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How to stop .DS_Store files from being created?

A

applefanboy98

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 24, 2011
10
0
I'm running Lion on my Macbook, and frequently use the file-sharing function to transfer files to my Windows desktop upstairs. However, every time this happens, those pesky .DS_Store files show up all over my Windows.

Is there a surefire way that I can prevent this from happening? It's not a life-threatening situation per se, more like an annoyance :p Thanks in advance!
 
Simplicated said:
Open Terminal and type this
Code: 
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true
Then reboot.

:)
Click to expand...

This does not appear to work in Lion. I ran it from the terminal using sudo and it's still creating the files.
 
Simplicated said:
Open Terminal and type this
Code: 
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true
Then reboot.

:)
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure this only stops the files from being created on network drives, not local drives.

Just realized the OP was talking about a networked drive. Possibly the files are created when copying entire folders instead of just individual files.
 
Last edited:
But that's exactly what I'm trying to do -- prevent creation of the files on NETWORK drives. I can't find anything online as to whether this is supposed to work in Lion. It did not work for me.
 
I don't want to pay for a program that removes files. I want to prevent the OS from ever creating them in the first place.

Someone somewhere knows whether this is possible on Lion. I'll check out the Apple support forums.
 
Globe199 said:
I don't want to pay for a program that removes files. I want to prevent the OS from ever creating them in the first place.

Someone somewhere knows whether this is possible on Lion. I'll check out the Apple support forums.
Click to expand...

Post back if you find something....if it was easy, people wouldn't be making money selling programs to do it.
 
I have both the freeware Tinkertool and the shareware Totalfinder. I have tried disabling .ds_store files with both to no avail. I've quietly given up on this. It's like trying to stop the creations of thumbs.db on Windows.
 
coolspot18 said:
Except Microsoft actually put an option to turn off thumbs.db if you really want to do so... unlike OSX.
Click to expand...

Where? Is it a registry change? I don't find it by searching control panel for thumbs, db, image, or picture. Google led me 2 places. One was control panel folder options. It was not there. Another was gpedit.msc which my IT knuckleheads have locked me out. So for me its not there either.

Still, I guess I'd take a registry or obscure config file change over Apple's approach to forcing .ds_store down our throats.
 
3rd Party Apps

This thing has been so frustrating. Running the command on 10.6.8 and Lion has not worked for me. I have found the only way to keep this from happening is with a 3rd part client to run the network folder. Cyberduck is free and it is my go to.
 
is there a way to keep these files from being created ONLY in a specific folder? i've got 2 folders that keep recreating them (after i deleted them)...
and they then show up as files in a program (a synth plugin in Logic).

i want to stop them from being created every time i delete them.. :rolleyes:
 
There's really not much you can do to disable local .DS_Store files from being created. Rather, you must manually delete them by typing, in Terminal,
Code: 
find ~ -name ".DS_Store" -delete

(Replace ~ with a path to remove the .DS_Stores in that directory and its subdirectories)
 
Simplicated said:
There's really not much you can do to disable local .DS_Store files from being created. Rather, you must manually delete them by typing, in Terminal,
Code: 
find ~ -name ".DS_Store" -delete

(Replace ~ with a path to remove the .DS_Stores in that directory and its subdirectories)
Click to expand...

in my case, every time i deleted them, they came back.
changing permissions on each folder (from myname 'read&write' to 'read only' fixed the problem for me...for now...)
 
Globe199 said:
This does not appear to work in Lion. I ran it from the terminal using sudo and it's still creating the files.
Click to expand...

Therein lies the problem.
If you run this command as sudo it will be disabling the creation of the .DS_Store files for the root user only!

Run it as the current user, and then if you need to enable it for other users you can distribute the newly created com.apple.desktopservices.plist files to the other /users/username/library/preferences folders.
 
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