<s>
In	O
the	O
Apple	O
macOS	B-Application
operating	O
system	O
,	O
.DS_Store	O
is	O
a	O
file	O
that	O
stores	O
custom	O
attributes	O
of	O
its	O
containing	O
folder	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
folder	B-Application
view	O
options	O
,	O
icon	O
positions	O
,	O
and	O
other	O
visual	O
information	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
created	O
and	O
maintained	O
by	O
the	O
Finder	B-Application
application	O
in	O
every	O
folder	B-Application
,	O
and	O
has	O
functions	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
file	O
desktop.ini	B-Protocol
in	O
Microsoft	B-Application
Windows	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
a	O
period	O
character	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
hidden	B-Application
in	O
Finder	B-Application
and	O
many	O
Unix	O
utilities	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
at	O
macOS	B-Operating_System
10.12	I-Operating_System
16A238m	O
,	O
Finder	B-Application
will	O
not	O
display	O
files	O
(	O
even	O
with	O
set	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
file	O
.DS_Store	O
is	O
created	O
in	O
any	O
directory	B-Application
(	O
folder	B-Application
)	O
accessed	O
by	O
the	O
Finder	B-Application
application	O
,	O
even	O
on	O
remote	O
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
mounted	O
from	O
servers	O
that	O
share	O
files	O
(	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
via	O
Server	B-Operating_System
Message	I-Operating_System
Block	I-Operating_System
(	O
SMB	O
)	O
protocol	O
or	O
the	O
Apple	B-Protocol
Filing	I-Protocol
Protocol	I-Protocol
(	O
AFP	O
)	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Remote	O
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
,	O
however	O
,	O
could	O
be	O
excluded	O
by	O
operating	O
system	O
settings	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
permissions	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Although	O
primarily	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
Finder	B-Application
,	O
these	O
files	O
were	O
envisioned	O
as	O
a	O
more	O
general-purpose	O
store	O
of	O
metadata	O
about	O
the	O
display	O
options	O
of	O
folders	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
icon	O
positions	O
and	O
view	O
settings	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
on	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
10.4	I-Application
"	I-Application
Tiger	I-Application
"	I-Application
and	O
later	O
,	O
the	O
"	O
.DS_Store	O
"	O
files	O
contain	O
the	O
Spotlight	B-Application
comments	O
of	O
the	O
folder	B-Application
's	O
files	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
comments	O
are	O
also	O
stored	O
in	O
the	O
extended	B-Application
file	I-Application
attributes	I-Application
,	O
but	O
Finder	B-Application
does	O
not	O
read	O
those	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
earlier	O
Apple	O
operating	O
systems	O
,	O
Finder	B-Application
applications	O
created	O
similar	O
files	O
,	O
but	O
at	O
the	O
root	O
of	O
the	O
volume	O
being	O
accessed	O
,	O
including	O
on	O
foreign	O
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
,	O
collecting	O
all	O
settings	O
for	O
all	O
files	O
on	O
the	O
volume	O
(	O
instead	O
of	O
having	O
separate	O
files	O
for	O
each	O
respective	O
folder	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
complaints	O
of	O
many	O
users	O
prompted	O
Apple	O
to	O
publish	O
means	O
to	O
disable	O
the	O
creation	O
of	O
these	O
files	O
on	O
remotely	O
mounted	O
network	O
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
macOS	B-Application
High	O
Sierra	O
(	O
10.13	O
)	O
,	O
Apple	O
delays	O
the	O
metadata	O
gathering	O
for	O
.DS_Store	O
for	O
folders	O
sorted	O
alphanumerically	O
to	O
improve	O
browsing	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
Mac	B-Application
OS	I-Application
X	I-Application
10.5	I-Application
,	O
.DS_Store	O
files	O
were	O
visible	O
on	O
remote	O
filesystems	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
.DS_Store	O
files	O
may	O
impose	O
additional	O
burdens	O
on	O
a	O
revision	B-Architecture
control	I-Architecture
process	O
,	O
since	O
they	O
are	O
frequently	O
changed	O
and	O
can	O
therefore	O
appear	O
in	O
commits	O
,	O
unless	O
specifically	O
excluded	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
.DS_Store	O
files	O
are	O
included	O
in	O
archives	B-Application
,	O
such	O
as	O
ZIP	B-General_Concept
,	O
created	O
by	O
OS	O
X	O
users	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
other	O
hidden	B-Application
files	I-Application
and	I-Application
directories	I-Application
like	O
the	O
AppleDouble	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
Google	B-Application
Drive	I-Application
users	O
on	O
macOS	B-Application
reported	O
that	O
.DS_Store	O
files	O
were	O
being	O
flagged	O
for	O
copyright	O
violations	O
.	O
</s>
