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When I run ls -l there are files listed with @ file mod for some folders:

drwxr-xr-x   5 root  admin      170 Sep  4 13:51 Users
drwxrwxrwt@  3 root  admin      102 Sep  5 09:02 Volumes

I realized that the folders with @ sign can not be displayed in Finder. Can somebody tell me what is the @ sign for and how i can remove it?

0942v8653
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Afshin
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1 Answers1

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The @ sign means that the files have extended attributes. What you noticed was the extended attribute com.apple.FinderInfo, which can be modified to have Finder hide the file.

Using ls -@, you can see the extended attributes of the file.

This is what shows up when I run ls -dl@ Library when my Library folder is hidden:

drwx------@ 54 me  staff  1836 Aug 31 11:16 Library
     com.apple.FinderInfo   32

and when it is showing (a setting in Show View Options in Finder on your home directory):

drwx------+ 54 me  staff  1836 Aug 31 11:16 Library

The com.apple.FinderInfo 32 means that the file is hidden. (32 is just the bit they chose to represent it, 1<<5. This is called a bitmask.)

You can hide and show files with chflags hidden and chflags nohidden, enabling and disabling that bit of com.apple.FinderInfo.

0942v8653
  • 7,412