You are a privacy-loving person and you want to do everything to prevent other people using your computer from snooping on your files and folders. That is why you are looking for the best folder hiding programs to hide your personal files from others.
Well, if that’s the case and you find yourself in this situation (or your situation is similar), I guess you are not particularly skilled in using computers and you need my help. Never fear: I’m ready to give you my expert advice on the matter.
Hiding folders on Windows and Mac computers is absolutely possible and what’s more, most of the time, it’s super easy. If you’re planning to turn to the use of programs, so that you have one or more full-featured tools at your disposal, then you’ll find what you’re looking for in this tutorial. Sit back comfortably and take a few minutes of your free time: read the instructions I’ll give you step by step and you won’t be able to go wrong. I wish you a good read and good “work”.
Hide Folders (Windows)
Among the best folder hiding programs that I recommend you to use is the free Hide Folders software. It is an efficient program that allows you to hide folders that include sensitive or private data. Folders that are hidden are not accessible, viewed and cannot be searched or deleted by other users.
I also chose to point you to this software since it can be used for free for personal and commercial use and has no limitations on the number of folders you can hide with its use.
Hide Folders is also one of the most effective and easy-to-use folder hiding programs available for Windows. Using it is very easy: once installed you will notice its simple and intuitive interface: just select the folders you want to make invisible by pressing the Add Folder button and eventually apply a password protection to the program (Password button) to avoid unauthorized changes to its settings. To make a folder visible again, just press the Unhide button.
Keep in mind, however, that this is a program with basic functionality and therefore can be considered a starting point for those who want to hide folders on their computer.
Moreover, folders hidden with this software cannot be discovered either by enabling Windows Hidden File View or by deleting the program from the computer. It works with all versions of Windows and supports FAT32, NTFS and FAT file systems.
To download Hide Folders go to its official website and click on the Click Here to download link.
HiddenDIR (Windows)
HiddenDIR is another excellent program to hide folders that can be used for free on Windows computers and is characterized by an extreme simplicity of use. In this case it is a very lightweight and small program, designed to not take up a lot of space on your computer.
To take advantage of its powerful capabilities, in fact, you’ll just have to download and launch it and then go manually to select the folders you want to make invisible via the Hide button.
This software does not require any kind of installation and can therefore also be used to hide folders on external storage drives such as USB flash drives. To make a hidden folder visible again, just press the Unhide button.
The software can be protected with a password (Password button), so that unauthorized users cannot change its settings, and it works independently of system settings.
This means that even if you enable the default Windows hidden file view, the folders remain invisible until you unlock them from within HiddenDIR.
If you want to start using HiddenDIR download this program from the official website by clicking on the Download button located below.
Free Hide Folder (Windows)
As you can tell quite easily from its name, Free Hide Folder is a free program for Windows computers that allows you to hide one or more folders making them invisible to prying eyes.
Also in this case you’ll find yourself in front of a small-sized software that, although it requires a basic installation, comes in a compact form and is extremely easy to use even for less experienced users, despite its user interface being in English.
Once you have downloaded and installed it from its official website you’ll just have to set a password to protect the program’s settings and then select the folders you want to hide by pressing the Add button.
Also absolutely noteworthy is the feature called Backup implemented natively in this software. This tool allows you to back up the data contained within a folder that you want to hide.
This software works properly on all major versions of Windows and supports partitions formatted with the most common file systems. Folders made invisible with this application remain invisible even if you turn on hidden file view on Windows.
To start using Free Hide Folder download it from the official website by clicking on Download and use for free.
My Folder to My Computer (Windows)
Staying with Windows, among the programs that I recommend you use to hide folders is My Folder to My Computer. It is a very original program that allows you to camouflage your folders into system elements.
This means that you can take any folder on your PC and turn it into a fake My Computer shortcut or make it look like another system folder that, by its nature, is inconspicuous.
But the protection doesn’t end there: in addition to camouflage, My Folder to My Computer also blocks unauthorized access to hidden folders, assigning them a password without which they can’t be opened.
Also, in case you forget your password and want to recover it, you’ll have to provide an answer to the previously set secret question.
To use this program, once downloaded and installed, you’ll have to add the folders to be camouflaged and then press the Convert button. To restore a folder you’ll have to press the Revert a converted folder button.
You can download this program by clicking on this link and pressing the Download Now button.
LocK-A-FoLdeR (Windows)
LocK-A-FoLdeR is a very lightweight and free folder hiding program that is easy to use and offers the same functions as other similar solutions in this application review.
Using it, you can select one or more folders to make invisible and set a password protection to prevent unauthorized people from locking or unlocking folders at will.
Its user interface is intuitive even though it is in English and as a result, after downloading and installing it, you will first be asked to set a Master Password.
After that you can hide the folders you are interested in by pressing the Lock a Folder button. To restore a hidden folder you must instead press the UnLock selected Folder button.
This software works with all major versions of Windows and prevents you from viewing hidden folders even if you enable viewing of hidden files on Windows. You can download this software through this website and by pressing the Download Now button.
Secret Folder (macOS)
Secret Folder is a program that I recommend you to use on Mac and that is free to use in the form of a trial version. However, it is also available for purchase in a paid version that costs 19.95 euros.
The user interface of this software is simple and minimal and, also thanks to the presence of the Italian language, I’m sure you won’t have any problems using it.
All you have to do, to hide folders, is to press the (+) button and then choose the folders or documents you want to hide. To make the selected folder hidden, just move the label you see on the screen to Invisible. To restore the hidden files move the onscreen to Visible.
If you wish, you can check the box next to Require Password to set an additional level of security. To use this software, download it from its official website.
Hide Folders (macOS)
Hide Folders is an equally intuitive software that allows you to hide files and folders on Mac computers. This program can be downloaded completely free of charge and to use it, once downloaded and installed, all you have to do is drag and drop the files or folders you want to hide to the center of the program’s screen.
Once this is done, you will see the Hide item appear on the screen: simply click on it to hide individual files or folders in the blink of an eye (you can also select all the documents contained within Hide Folders) and hide them in record time by pressing the button mentioned above.
To restore hidden files or folders, press the Show button. To use this software, download it from its official website.