Mac OS X: Prevent .DS_Store file creation over network connections

Mac user may find it uncomfortable for leaving the trace when opening files or folders on the remote file server. Some hidden files like .DS_Store will be created automatically, sadly, without any acknowledgment to the user.

Here comes the hint to disable this feature on remote storage access (for Mac OS X 10.4 or later only):

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.

1. Open Terminal.
2. Execute this command:
   

   defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true

3. 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 (clickhere for an example).

Ref: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1629