Does a pressing “Ctrl+A” in a folder select the hidden items as well?

Question

Does Ctrl+A in a folder select the hidden items as well? Will copying a folder containing hidden files also copy the hidden files?

This question pertain to:

• Windows Explorer (Windows 7)
• Nautilus (Ubuntu)
• pcmanfm (LXDE)

Answer 1

In Windows ctrl+A will not select hidden files if they are not displayed and therefore they will not be copied.

If you copy a whole folder "from the outside" which contains hidden files, the hidden files will also be copied.

Answer 2

No, unless the hidden files display setting is enabled.

Here's how to display hidden files and folders:

• Open Folder Options by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking Appearance and Personalization, and then clicking Folder Options.
• Click the View tab.
• Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and then click OK.

Answer 3

No. As others said, Ctrl+A selects only visible content so any hidden or system files won't be selected. In fact in older Windows versions if you press Ctrl+A in a folder with hidden items you'll get a warning saying that there are hidden files in that folder

The warning has been removed in later versions of Windows but the behavior retains: You can't select something that you can't see