Mac OS X v10.4 and later: How to prevent .DS_Store file creation over network connections
Summary
This is an advanced article that contains information about preventing .DS_Store file creation over network connections.
Products Affected
Mac OS X 10.4, Mac OS X 10.5, Mac OS X 10.6, Mac OS X Server 10.4, Mac OS X Server 10.5, Mac OS X Server 10.6
To configure a Mac OS X user account so that .DS_Store files are not created when interacting with a remote file server using the Finder, follow the steps below:
Note: This will affect the user's interactions with SMB/CIFS, AFP, NFS, and WebDAV servers.
- Open Terminal.
- Execute this command:
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true
- Either restart the computer or log out and back in to the user account.
If you want to prevent .DS_Store file creation for other users on the same computer, log in to each user account and perform the steps above—or distribute a copy of the newly modified com.apple.desktopservices.plist file to the ~/Library/Preferences folder of other user accounts.
Additional Information
These steps do not prevent the Finder from creating .DS_Store files on the local volume, and these steps do not prevent previously existing .DS_Store files from being copied to the remote file server.
Disabling the creation of .DS_Store files on remote file servers can cause unexpected behavior in the Finder (click here for an example).
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