I mistakenly turned C:\Users\User into a hidden folder. Now, a lot of my programs aren't running. I can't even open file explorer. I managed to open powershell in admin mode, but am able to see the hidden folders using ls - Force. However, I don't know how to unhide them. How to I remove the the hidden attribute so that the mode of the folders change from d--h-- to d-----?
2 Answers
As Lee_Dailey points out, you can edit the Attributes property value on the corresponding DirectoryInfo object.
Since Attributes is a Flags enum (or a bit field if you will), the easiest way to remove a flag is to use bitwise operators:
$folder = Get-Item C:\Users\User -Force
$folder.Attributes = $folder.Attributes -band -bnot [System.IO.FileAttributes]::Hidden
This will set the value of Attributes to whatever it already is, but excluding the Hidden flag regardless of whether it was set or not
Mathias R. Jessen's helpful answer shows how to use PowerShell-native commands to solve your problem, but on occasion it is easier to call an external program to do a simple job, which is the standard attrib.exe utility in this case:
# Remove (-) the hidden (h) attribute from the specified dir.
attrib -h C:\Users\User
Note: Hypothetically speaking, if the target file or directory also has the system (s) attribute set - which you shouldn't modify yourself, and it is similarly ill-advised to change the hidden status of true system files - you would need attrib -s -h ... in order to turn off the hidden attribute (you could then restore the system attribute with attrib +s ...).
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