FOR command cannot see hidden files

You could use forfiles instead of for.

The syntax is quite different, but it has more functionalities (e.g., method to natively access the filename, the extension, the filesize and timestamp) and it processes all files by default.

For example, instead of

for %i in (*) do echo "%i"

you'd use

forfiles /c "cmd /c echo @file"

or simply

forfiles

since "cmd /c echo @file" is the default value for the command switch.

Here is one (ugly, unpleasant, non-ideal) work-around for files:

for /f "tokens=* delims=" %i in ('dir /b/a-d *') do echo "%i"

And a version for folders (analogous to for /d…):

for /f "tokens=* delims=" %i in ('dir /b/ad  *') do echo "%i"

And a version for both (no for analog, so this is something of a benefit):

for /f "tokens=* delims=" %i in ('dir /b/a   *') do echo "%i"

Recursive version for files (for… /r):

for /f "tokens=* delims=" %i in ('dir /b/s/a-d *') do echo "%i"

And folders (for /r /d…):

for /f "tokens=* delims=" %i in ('dir /b/s/ad  *') do echo "%i"

And both

for /f "tokens=* delims=" %i in ('dir /b/s/a   *') do echo "%i"

This works more or less, but definitely has its issues (especially for large sets of files or folders). Hopefully there is a better solution or Microsoft could fix/improve this in a patch.