What are hidden files like .bash_profile and .gitignore?
Congratulations, you own a computer! But even though you shelled out your hard-earned cash, it doesn’t quite trust you.
There are a few different ways that the computer protects itself from you accidentally screwing it up. One of the less serious ways is creating hidden files.
How hidden files hide from you
Hidden files are files that you’re free to browse, open, and edit, but only if you are able to find them! On OS X, hidden files are marked as “hidden” by having their filename start with a period.
| filename | description |
|---|---|
filename.txt |
not a hidden file |
.filename.txt |
a hidden file!! |
By default, both Finder and the command line both hide these files from you. While finding hidden files or editing them isn’t too difficult, their slightly secret nature keeps them juuuuust hidden enough that most computer users won’t be able to accidentally screw up their computer by editing them. Security through obscurity at its finest!
Examples of hidden files
Shell startup files
Shell startup files are the most common hidden files.
~/.bash_profileand~/.bashrcare startup files for the bash shell, while~/.zprofileand~/.zshrcare startup files for the zsh shell.
Their filenames are technically just .bash_profile (etc), but you’ll usually see them listed as ~/.bash_profile as a marker that they’re in your home directory.
.gitignore
When you’re saving your files into a git repository, the .gitignore file tells git about files it should ignore. For example, temporary files and Visual Studio Code setting files.
The .git folder
While most hidden files are just that – files – sometimes you’ll come across entire directories! When you set up a folder as a git repository, it secretly creates a .git folder: all of the data for the repo is tracked inside of this folder!
If you delete the .git folder, all of the local information about the repository will be lost.
.DS_Store
Oh boy, don’t get me started on .DS_Store! It’s a weird little file that shows up in OS X folders that will be the first thing you add to your .gitignore file.
Most OS X users won’t know .DS_Storefiles exist since they’re hidden (unless they turn on seeing hidden files), but Windows users might! If a Windows person opens up a zip file made on OS X, oftentimes a .DS_Store will show up after accidentally being included by the mac user.