What is a .DS_STORE file?
A .DS_Store file stores how macOS displays a folder - icon positions and view settings.
- Did you know
- macOS scatters hidden .DS_Store files in folders, often to the annoyance of other systems.
- The name stands for “Desktop Services Store”, and the file is created and maintained by the macOS Finder.
- Its records sit in a B-tree managed by a “buddy allocator”; left on a web server, .DS_Store files can leak a site’s folder listing.
- What Analyser reads
- Inspect OS and system files: OPML subscription lists, RSS/Atom feeds, Linux .desktop launchers and systemd .service units, Apple .crash reports, Android .ab backups, Windows Task Scheduler .job, Group Policy Registry.pol, and .scr screensaver PE headers, plus identification of .DS_Store, Thumbs.db, dSYM/DWARF and shim .sdb. macOS leaves its own small files everywhere and these open too: the ._ AppleDouble files a Mac writes onto USB sticks and into zips (Finder label, tags, resource fork, and the quarantine and where-from attributes that record which app downloaded the file and from which address), text clippings, internet, file and server locations, Finder Smart Folder searches, Terminal profiles, iTerm2 colour presets as a palette, Audio Unit presets, and .strings / .stringsdict localisation tables. Any Apple property list opens by its content whatever it is named, with Cocoa NSKeyedArchiver archives rebuilt into a readable tree, and an Apple crash report saved as .ips is read as one. Scene .nfo ASCII art now opens in a CP437 viewer - see Text art above.
- Depth of analysis
- .DS_STORE is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .DS_STORE file
- Drag a .DS_STORE file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.