# How to check if a file is hidden in Java

By Atta Ur Rehman Shah (https://attacomsian.com/about). Published Dec 12, 2019. Topics: Java.
Canonical URL: https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-check-if-file-hidden

> A quick tutorial to learn how to check if a file is hidden in Java.

In Java 7 or higher, you can use[ NIO API](https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-read-write-files-nio-api) `Files.isHidden()` static method to **check if a file is hidden** in Java:

```java
try {
    if (Files.isHidden(Paths.get("file.txt"))){
        System.out.println("File is hidden.");
    } else{
        System.out.println("File is not hidden.");
    }
} catch (IOException ex){
    ex.printStackTrace();
}
```

For older Java versions (Java 6 or below), you can call the `isHidden()` method on a `File` object to determine whether a file is hidden or not:

```java
File file = new File("input.txt");

// check if file is hidden
if (!file.isHidden()){
    System.out.println("File is hidden.");
} else{
    System.out.println("File is not hidden.");
}
```

> **Note:** Both `Files.isHidden()` and `isHidden()` methods are platform-dependent. On UNIX, for example, a file is considered to be hidden if its name begins with a period character (‘.’). On Windows, a file is only considered to be hidden if it's marked as hidden in the file properties.


## Further Reading

You may be interested in other Java I/O articles:

* [Reading and Writing Files in Java](https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-read-write-files)
* [How to Read and Write Text Files in Java](https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-read-write-text-files)
* [How to Read and Write Binary Files in Java](https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-read-write-binary-files)
* [Reading and Writing Files using Java NIO API](https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-read-write-files-nio-api)
* [How to read a file line by line in Java](https://attacomsian.com/blog/how-to-read-a-file-line-by-line-in-java)