#What is a plist file mac how to#
#What is a plist file mac series#

Here are some (not all) examples of system configuration plist files: com. If you look into these folders you'll see a large number of plist files that follow reverse domain name convention (like ). The second location one is at the root of the system: /Library/Preferences/ In my case (since my user name is jason) /Users/jason/Library/Preferences/ The first one is user specific and is in the following location: ~/Library/Preferences/ I know of at least 2 locations that host the common system and application.

#What is a plist file mac how to#

I'll go into more later about how to read and update values in these files later in the post.įor more info on plist files, check out the Wikipedia page. plist file is a configuration file that contains a list of properties in either plain text or binary format. And BOOM just like that I discovered the holy grail of my Mac's system and application settings - kind of like the first time lift up the curtain and discover the Windows Registry. plist files in several folders that correlate to the installed applications and system settings. While researching how to automate bootstrapping my Mac development computer, I stumbled upon large number of. plist files in several preferences folder on the Mac.

#What is a plist file mac series#

If the Windows Registry is a place where system and application settings are stored, then the Mac equivalent of the Windows Registry would be a series of. You are correct however, where do all of the system and applications settings get stored if there is no registry?

You have probably already figured that since it's called the Windows Registry that there is likely not a Mac Registry that looks/operates the same way. It contains settings for low-level operating system components and for applications running on the platform that have opted to use the Registry. Windows Registry is a hierarchical database that stores configuration settings and options on Microsoft Windows operating systems. In case you don't know what the Windows Registry is, here is a short definition from our good ol' friend Wikipedia. However, if you've always been more of a Mac user, don't run away just yet as you may learn something. If you're a long time Windows power user and are recently switching over to the Mac, you may have wondered if there was something analogous to the Windows Registry.