What's the purpose of .DS_Store file?

[tompatrick]

I just made my Mac show hidden files using terminal command defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles YES & killall Finder. Now I want to put this in my knowledge that why .DS_Store file exist on everywhere on Mac OS X? What its special purpose, even though I put this in trash it bounce back to its location.

Thanks!!!!

 

[Kaveman]

It stores the Icon locations and custom Icon information for each folder. There maybe other information in the DS_Store.

Note: There are many many hidden files in the OSX system, and they are hidden for a reason. If you delete the wrong ones you may make your Mac unusable!

 

[tompatrick]

Though DS_Store can't be deleted. But I got rid of few apps that were showing up even after their removal. Those hidden folders gave me access to delete the folders from Macintosh OS<Mac-Mini<Preferences and they are gone for good. Yes, I was careful about apps and other files. Thanks Again.