How to Show Hidden Files in USB Windows 11, 10, 8?

Data files that exist on a USB Flash Drive but do not appear while listing or exploring are called hidden files. Normally, users hide some of their important files from a pen drive to prevent crucial data from being accidentally deleted or modified. However, there are some circumstances when users do not get those files after attempting to show hidden files in USB Windows 11, 10, 8, 8, etc. to modify or delete them. This usually happens due to several apparent reasons.

Well, whatever the reason, this can be troublesome, especially when you have no idea how to show hidden data in pendrive in Windows 11., 10, 8, and 7. So, let’s explore some of the simplest ways to view hidden files in pen drive in Windows 11, 10.

Why are Hidden Files on a USB Drive?

There are many reasons why files on a USB drive are hidden or inaccessible. These are just a few of the most common causes:

• These files may be intentionally “hidden” to prevent unauthorized viewing.
• USB drives can also be infected with viruses and malware, which can compromise the files on the drive.
• You may also not see these files because they were accidentally deleted or otherwise deleted.

Show Hidden Files in USB Windows in Explorer

• In File Explorer, go to View in the menu bar.
• In the window that appears (this could be Folder Options or File Explorer Options),

• Select the Hide Elements checkbox. Then click “Options“.
• Select Change Folder and Search Options.

• Under Adv. Settings, scroll down and uncheck option Hide protected system files (recommended).

• Click Yes on the warning message. Then click OK.

• All hidden photos and files will appear on the external drive.

View Hidden Files in Pen Drive using PowerShell

• Press Windows key + X or right-click the Windows PowerShell{Admin} to open Quick Access.

• Select Windows PowerShell (Administrator) to open PowerShell with administrator rights.
• When prompted, type dir-force and press Enter.

• This command will only show hidden files and folders but will not change the folder options in Explorer.

Show Hidden Files in USB Windows 8 Using CMD

Command Prompt is one of the best ways to unhide hidden files on USB Windows 10, 8, and 7 memory cards or other external storage drives. In order to show hidden data in pendrive in Windows 8, follow the instructions given below:

• Open the Windows Start menu and search for “cmd”. Select and open CMD
• Hit a click on cmd.exe and enter the command line, where you can utilize the attrib command to unhide the hidden files
• After this, type attrib -h -rs /s /d H:\*.* command and hit the Enter button
  

  Note: Here, replace H: with your USB drive letter.

• After returning the command prompt, you can see all the files and folders that were hidden previously and you can simply access them from your USB.

See Hidden Files on USB Drive Using Control Panel

Control Panel is another good idea to unhide the hidden files in USB Windows 10, 8, and 7. Below is how to use it to show hidden data in pendrive in Windows 10:

1. Click on the Start menu and launch the Control Panel.
2. From the Control Panel, select Appearance and Personalization.
3. In the Appearance and Personalization window, click on Show hidden files and folders.
4. In the File Explorer Options wizard, click on the View tab.
5. Select the radio button next to Show hidden files and drivers. Click Apply.

If you are not getting your hidden files back even after applying all the above methods, then, it might be possible that you have lost your files.

Automatic Way to Recover and Show Hidden Files in USB Windows 11. 10, 8, and 7

To use of this method, you have to format your pen drive first. After that, you can download Pen Drive Recovery Tool to restore lost data files from your pen drive or USB flash drive. The software is safe and recovers complete data without resulting in any data loss. Using this, you can recover all types of data, like videos, images, documents, and all other multimedia items, from a pen drive.

It supports recovery files from FAT, exFAT, and NTFS-formatted external storage USB drives. The best thing about this tool is that it supports recovering data from all brands’ pen drives, regardless of their size.

Quick Steps of this Software

Follow the steps below to recover and view hidden files in pen drive Windows 11, 10 and all below versions:

1. Download and Launch Pen Drive Recovery Tool on your computer
2. After this, the tool will display the newly attached drive. Select it and click on Scan
3. Now the tool will display all the recovered data items in its preview pane. All the bold folders contain data and it will highlight recovered and permanently deleted data items in red color
4. Select all the desired items or just directly click on the Save button.

In Conclusion 

Files can be hidden on a USB flash drive or memory storage device for multiple reasons. Users who encounter such issues, search for a common question on how to show hidden files in USB Windows 10, 8, and 7. Here, we have discussed all the possible manual and automatic techniques to unhide hidden files in USB windows 10, 8, and 7.

See Hidden Files on USB drive Windows: FAQS