Files with the .DS_STORE extension contain Mac OS X system information concerning preferences of displaying catalog windows: their location, size, layout, and the sorting and displaying of icons – in a list, using miniatures or columns.

Since the files contain information only relevant to the desktop of the system in a graphical sense, they are, by default, not displayed in the catalog listing. Their deletion only implies a return to the default settings for the particular catalog in the given file explorer.