How to Hide a File Based on the File Extension

There are easy ways to hide a file from someone if you know what you are doing.  Every file saved on your computer has what is called a file extension.  A file extension identifies what program is necessary to open, edit and display a particular file.  This extension allows your operating system to open the right program for you to use the file.  Without the file extension attached to a particular file, you would not be able to open or use the file the way you need to.

Why would someone want to hide a file by utilizing a particular file extension? There are many reasons. For starters, you just may not want someone else using your computer to find particular files, folders or other data. You can do this by changing the file name, hiding it in folders within folders but the simplest way to hide files is to change the extension. This means that people looking at particular files will see they are not Word files or Excel files, and they will think, "Oh, okay, this isn't something I want to look at."

Changing the file extension of a file keeps it safe from prying eyes, especially if someone does in fact try to open a file that cannot be opened with a particular file associated with that extension. In order to do this, you want to click on any folder and navigate to the Folder Options within the Tools tab. Once opened, you want to find the option listed for hide known file extensions and uncheck it. This will give you the opportunity to change the file extension of a given file to whatever you want it to be to mask if from prying eyes.

Once masked, you will have to change the file extension back when you want to access the file by following the same steps above.  While it may seem like a pain, hiding files via file extension is an effective way to keep files safe, share files that might throw up red flags or otherwise add a simple layer of security to your data.  Knowing how to change file extensions is something every computer user should familiarize themselves with.