Show hidden files on OS X except .DS_Store

Question

I want to see all hidden files on my Mac except .DS_Store. Is there a way to do that?

Answer 1

You can show hidden files in Finder with a simple Terminal command:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool YES

Then relaunch Finder by holding down the option key and right-clicking its dock icon.

However, you can't hide the .DS_Store files without hiding the rest of the hidden files. You probably just have to live one way or the other.

Answer 2

This is what Adobe suggests:

To avoid creating .DS_Store files, do not to use the OS X Finder to view folders. An alternative way to view folders is to use UNIX command line.

Brilliant! ;)

Answer 3

You can't hide it, but you can make it transparent, then drag it to the bottom-left or bottom right corner. So only you will see a string ".DS_Store", and there will be no icon.

Expert method: Copy a transparent image from your favorite img editor, select the icon of the file in the file info window, and paste the transparent image when the original icon is selected on the top.

Step-By-Step method (Previous to Yosemite):

• Find a pure-white area in a folder, then press Shift-Command-Control-4, and drag out a square. Release the mouse when done, and the white area is now on your clipboard.
• Open Preview and press Command-V.
• Click and hold on the Select button in Preview's toolbar, and Instant Alpha from the drop-down menu.
• Click and drag across the white area until you see the displayed value reach 100%, then press Return.
• Copy the selected area (Command-C).
• On the desktop, select your new folder and press Command-I (File » Get Info).
• (Press Tab once in the Get Info window to) highlight the default icon.
• Paste the transparent icon from your clipboard into the default icon (Command-V).

Per @mliqu: In OS X Yosemite (10.10.1):

• Press Shift-Command-Control-4, and drag out a square over any area. Release the mouse when done, and the area is now on your clipboard.
• Open Preview and press Command-N to open a window with your capture.
• Press Command-A to select all, then press Delete.
• Press Command-C to copy this empty grey square to clipboard.
• Select ".DS_Store" and Command-I to get info.
• Select the icon in the top-left and Command-V to replace with transparency from clipboard.

Answer 4

I'm just adding my solution to this as I didn't like any of the other options. I am a web developer and I use /bin/zsh and oh-my-zsh ... either way you can add this to bash or sh.

It's simple, straight forward, and only 8 lines. I work a lot in the terminal though, so this is why this works best for my setup.

In my .zshrc I added the following lines to make switching easier.

function hideallfiles(){
    defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool NO
    killall Finder
}
function showallfiles(){
    defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool YES
    killall Finder
}

Then run . ~/.zshrc or for bash . ~/.bash_profile or logout of your Mac, and back in.

Then in terminal you can run showallfiles or hideallfiles and it'll change the config and restart Finder.

edit: confirmed working on 10.10 Yosemite

Answer 5

As of macOS Sierra Beta, .DS_Store is actually always hidden from the Finder. Just show hidden files as you would normally and .DS_Store will be gone:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool YES && killall Finder

Answer 6

There is this open source magic tool: asepsis. Sources are available on Github.

Version 1.4 now works with OS X Mavericks.

Update: Reported not working on El Capitan

Warning: Asepsis is no longer under active development and supported under OS X 10.11 (El Capitan) and later.

Answer 7

After many on/off years of searching for a solution, there are only a few alternatives, none of which quite match your original question; i.e. no solution exists to your specific question....yet

1. One can specifically disable the .DS_store files from being created at all
2. Leave Finder configured to not display hidden files
3. Follow Adobe's nonsense and only browse folders with a command line shell
4. Toggle hidden folders on-demand. Check out this old wigit:

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Dashboard-Widgets/Webcams/Miscellaneous/Hiddenfiles-Widget.shtml

Answer 8

This only addresses the Desktop, but as it's the most noticable and annoying place for .DS_Store files, it might be worth sharing:

1. Drop to a terminal prompt
2. cd ~/Desktop
3. rm .DS_Store
4. cd ~
5. chmod 500 Desktop

This sequence removes your write permissions to the Desktop folder. Since Finder acts with your permissions, it also remove's Finder's ability to save a .DS_Store file to the Desktop. Of course, it also stops you from saving to or modifying existing files on the desktop. Perfect if you like to have an ultra-clean setup.

Example of no .DS_Store on the Desktop without using special Apps:

---

note: Using these steps, it is still possible to drag items to the desktop as MacOS will prompt you for an admin login when needed.

Answer 9

Create an AppleScript/terminal service using Automator and save it to be accessible from the Finder>Services menu

The Automator action will be a two step process.

Step 1. Add an AppleScript. This script will toggle hidden files on or off (may not be properly formatted because I'm typing on my phone)

if (do shell script "defaults read com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles") is equal to "0"
    then
        do shell script "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles 1"
    else
        do shell script "defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles 0"
end if

Step 2. Add a bash cron script. This additional script will automatically search for and remove any .DS_Store files at the same time they would be triggered to display. Once completed it will relaunch Finder and close the terminal.

#!/bin/sh
find ~ -name .DS_Store -exec /bin/rm -f -- {} \;
KillAll Finder
exit 0

This is not a perfect solution but it will achieve the result your looking for.

Alternatively, you could use this utility which will redirect the creation of DS_Store files to a cache directory but I prefer not to install software that will consume resources whenever possible.

The link is http://asepsis.binaryage.com/

Answer 10

I'm using Xtra Finder (http://www.trankynam.com/xtrafinder) to toogle fast between hidden files. You can create your own shortcut for toogling. No need to kill finder. This is a little bit more handy and easier to use instead of typing commands or executing scripts.

Answer 11

For the desktop annoying problem, my simple solution is hide the file behind the dock, you can change momentary the dock position and put the file where will remain invisible. Not a very technical solution, but effective.

Answer 12

Using Terminal works to hide .DS_store files.

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool NO

This hides the hidden files. Can change NO to YES if you wish to see them again.

Answer 13

Install latest Sierra, set to see hidden files, all hiden files shown, but the .DS_Store files will not be shown (although they are there).

Answer 14

Definitely use the transparent icon. Then, just move it. Out of sight, out of mind.

Answer 15

El Capitan user here.

I like to keep an clean desktop; no icons or links at all. I also need to see hidden files in Finder.

I "double clicked" the .DS_Store Icon and selected "Show View Options." In that window, I scaled the icon down to 16x16, and text size to 10. I set the Grid Size as small as possible as well.

I then dragged the icon down to the lower right, so I'm left with a tiny box in the lower right corner of the Desktop.

Answer 16

Transparent icon, move off screen, easy step-by-step here:

https://www.scottofford.com/2013/03/hide-ds-store-on-mac/

Via this Ask Different answer: https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/237999/6902.