How to hide a file or folder in Ubuntu without renaming them. Install Nautilus Hide Extension for Nautilus to hide files without renaming them. This simple Python extension for the Nautilus file manager adds an options to the right-click menu to hide or unhide files. The extension hides the files without renaming them (i.e. without prefixing a dot (.) or suffixing a tilde (~)). It does that by adding their names to the folder’s “.hidden” file, which Nautilus reads to hide the listed files the next time you open or refresh the folder.
In Linux, and other UNIX like systems, a file with a name that starts by a dot (.) is considered a hidden file. Some file managers also hide files that end with a tilde (~), with are considered backup files. To hide an existing file, you would have to rename it. That’s not always feasible or desirable.
Some file managers, like Nautilus, offer an alternative way of hiding files: you create a text file that lists, line-by-line, the names of all the files you want to hide and save it in that folder with the name “.hidden”. The next time you open or refresh that folder, those files will not be visible.
This extension simply uses that “.hidden” file to hide files. When you choose to hide a file, its name is added to the folder’s “.hidden” file. When you choose to unhide it, the name is removed. If the file isn’t hidden/unhidden, press F5 to refresh the folder.
Download
You can download the latest version of the extension from the Releases page.
Install Nautilus Hide Extension
Run the following commands in Terminal to install Nautilus Hide Extension on Ubuntu Systems:
$ git clone https://github.com/brunonova/nautilus-hide.git
$ mkdir build
$ cd build
$ cmake ..
$ make
$ sudo make install
Once installed, restart Nautilus using the following command:
$ nautilus -q
For any further information, please visit https://github.com/brunonova/nautilus-hide
How To Hide File In Linux Ubuntu Without Dot originally posted on Source Digit – Latest Technology, Gadgets & Gizmos.