Sync DMS: What Is It & How To Stop It From Automatically Downloading?

[PGB1]

Hi Everyone!
I hope this note finds all are well & safe.

For the last two days, when I visit some web sites a file named "Sync.dms" automatically downloads to the desktop.

There does not seem to be a pattern for which sites cause this. Once it was when I directly typed the URL for a site I've been to often (an electrical supply house), once was the U.S. IRS web site. Many others were after I clicked links on search engine DuckDuckGo.

I have not opened the file, opting instead for Delete Immediately from the File menu. I searched on line for any clues, but the only things I found were for other dms files downloading & no one had a solution or knowledge of what those dms files were.

The OS Version is 10.11.6, the Browser is Safari 11.1.2 and if a search engine was used to get to the offending web site, it was DuckDuckGo.

My Questions Are:
A) What is this file?
B) Is there a way to get Safari to ask before downloading a file? It seems that Safari used to ask, but I can't remember for certain & can't find anything in Preference.

Thanks Very Much For Helping!
Paul

 

[pm-r]

For the last two days, when I visit some web sites a file named "Sync.dms" automatically downloads to the desktop.

It seems to be something to do with TwitterTwitter.

Maybe check out some of these sites for more info and how to deal with it:
mac what is "Sync.dms" - Google Search



- Patrick
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[ferrarr]

Do you use an Android phone, and connect it to the Mac having this issue?

 

[PGB1]

Thanks Patrick & Bob for taking time to reply with good suggestions. I appreciate the help you guys provided.

The search you linked provided, Patrick, some helpful insight. Wonder why Twitter is involved with my computer. I've never visited the site. What is really odd is that I can be at sites that don't have advertising like the IRS or Social Security. (For non US people- IRS is the U. S. government's Department of Give Us Your Money Please. Social Security is the government's Department of Here's Your Money) Thus I would not expect advertising bugs.

I have an Android phone, but only connect it to the computer once in a great while (not for months). I hook them together if I want to move a photo off the phone to the computer. When it's connected, WiFi on the phone & computer are off and I don't have a data plan. So the phone is Twitter Free.

I finally found the way to stop Safari from downloading automatically. It's kind of hidden.
In Safari - Preferences - General, there is a drop-down to choose where to download. I picked "Ask", so now I can choose to cancel the download. For this Sync.dms, I do have to close the offending browser tab right away or it comes back rapid fire.

Thanks Again for helping & explaining. It will be interesting to see how long this Sync.dms keeps showing up when i visit various sites. (Of Note- My wife's MacBook Pro and her iPad don't have this interesting phenomenon.)

Enjoy This Day!
Paul

 

[yuanyasmine]

A file with a .dms extension is a file that has been downloaded and renamed by the Apple Safari web browser or the Apple Mail email client. It contains the contents of a file that did not have a file extension or was erroneously renamed when downloaded. The .dms extension is a result of a bug in Safari and Mail.

To stop Safari from automatically downloading files (and instead ask you with a prompt before downloading):

step 1: Open Safari, and go to Safari -> Preferences in the menubar (or hit command+,)
step 2: Go to the General tab and hit the dropdown next to File download location. Choose Ask for each download.
step 3: Now, if I navigate to the download page for something (for example, the 1Password browser extension) and download it, a download prompt will appear before the file begins to download:
step 4: Indeed, the file does not download until I click Save. If I click Cancel, the downloads menu shows me that Zero KB of the file was downloaded.
hope it works for you.

 

[PGB1]

Thank You Yaunyasmine for taking time to reply & explain. I appreciate your help.

Interestingly in my version of Safari (11.1.2), after setting Preferences to "Ask For Each Download", some sites ask where to download & some simply download to desktop. (As tested with a couple of DMG files & a few PDF files form various sites.) I suppose it's either a Safari glitch or the way a particular web site is site up.

For the last few days, no more .DMS files have shown up. Perhaps that was a temporary thing that self-corrected. (I am always amazed how OS X tends to fix itself.)

Thanks Again!
Paul

 

[ferrarr]

You may want to delete your Safari plist file? This may help you, Deleting the System Preference or other .… - Apple Community

 

[pm-r]

You may want to delete your Safari plist file? This may help you, Deleting the System Preference or other .… - Apple Community

Still a good Mac OSx Fix-it method to try that can often fix an application's problem.




- Patrick
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[PGB1]

Thanks Bob & Patrick for the hint about deleting the plist file. I've used this to fix other applications' problems, but completely forgot about it for this one.
Enjoy This Day!
Paul