.DS_Store

.DS_Store (Desktop Services Store)^[1] is a hidden file created by Apple Inc.'s Mac OS X operating system to store custom attributes of a folder such as the position of icons or the choice of a background image.^[2]

Purpose

Although these files were primarily used by the Finder, they were envisioned as a more general purpose store of metadata about the display options of folders such as icon position and view settings.^[1] For example, on Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger", .DS_Store files contain the Spotlight comments of all the folder's files. However, on Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard" this changed again, and comments (now called Keywords) are instead stored in extended file attributes.^{[citation needed]}

Placement

By default, the Mac OS X Finder will create a .DS_Store file in every folder that it accesses, even folders on remote systems (for example, folders shared over an SMB or AFP connection) and even if the user has only customized the appearance of the folder by moving its Finder window.^[3] This is in contrast to the pre-existing system for the same purpose used in previous versions of the Finder, which would merely place a number of invisible files at the root of the volume being accessed (even on alien file systems), always storing the settings and metadata for all of the folders in the entire volume within this single set of files.

Prior to the release of Mac OS X 10.5, .DS_Store files would be visible on the Windows file system.^[4]

After complaints from users about these files being created on remote systems, Apple posted an article on its support site detailing how to disable the creation of remote .DS_Store files over network connections.^[5] However, this instruction does not apply for local drives, including USB flash drives.

See also

• desktop.ini—Windows equivalent to .DS_Store
• Thumbs.db—Windows thumbnail cache

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Arno Gourdol (September 30, 2006). "On the origins of .DS_Store". arno.org. http://arno.org/arnotify/2006/10/on-the-origins-of-ds_store/. Retrieved 2006-10-01. 
2. ^ Adobe (February 24, 2003). "Removing .DS_Store files on Macintosh OS X?". adobe.com. http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=tn_16831. Retrieved 2006-09-29. 
3. ^ Rixstep (May 21, 2003). ".DS_Store". rixstep.com. http://rixstep.com/1/20030521,00.shtml. Retrieved 2006-09-29. 
4. ^ "Prevent creation of .DS_Store files in network shares". www.greci.cc. November 12, 2007. http://www.greci.cc/?p=10. Retrieved 2008-11-12. 
5. ^ Apple Computer (May 24, 2005). "Mac OS X 10.4 and later: How to prevent .DS_Store file creation over network connections". www.apple.com/support/. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301711. Retrieved 2006-09-29. 

External links

• A reverse-engineered description of the file format
• How to avoid the creation of .DS_Store files on a Samba Server