Would you like to learn how to configure a group policy to show the file extensions? In this tutorial, we will show you how to display the file extensions on Windows using a GPO.
• Windows 2012 R2
• Windows 2016
• Windows 2019
• Windows 10
• Windows 7
Equipment list
The following section presents the list of equipment used to create this tutorial.
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Tutorial GPO – Show hidden files and folders
On the domain controller, open the group policy management tool.
Create a new group policy.
Enter a name for the new group policy.
In our example, the new GPO was named: MY-GPO.
On the Group Policy Management screen, expand the folder named Group Policy Objects.
Right-click your new Group Policy Object and select the Edit option.
On the group policy editor screen, expand the User configuration folder and locate the following item.
Create a new folder option.
On the Advanced tab, select the option to show hidden files and folders.
Uncheck the option named Hide protected operating system files.
Click on the OK button.
To save the group policy configuration, you need to close the Group Policy editor.
Congratulations! You have finished the GPO creation.
Tutorial – Applying the GPO to display hidden files and folders
On the Group policy management screen, you need to right-click the Organizational Unit desired and select the option to link an existent GPO.
In our example, we are going to link the group policy named MY-GPO to the root of the domain.
After applying the GPO you need to wait for 10 or 20 minutes.
During this time the GPO will be replicated to other domain controllers.
On a remote computer, verify the folder options configuration.
In our example, we configured the folder options to show the hidden files and folders using a GPO.
