I claimed (from a guess) that there might be 0.8 GB of xattrs in my Home folder. I was wildly wrong: there are actually over 3.8 GB. Here’s how xattrs are distributed.
extended attributes
Many files in macOS are more than just their data, and contain metadata in extended attributes. Does macOS know the true size of any file, taking into account those attributes?
My screenshots are now tagged with metadata supporting Spotlight search, and Hazel uses that to sort them into folders automatically.
Contains binary data on the last integrity check made using fsck on a disk image. Can be deleted to enable some images to be mounted.
Contains details of the last checksum of a disk image, performed using hdiutil verify, which can be compared against that stored in the image. Read-only and compressed images only.
Families of types covering most forms of metadata, published in open source in 2009. Now largely superseded by com.apple.metadata equivalents.
You have double-clicked on a disk image, and macOS refuses. Here is what you can do to get that image to mount, even when it’s damaged.
The File menu has been tidied, and xattred can now save the one xattr selected or all of them to a text file.
Do you trust the file size given in Finder’s Get Info dialog? Perhaps you shouldn’t, as it only consider part of the file, its data fork.
A tag containing the filename of a file still held remotely in iCloud, attached to a stub. Only in iCloud files.
The Eclectic Light Company 