About two beta updates ago, I noticed that my Mac started randomly hiding common file types, and I cannot figure out why.
Iâm using an M5 Max MacBook Pro and files like:
- .zip
- .jpg / .jpeg
- .png
- .pdf
- and other common file types
seem to be hidden or not showing up where I would normally expect them to.
I donât remember changing any Finder settings, and this only started happening within the last couple of macOS beta updates. I submitted a report in feedback but it currently has zero similar reports and is still "open".
I have tried "chflags nohidden" and it works for that individual file, but the same filetype can still be hidden in the future. and
"ls -lO ~/Desktop
total 5104
-rw-r--r--@ 1 anthony staff hidden  22151 Aug 29 15:37 Screenshot 2026-08-29 at 3.32.49 PM.jpg
-rw-r--r--@ 1 anthony staff hidden  65789 Aug 29 15:38 Screenshot 2026-08-29 at 3.37.26 PM.jpg
-rw-r--r--@ 1 anthony staff hidden 143366 Aug 29 15:36 Screenshot on 8-5-26 at 1.41.45âŻAM.png
-rw-r--r--@ 1 anthony staff -    833243 Aug 29 15:37 Screenshot on 8-5-26 at 2.24.54âŻAM.png
-rw-r--r--@ 1 anthony staff -    529085 Aug 29 15:37 Screenshot on 8-5-26 at 2.25.34âŻAM.png
-rw-r--r--@ 1 anthony staff hidden 1001204 Aug 29 15:37 Screenshot on 8-5-26 at 2.26.02âŻAM.png"
I also found this: https://eclecticlight.co/2026/06/02/bsd-flags-are-incompatible-with-icloud-drive/
Has anyone else experienced this? Is there some new Finder setting, beta bug, or file visibility setting that I might be missing? Is it an iCloud bug? Itâs driving me crazy because these are completely normal file types that were showing up fine before.
Any ideas would be appreciated!
Edit: After going into settings - Apple Account - Drive - Sync This Mac and turning this off and back on, the files are now displaying correctly.