macOS defaults
list
Incomplete list of macOS defaults
commands with demos ✨
🙋 What's a defaults
command?
macOS applications and other programs use the defaults
system to record user preferences and other information to be maintained when the application isn't running (font for new documents, or the position of an Info panel). Much of this information is accessible through an application's Preferences panel but sometimes they're hidden.
User defaults belong to domains, which typically correspond to individual applications. Applications, system services, and other programs have their own domains, they also share a domain named NSGlobalDomain. If a default isn't specified in the application's domain, it may be specified in NSGlobalDomain.
Each domain has a dictionary of keys and values representing its defaults; e.g. "Default Font" = "Helvetica". Keys are strings, values can be complex data structures comprising arrays, dictionaries, strings, and binary data. They're stored as XML Property List.
The defaults
command line interface is a way to interact with these values.
Source: Real-World-Systems
Command line interface basics
Print the help
defaults help
List all domains
defaults domains
List all entries containing word
defaults find ${word}
Show the type for the given domain, key
defaults read-type ${domain} ${key}
Rename old_key to new_key
defaults rename ${domain} ${old_key} ${new_key}
💻 List of commands
Dock
- Position
- Icon size
- Autohide
- Autohide animation time
- Autohide delay
- Show recents
- Minimize animation effect
- Active applications only
- Scroll to Exposé app
Screenshots
Safari
Finder
- Quit
- Show extensions
- Show hidden files
- Path bar
- Default view style
- Keep folders on top
- Default search scope
- Empty bin items after 30 days
- Changing file extension warning
- Save to disk or iCloud by default
- Title bar icons
- Toolbar title rollover delay
- Sidebar icon size
Desktop
Menu Bar
Mouse
Trackpad
- Click weight (threshold)
- Dragging with drag lock
- Dragging without drag lock
- Dragging with three finger drag
Keyboard
Mission Control
- Rearrange automatically
- Group windows by application
- Switch to Space with open windows
- Displays have separate Spaces
Feedback Assistant
Xcode
Simulator
TextEdit
Time Machine
Activity Monitor
Messages
Miscellaneous
- Help Menu position
- Spring loading for all Dock items
- Show Music song notifications
- Disable application quarantine message
- Close confirm changes popup
🤔 How do I add a command?
Please take a look at the GitHub project. Feel free to open an issue if you know an unlisted command. It's also possible to add the command yourself by creating a Pull Request.
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