PrefEdit is a utility that allows you to inspect and edit all preference settings for OS X applications. The settings are displayed in a browser and can be edited by simple point-and-click operations. You can also do a full-text search on all settings, or clean up unused entries of applications that have been uninstalled.
PrefEdit can access all preference settings of “well-behaved” Carbon and Cocoa applications. Older Mac applications running in the Classic environment used a totally different system for storing preference settings. The settings of such programs do not appear in PrefEdit.
Warning: If you edit, add, or delete preference values of application programs or the OS X operating system, you should know what you are doing. Inappropriate values can cause serious malfunctions in the system, which could destroy important data or create other unexpected effects.
PrefEdit is a utility that allows you to inspect and edit all preference settings for OS X applications. The settings are displayed in a browser and can be edited by simple point-and-click operations. You can also do a full-text search on all settings, or clean up unused entries of applications that have been uninstalled.
PrefEdit can access all preference settings of “well-behaved” Carbon and Cocoa applications. Older Mac applications running in the Classic environment used a totally different system for storing preference settings. The settings of such programs do not appear in PrefEdit.
Warning: If you edit, add, or delete preference values of application programs or the OS X operating system, you should know what you are doing. Inappropriate values can cause serious malfunctions in the system, which could destroy important data or create other unexpected effects.
PrefEdit is an application to manage nearly all aspects of the preference system contained in every macOS installation. The program consists of two components which are tightly integrated with each other:
An entry point to the preferences database of macOS, with access to all settings which are effective for your user account,
a browser and editor for macOS property list files (plists).
Property list files are the technical means used by macOS to store user preference settings in the background. This file type is also utilized by macOS for many other purposes, not only for building the preference database. You can use PrefEdit to display and edit all files compliant with Apple’s plist standard.
PrefEdit is directed both to software developers and to end users who like to have full access to each and every aspect of preference settings for the system and applications. The program is capable of visualizing the complete search path and priority of user default settings, exactly imitating the view each macOS application has on the preferences database.
PrefEdit was the first preference editor ever published for Mac OS X. With its long experience and maturity, it has become one of the most advanced preference management applications for macOS available today.
The software is distributed electronically. You can download the product and test it before you decide to purchase a license for unrestricted usage.
PrefEdit Features
Browse through the complete list of macOS preference domains, including the preference settings of programs protected by an application sandbox.
You can search for any setting in the database, either by value or by internal name of the preference.
PrefEdit can automatically determine the correct preference domain name for a given application.
You can change any entry in the preferences database or in a property list file. Property names, entry types and values can be edited freely. Entries can be removed or added. The program handles nested entries of any depth correctly.
Entries can be moved or copied within the same or different files, using copy/paste or drag-and-drop.
The application has full undo and redo capabilities with an unlimited number of steps.
The “Versions” feature of macOS can be used to restore old versions of a file you have edited with PrefEdit.
It is shown if certain settings are controlled by the client management (MCX) system of macOS which is used via directory services or Apple Profile Manager in professional networks.
Preference domain inspectors allow to view the exact relationship between entries in the live preferences database and their counterparts in the persistent preference files.
The preference search path used by each compliant macOS application can be visualized, showing the effects of overriding settings and reflecting the view on the settings as each application sees them.
You can copy an effective setting in the preference search path to a different scope, allowing to easily override a default value at a later search position.
PrefEdit detects automatically when applications change preference values at the same time the user is editing settings via PrefEdit.
Applications can be launched via PrefEdit, so the effects of changing a user default setting can be verified immediately.
It is possible to search for any entry in a property list file, either by value or property key of the entry.
PrefEdit can open and write XML-based, as well as binary property list files. Users can freely convert data between the two formats. It is additionally possible to read property list files in OpenStep format, used in macOS’s predecessor NeXT OPENSTEP for Mach.
When using XML-based files, PrefEdit keeps track of the physical order of entries, differentiating between the shown and actual order. Entries can be sorted after both aspects.
Added a fix necessary for an unexpected change in macOS 10.15.1 which can cause the warning about missing approval for full disk access not to be shown. This only affects users who launch the application for the first time on macOS 10.15.1.
PrefEdit is a utility that allows you to inspect and edit all preference settings for OS X applications. The settings are displayed in a browser and can be edited by simple point-and-click operations. You can also do a full-text search on all settings, or clean up unused entries of applications that have been uninstalled.
PrefEdit can access all preference settings of “well-behaved” Carbon and Cocoa applications. Older Mac applications running in the Classic environment used a totally different system for storing preference settings. The settings of such programs do not appear in PrefEdit.
Warning: If you edit, add, or delete preference values of application programs or the OS X operating system, you should know what you are doing. Inappropriate values can cause serious malfunctions in the system, which could destroy important data or create other unexpected effects.
PrefEdit is a utility that allows you to inspect and edit all preference settings for OS X applications. The settings are displayed in a browser and can be edited by simple point-and-click operations. You can also do a full-text search on all settings, or clean up unused entries of applications that have been uninstalled.
PrefEdit can access all preference settings of “well-behaved” Carbon and Cocoa applications. Older Mac applications running in the Classic environment used a totally different system for storing preference settings. The settings of such programs do not appear in PrefEdit.
Warning: If you edit, add, or delete preference values of application programs or the OS X operating system, you should know what you are doing. Inappropriate values can cause serious malfunctions in the system, which could destroy important data or create other unexpected effects.
