Stripping hidden files

When I send others a compressed archive of my work folder, they complain about the .DS_Store files inside it. How can I rid my Mac of them?

These are hidden Desktop Services Stores, used by the Finder to keep custom attributes for each folder, including icon positions and, in more recent versions of macOS, settings for the display of file metadata. Most importantly, they contain any added Finder/ Spotlight comments. While these files can’t be removed altogether, when you’re sending archives of folders, they get in the way. They’re also hidden when you show hidden files in the Finder, and are only readily seen in Terminal.

Some compression utilities have an option to exclude them when making archives, but the best tool for dealing with them is BlueHarvest (App Store). While your Mac still needs them to make the Finder work, that app should tame them. Or, if you’re okay using Terminal, the command

find . -name .DS_Store -delete should do the trick, so long as you don’t open that folder in the Finder before archiving it.