.DS_STORE file signature
A Application Desktop Services Store file begins with the bytes 00 00 00 01 42 75 64 31 (....Bud1 in ASCII) at the start of the file. The signature is the same whatever the file is named, which is why a renamed or extensionless DSSTORE file is still recognisable.
Signature
| Offset | Hex | ASCII |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 00 00 00 01 42 75 64 31 | ....Bud1 |
MIME type: application/octet-stream · usual extensions: .DS_Store
How to check a file's signature
Without installing anything: drop the file on our detector. It reads the bytes in your browser and shows the hex dump alongside the verdict; nothing is uploaded.
macOS and Linux (Terminal):
xxd -l 32 file.DS_Store
file file.DS_StoreWindows (PowerShell):
Format-Hex -Path file.DS_Store -Count 32If the bytes do not match
A file named .DS_Store whose first bytes are something else is not a DSSTORE file. The common explanations are a wrong or deliberately misleading extension, a download that saved an HTML error page instead of the file, or a container such as ZIP wrapping the real content. The detector reports what the bytes say; the DSSTORE guide explains what a genuine file should contain.