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Check if a File is Hidden in Java

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isHidden() method of File class in Java can use be used to check if a file is hidden or not. This method returns a boolean value – true or false.

Syntax:

public static boolean isHidden(Path path) 
throws IOException

Parameters: Path to the file to test.

Return Type: A boolean value, true if file is found hidden else returns false as a file is not found hidden 

Exceptions Thrown:

  • IOException: If an I/O error occurs
  • SecurityException: In the case of the default provider, and a security manager is installed, the checkRead() method is invoked to check read access to the file.

Remember: Depending on the implementation the isHidden() method may require to access the file system to determine if the file is considered hidden.

Example:

Java




// Java Program to Check if Given File is Hidden or Not
// Using isHidden() Method of File class
 
// Importing required classes
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
 
// Main class
// HiddenFileCheck
public class GFG {
 
    // Main driver method
    public static void main(String[] args)
        throws IOException, SecurityException
    {
 
        // Creating a file by
        // creating an object of File class
        File file = new File(
            "/users/mayanksolanki/Desktop/demo.rtf");
 
        // Checking whether file is hidden or not
        // using isHidden() method
        if (file.isHidden())
 
            // Print statement as file is found hidden
            System.out.println(
                "The specified file is hidden");
        else
 
            // Print statement as file is found as not
            // hidden
            System.out.println(
                "The specified file is not hidden");
    }
}


Output: 

Output Explanation: As it can easily be visualized from the background of the output that the ‘demo.rtf’ file popping icon is clearly seen. The code reflects that a specific file is not hidden on the terminal output as seen above.

Note: The precise definition of hidden is a platform or provider-dependent.

  • UNIX: A file is hidden if its name begins with a period character (‘.’).
  • Windows: A file is hidden if it is not a directory and the DOS hidden attribute is set. 



Last Updated : 18 Apr, 2022
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