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Prefs Editor

Changing preferences isn’t so simple

Before you try editing or trashing that preference file, ask whether macOS in the form of cfprefsd isn’t going to undo your work.

November 25, 2022 Macs, Technology

Explainer: Property lists and preferences

T T Read More

They’re XML, structured into dictionaries and arrays containing key-value pairs. Preference plists are managed, and need special treatment.

July 17, 2021 Macs, Technology

Working safely and effectively with preferences in Mojave

Preference files are involved in many Mac problems, and are often their solution. Using them now isn’t simple: here is some guidance.

August 22, 2019 Macs, Technology

Last Week on My Mac: Making a mess of preferences

The current macOS implementation of preferences is appalling design in every respect, and is essentially undocumented even for developers. Is this the way that macOS is heading?

July 9, 2017 Macs, Technology

Sticky preferences: why trashing or editing them may not change anything

Have you ever tried removing or editing a preference file, to no effect? This explains why that happens, and how to get changes to work properly.

July 6, 2017 Macs, Technology
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