Mac OS X Tip - Listing .htaccess in Finder (and other dot files)

In the course of development for websites, I often need to edit the .htaccess file. In Mac OS X's Finder default configuration, files beginning with a period (dot files) are not listed.

To include all dot files in Finder's listings, open Terminal and type these two lines (return/enter after each line):

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
killall Finder

The first line configures Finder to show all files, which of course includes dot files.

The second line closes all instances of Finder that may be open.

When you open Finder again, you'll see dot files in the listing of directories wherever they exist. Which almost always includes file .DS_Store, by the way.

.DS_Store will also be on the desktop. Which can be somewhat annoying, especially for those who like a clean desktop.

To reverse the Finder configuration so it will not list dot files, repeat the two lines except use FALSE at the end of the first line instead of TRUE.

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles FALSE
killall Finder

If you prefer not to see all the dot files in your Finder listings, and if you use TextWrangler, it has an "Open Hidden" menu item under File. It will list any .htaccess files available for editing. Other text editors may have similar features.

Will Bontrager