macOS defaults list: Incomplete list of macOS defaults commands with demos

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

bash

defaults help

List all domains

bash

defaults domains

List all entries containing word

bash

defaults find ${word}

Show the type for the given domain, key

bash

defaults read-type ${domain} ${key}

Rename old_key to new_key

bash

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

Disable shadow
Include date
Location
Display thumbnail
Choose screenshot format

Safari

Show full URL

Finder

Quit
Show extensions
Show hidden files
Path bar
Default view style
Keep folders on top
Open folders destination
Default search scope
Empty bin items after 30 days
Changing file extension warning
Save to disk location
Title bar icons
Toolbar title rollover delay
Sidebar icon size
Column auto sizing
Status bar

Desktop

Keep folders on top
All icons
Disks
External disks
Removable media
Connected servers

Menu Bar

Flash clock time separators
Digital clock format

Mouse

Acceleration
Speed
Focus Follows Mouse

Trackpad

Click weight (threshold)
Dragging with drag lock
Dragging without drag lock
Dragging with three finger drag

Keyboard

Key held down behavior
Fn/🌐 key usage
Function keys behavior
Keyboard navigation
Add period with double-space
Toggle language indicator

Mission Control

Rearrange automatically
Group windows by application
Switch to Space with open windows
Displays have separate Spaces

Feedback Assistant

Autogather

Xcode

Add Additional Counterpart Suffixes
Show Build Durations

Simulator

Screenshot location

TextEdit

Default document format
Smart quotes

Time Machine

Don't offer new disks for Time Machine backup

Activity Monitor

Update Frequency
Dock Icon type

Messages

Show Subject Field

Miscellaneous

Toggle Apple Intelligence
Help Menu position
Spring loading for all Dock items
Show Music song notifications
Disable application quarantine message
Close confirm changes popup
Clear recently used time zones in Calendar
Keep windows when quitting an application

🤔 How do I add a command?

Feel free to open a GitHub issue if you know an unlisted command.

It's also possible to add the command yourself by creating a Pull Request. Please take a look at the contribution guidelines.

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