The problem is that files starting with a period are hidden from listings in the Finder windows, so trying to find a hidden file to open using TextEdit will not get you very far. For the majority of users, editing a text file is warmer and fuzzier using a GUI text editor like TextEdit. There is the pico editor which, for a command line editor, is a little friendlier than vi. For the seasoned veteran, editing this file is simply a matter of dropping to a shell, editing in vi, and :wq’ing. When confronted with the task of editing your. What follows is a simple way to edit a hidden file using TextEdit without making any changes to the system. I also prefer to edit them using vi, but I know that many folks are likely to think ‘six’ instead of ‘editor’ when presented with vi. While there are tricks to make hidden files visible in Finder windows, I prefer to keep my hidden files hidden. bashrc) can be a challenge to edit because they are, well, hidden and don’t show up in Finder windows. In OS X, hidden files (those starting with a period like. Posted Octoby Quinn McHenry in Mac system administration
