Hidden ._ Files?

[patriotaki]

Hello,

Is there any way to avoid creating these "._" hidden files on specific drives or folders?
As a software developer it is really annoying carrying these files everytime I copy paste my production folder(s).

Also they are not always visible in Finder or Forklift.

 

[Fishrrman]

My take is that you cannot "stop" the files from being created.
Having said that, you may be able to get rid of them before you do your copy/pasting.

What I'd try:
1. Download the small, FREE app called "EasyFind" from here:

DEVONtechnologies | Needful Things

A little collection of free utilities for the Mac to make your life easier.

www.devontechnologies.com

2. Open EasyFind and set it up as such:
Search for: files and folders
Operator: phrase
Comparison: ignore case
Include: invisible files and folders

3. Now, enter this into the search box text area:
"._"
Click the magnifying glass.

That ought to reveal them.
If you can see them, you can now use EasyFind's delete button to delete them...

 

[chabig]

Also they are not always visible in Finder

That's the whole point. Apple stores metadata in those files and they aren't meant to be visible. I believe Windows has hidden files too.

 

[patriotaki]

That's the whole point. Apple stores metadata in those files and they aren't meant to be visible. I believe Windows has hidden files too.

why are they been copied when i copy the file NOT the folder? there is no point carrying these hidden files when you only copy the file and not the folder.. I thought forklift would at least show them always

 

[chabig]

why are they been copied when i copy the file NOT the folder?

I don't think they are copied. When you create the copied file in a new directory, a new dot file is "created".

Good info here, including a terminal command (dot_clean) to delete all of them in any directory path.

Why are dot underscore ._ files created, and how can I avoid them?

I am using different operating systems on different machines on different locations. I am using a USB flash disk to keep my files (source codes etc.). I am new to Mac OS X and now I realize there ...

apple.stackexchange.com

 

[patriotaki]

I noticed that these files are only created when i use my external exFAT drive.
Is there any way to stop it? or mass delete? dot clean does not do anything in my case

 

[chabig]

I noticed that these files are only created when i use my external exFAT drive.

They are created in every directory on every device, regardless of formatting. You don't see them on HFS+ and APFS volumes because they are hidden. Windows does same thing, littering folders with Thumb.db files that become visible when viewed on Macs. It isn't necessary to delete them. Your best solution is to just ignore them.

If you really must delete them, search the web for terminal commands or apps to do so.

Awesome Toast | Delete all hidden Mac junk files in Windows (Like .DS_STORE)

awesometoast.com

 

[patriotaki]

They are created in every directory on every device, regardless of formatting. You don't see them on HFS+ and APFS volumes because they are hidden. Windows does same thing, littering folders with Thumb.db files that become visible when viewed on Macs. It isn't necessary to delete them. Your best solution is to just ignore them.

If you really must delete them, search the web for terminal commands or apps to do so.

Awesome Toast | Delete all hidden Mac junk files in Windows (Like .DS_STORE)

awesometoast.com

Is there any tool to bulk delete them? Or at least a finder alternative that will show such files? “Transmit” is the only app atm that always shows such files

 

[Philip_S]

Press CMD-> (CMD-SHIFT-.) to show them in finder windows and file selection dialogues.

The easiest way to delete them all is to use

rm **/._*

, though I can't remember if macOS has ** enabled in ZSH by default (you can enable it with

setopt extendedglob

, which makes ** expand recursively into subdirectories). There's also a command called trash, available form macports/homebrew/etc, which is safer: then I'd use

trash -F **/._*