How to show hidden files by default?

[bennypowers]

Hey!

I like the hidden files feature, but I'd like to toggle them on by default.

In other words, I always find myself hitting H (or I, then saying "D'oh!", then hitting H) every time I open neo-tree. I'd like the hidden files to be shown automatically, but I'd still like them to render as 'hidden', and for H to toggle them off.

Should I just make an autocmd to toggle them on when I enter? I think I'd end up losing the toggle state then when i move back and forth...

[nyngwang]

require('neo-tree').setup {
  filesystem = {
    filtered_items = {
      visible = true, -- This is what you want: If you set this to `true`, all "hide" just mean "dimmed out"
      hide_dotfiles = false,
      hide_gitignored = true,
    },
    -- unrelated

[MatthiasEckhart]

@Jesseekoh

If you are using lazy.nvim, something like this could work:

$ nvim ~/.config/nvim/lua/user/plugins/neo-tree.lua
return {
  "nvim-neo-tree/neo-tree.nvim",
  opts = {
    filesystem = {
      filtered_items = {
	 visible = true,
	 show_hidden_count = true,
	 hide_dotfiles = false,
	 hide_gitignored = true,
	 hide_by_name = {
	   -- '.git',
	   -- '.DS_Store',
	   -- 'thumbs.db',
	 },
	never_show = {},
      },
    }
  }
}

Obviously, the config needs to be adapted to fit your needs (check the quickstart guide).

[Jesseekoh]

@MatthiasEckhart thanks a lot. It worked

[carlos-ssh]

@cjkvdev
That configuration that you shared was helpful. Thanks! I can display my hidden files in the tree files.🚀🚀🚀

[domnantas]

No need to replace all the options, this seems to be enough

return {
  "nvim-neo-tree/neo-tree.nvim",
  opts = {
    filesystem = {
      filtered_items = {
        visible = true,
      },
    },
  },
}

[vdegenne]

OP wanted to show hidden files but hide files defined in .gitignore, your code will just show everything..
Also you may want to always hide some files like .git by default. It's always good to see all options at once.

For people webdev'ing I find this setup to be the most accurate:

return {
  "neo-tree.nvim",
  opts = {
    filesystem = {
      filtered_items = {
        --visible = true,
        hide_dotfiles = false,
        hide_gitignored = true,
        hide_by_name = {
          ".github",
          ".gitignore",
          "package-lock.json",
        },
        never_show = { ".git" },
      },
    },
  },
}

[gldtn]

Can someone point me to the right direction? All .dotfiles are still being hidden, I'm completely new to Nvim and slowly trying to configure it.

This is what I have on my neotree.lua file:

return {
    "nvim-neo-tree/neo-tree.nvim",
    branch = "v3.x",
    dependencies = {
        "nvim-lua/plenary.nvim",
        "nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons", 
        "MunifTanjim/nui.nvim",
    },
    opts = {
        filesystem = {
            filtered_items = {
				hide_dotfiles = false,
                visible = true,
            },
        },
    },
    config = function(_, opts)
		require("neo-tree").setup(opts)
        vim.keymap.set("n", "<C-b>", "<CMD>Neotree toggle<CR>", {})
    end
}

This has been edited 10/23/24, the code above should work!

Thank you!

[pysan3]

@gldtn welcome onboard. You need hide_dotfiles = false here as literally the name suggests.

[gldtn]

Seems like my keymap line within the neo-tree.lua keeps the opts from working correctly, most likely from my lack of knowledge with Lua.

Once I moved it to a separate keymaps.lua the opts from this thread started working beautifully ;), so I removed this from my neo-tree.lua:

config = function()
        vim.keymap.set("n", "<C-b>", "<CMD>Neotree toggle<CR>", {})
end

Thanks for the help @pysan3

[rikkarth]

Working neo-tree.lua configuration for lazyvim with key-map configured within the configuration file.

neo-tree.lua

return {
    "nvim-neo-tree/neo-tree.nvim",
    branch = "v3.x",
    dependencies = {
        "nvim-lua/plenary.nvim",
        "nvim-tree/nvim-web-devicons", -- not strictly required, but recommended
        "MunifTanjim/nui.nvim",
        -- "3rd/image.nvim", -- Optional image support in preview window: See `# Preview Mode` for more information
    },
    config = function()
        require("neo-tree").setup({
            filesystem = {
                filtered_items = {
                    visible = true,
                    show_hidden_count = true,
                    hide_dotfiles = false,
                    hide_gitignored = true,
                    hide_by_name = {
                        -- add extension names you want to explicitly exclude
                        -- '.git',
                        -- '.DS_Store',
                        -- 'thumbs.db',
                    },
                    never_show = {},
                },
            },
        })
        vim.keymap.set("n", "<C-n>", ":Neotree filesystem reveal left<CR>", {})
    end,
}

[Rayaa144]

alternatively you could toggle show hidden files by pressing shift + T