommend using the Data Recovery Wizard tool.

Connect your Android's SD card to your computer. Search for the file you need on the SD card. View the document. Recover hidden files from your SD card.