Guide: How to Stop Creating .DS_Store Files on Shared Network Drives on MacOS
If you want to keep your macOS folder views clean and organized, you should create a .DS_Store file in each folder and hide it from users.
The .DS_Store file from a Mac is visible in Windows if the user has the appropriate software installed.
To delete .DS_Store files manually, you must first configure macOS not to create them. This can be done by setting a preference in System Preferences to “Do not create .DS_Store files on network shares.”
Stop creating .DS_Store files
sudo mkdir -p /Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleScript.framework/Versions/A/Resources sudo add_library “AppleScript” “/Library/PrivateFrameworks/AppleScript.framework”
This setting disables the writing of network stores in the Desktop Services account. If true, this will prevent any changes to the account’s settings from taking effect.
After running the command, save any open work and log out of your macOS user account. When you log back in, reconnect to your shared network drives. If you have existing .DS_Store files, they may still be present and must be manually deleted. However, your Mac will not create new .DS_Store files while browsing the shared folders in the future.
.DS_Store Tidbits
Since macOS hides these files by default (and even Windows can be configured to hide them), you’ll only want to prevent them if you know Windows users can come across them. In a purely Mac-based network environment, there is no need to hide .DS_Store files, and if you do, you can set folder display preferences that persist between sessions. But there is one more reason to consider this process: speed. Depending on the speed of your network, the speed of your shared storage, and the number of files and folders being shared, using .DS_Store files can slow things down while browsing the network. That’s because your Mac is not only dealing with a potentially slow network or slow hard drives in a NAS, it may also need to read and process thousands of .DS_Store files. In this case, the benefits of folder metadata simply aren’t worth it. However, keep in mind that this really only applies to the aforementioned circumstances. Users with fast NAS devices on gigabit or faster networks shouldn’t have a problem unless you’re dealing with an exceptionally large number of folders.
Re-enable .DS_Store Creation
netstat -an | grep .DS_Store
This setting disables the writing of network stores in the Desktop Services account.
After running the command, make sure to log out and then reconnect your shared network drives.
How to Stop Creating .DS_Store Files on Shared Network Drives on MacOS: benefits
Faq
Final note
How to Stop Creating .DS_Store Files on Shared Network Drives on MacOS In order to stop creating .DS_Store files on shared network drives, you’ll need to do a few things. First, make sure that your computer is up-to-date with the latest security patches. Second, create a new user account and password for that account. Finally, disable automatic sharing of files between your computer and the network drive.
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