Check if a File is hidden in Java

Course Curriculum

Check if a File is hidden in Java

Check if a File is hidden in Java

We can check a file is hidden or not in Java using isHidden() method of File class in Java. This method returns a boolean value – true or false.

Syntax:

public static boolean isHidden(Path path) throws IOException
parameters:
path – the path to the file to test.
throws:
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.
returns:
true: if file is hidden
false: if file is not hidden

The precise definition of hidden is 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.

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

// Java program to check if the given
// file is hidden or not
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;

public class HiddenFileCheck
{
public static void main(String[] args)
throws IOException, SecurityException
{
// Provide the complete file path here
File file = new File("c:/file1.txt");

if (file.isHidden())
System.out.println("file is hidden");
else
System.out.println("file is not hidden");
}
}

(Next Lesson) How to start learning Java