Seeing system files like .htaccess on a Mac

In the June WDUG meeting, Ryan Smith talked about Apache settings, and the question came up: How do you view/edit (hidden) system files on a Mac (since they are hidden by default)?

I find the simplest thing is to change the Finder setting, temporarily, to show the hidden files, so you can open and edit them just as you would any other file.

1. Open Terminal

2. Type this command (and hit enter):

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles true

3. Type this command to restart the Finder (and hit enter):

killall Finder

Note: These are case-sensitive.

When you want to hide system files again, do the same two commands, but change "true" to "false" in the first one.

You could just leave it set to "true," but it can be annoying to see system files all over the place, and you might inadvertently move or delete something that shouldn't be moved or deleted.