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I'm looking for some way to configure OSX to prevent it creating .apdisk files and .TemporaryItems folders on network shares.

These are created any time OSX accesses a shared folder on the network.

In searching, some possible solutions I've found include:

  • Stop using the Application (Finder)
  • Mark the share(s) as read-only
  • Ignore them
  • Use 3rd party software (such as BlueHarvest) to remove the files.
  • Schedule a cron script to delete these files.

Unfortunately the first three options are not workable for me, and I'd rather not have to buy licences or schedule clean-ups on the file servers.

Is there a way to configure OSX not to create these in the first place?

(Finder is connecting via AFP to the network shares, for what it's worth)

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1 Answer

  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.

Reference: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1629

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Ah, unfortunately this only stops the .DS_Store files from being created, it doesn't stop .TemporaryItems folders and .APDisk files from being created. – Will Hughes Apr 10 at 1:17

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