BlueHarvest

BlueHarvest is intended to clean your volumes of junk files created by Finder. In this regard, the tool can find and erase .DS_Store and ._AppleDouble files, which are not always desirable, as even Apple agrees.

What is more, some devices may fail to read disk’s contents when these files are there. The application supports scanning a long list of storage devices, which includes not only disks but also USB keys, SD cards and other devices. Unfortunately, the help documentation is very poor.

BlueHarvest does not have an independent window; instead, it appears as a tab on the System Preferences pane. There, you can find groups of options specifically intended for non-mac and network disks. In this respect, it is possible to have the tool clean metadata without your intervention. Likewise, the application can be set to do nothing or ask you how to proceed. Additionally, it is possible to define exceptions, including specific folders and files with given extensions. Luckily, there is also an option to show BlueHarvest in the Menu Bar, which facilitates accessing the tool without needing to dig in System Preferences.

Good news is that there is contextual menu command you can use to clean a disk or a folder immediately. Likewise, you can use this option to send metadata-free archives to other users. Besides, the tool has the advantage of finding and removing other metadata files, such as .Trashes, .Spotlight-V100 and .VolumeIcon.icns. Very occasionally, it may require a second pass to get rid of metadata files.

In short, BlueHarvest helps you keep your volumes metadata-free, even without needing to take any action. Compared with other similar tools, it has the advantage of differentiating between HFS from non-HFS volumes. The product can be downloaded from both the developer’s site and the Mac App Store. It is very convenient that there is even a trial version you can download to try its features before spending any money on the full version, as its price seems somewhat high.