No .DS_Store Files

.DS_Store (Desktop Services Store) files are hidden macOS system files that store custom attributes of folders, including:

• Icon positions and sizes
• View mode (icon, list, column)
• Window size and position
• Sorting/grouping preferences
• Background images for folders

.DS_Store files help to provide a consistent and personalized user experience in macOS, similar to desktop.ini files in Windows.

While they’re useful on a Mac’s local drive, they’re often undesirable on network shares, USB drives, or in cross-platform environments, where they can clutter directories and reduce performance.

1 To prevent .DS_Store files being created on network and/or USB drives:

# Prevent .DS_Store on network drives
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool true

# Prevent .DS_Store on USB drives
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteUSBStores -bool true

# Restart Finder
killall Finder

2 To check the settings:

# For network drives
defaults read com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores

# For USB drives
defaults read com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteUSBStores

3 To restore the default behavior:

# Re-enable .DS_Store on network drives
defaults delete com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores

# Re-enable .DS_Store on USB drives
defaults delete com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteUSBStores

# Restart Finder
killall Finder

4 To find and delete .DS_Store files recursively on a mounted drive:

# Replace /Volumes/Drive with your mount path
find "/Volumes/Drive" -name ".DS_Store" -delete

To delete only files (no directories), and print the pathname:

find "/Volumes/Drive" -name ".DS_Store" -type f -print -delete

Alternatively, change to the directory and use 'find' there (.):

cd to/directory
find . -name '.DS_Store' -type f -delete

• Optionally omit -delete initially to verify the list of files that will be deleted.
• If you haven't performed step 1 above, the Finder will automatically re-create the files!

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