Hide/show hidden folders

[Andrew Langford]

Why this macro is useful

I have several folders on my desktop that I like to keep hidden.  One reason is because I like a clean desktop where I can see the wallpaper.  And secondly, I store some of my important/private files in one of these folders, so I don't want others who use my computer to see these items.

I keep these folders on my desktop because of the convenience.  I will often select/upload files in web browser forms, and it saves time if I can just select Desktop in the Address field, double-click a folder, and select a file.

When I'm opening files or uploading them, these folders do not appear on the Desktop because they are hidden.  In order to quickly make the folders visible, I created a macro that toggles the option of showing hidden/system files and folders.

The recording steps

(This post is outdated with the release of Keybreeze 3.0, since macros are no longer recorded.  Please see the next post for instructions on writing the macro.)

[ptblnk]

hi if anyone can't get this method to work, this worked for me .. it might take a while to setup but it always works!

1. just open the windows control panel up. hotkey + "control panel"
2. click on appearances and themes
3. right click on folder options, and click 'create shortcut' then they click 'yes'
4. now on your desktop there should be the shortcut
5. cut n paste the shortcut into your my documents folder
6. now open up the command list for keybreeze, click add > new keyword > type 'folder options'
7. now locate the target of the folder options shortcut you made earlier (in your my documents folder)
8. now press hotkey + "macro" to create a new macro and copy n paste the following line

<keybreeze folder options><shift d><tab><shift u><rightarrow><tab><tab>s <enter>

9. now save it as "show", when the popup appears just click close
10. go back to the command list and add the keyword "show" and target "macro" and click ok.
11. exit the command list
12. now to test if it works navigate to "C:\Windows"
13. then press the hotkey and type "show", the hidden files n folders should appear.

to make the hide the files and folders command

14. create a new macro, copy n paste the following line

<keybreeze folder options><shift d><tab><shift u><rightarrow><tab><tab>s <enter>

15. now save it as "hide", when the popup appears just click close
16. go back to the command list and add the keyword "hide" and target "macro" and click ok.
17. exit the command list
18. now to test if it works navigate to "C:\Windows" where the hidden folders and files should already be visible
19. then press the hotkey and type "hide", the hidden files n folders should disappear.

btw i know your post was a while back now, but how did you increase the speed?

It takes about 6 seconds for the macro to complete after I increased the speed (I think 3x).

[Andrew Langford]

Thanks for your post ptblnk.  My original post was referencing the old method of creating macros in Keybreeze.  Before version 3.0, a user would record keystrokes and mouse clicks that he/she actually performs.  The macro would be recorded, and later, the user could type the macro name into Keybreeze to replay the actions.

Since Keybreeze recorded the actions exactly as you did them, you could choose an option to increase or decrease the speed.  With the new macro creator, you cannot speed up a macro.  A macro will run as fast as possible unless you set delays.

[nharren]

Or you can just make a macro without having to do any extra work. It uses the "control folders" run function to get to the folder options

Show:

Code:

<windowskey d>r<windowskey u>control folders<enter><delay 1000><ctrl d><tab><ctrl u><tab>s <tab><tab><enter>

Hide:

Code:

<windowskey d>r<windowskey u>control folders<enter><delay 1000><ctrl d><tab><ctrl u><tab>s<uparrow> <tab><tab><enter>

[garbanzo]

here is an even better way. paste the text below into a new txt file and name it something.vbs. the script will toggle hidden files and at the same time file extensions on and off. much quicker than the macro option. i just put in in my /Keybreeze/Scripts directory and assigned the keyword 'toggle' to it.

may have to refresh or change the current directory to see effects.


Option Explicit
Dim dblHiddenData, strHiddenKey, strSuperHiddenKey, strFileExtKey
Dim strKey, WshShell
On Error Resume Next

strKey = "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Advanced"
strHiddenKey = strKey & "\Hidden"
strSuperHiddenKey = strKey & "\ShowSuperHidden"
strFileExtKey = strKey & "\HideFileExt"

Set WshShell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
dblHiddenData = WshShell.RegRead(strHiddenKey)

If dblHiddenData = 2 Then
   WshShell.RegWrite strHiddenKey, 1, "REG_DWORD"
   WshShell.RegWrite strSuperHiddenKey, 1, "REG_DWORD"
   WshShell.RegWrite strFileExtKey, 0, "REG_DWORD"
   
Else
   WshShell.RegWrite strHiddenKey, 2, "REG_DWORD"
   WshShell.RegWrite strSuperHiddenKey, 0, "REG_DWORD"
   WshShell.RegWrite strFileExtKey, 1, "REG_DWORD"
   
End If