In this post i'll show you my favorite macOS terminal commands that i use often or find interesting.
This blog post is a different kind of post than i usually write, but i hope you like it.
Enable/Disable beta updates
Description |
Command |
Enroll developer seed |
sudo /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Seeding.framework/Versions/A/Resources/seedutil enroll DeveloperSeed |
Enroll public seed |
sudo /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Seeding.framework/Versions/A/Resources/seedutil enroll PublicSeed |
Unenroll seeds (stop receiving beta updates) |
sudo /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Seeding.framework/Versions/A/Resources/seedutil unenroll |
Xcode
Description |
Command |
Debug/Internal Xcode |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode ShowDVTDebugMenu -bool YES
sudo mkdir -p /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/AppleInternal/Library/Xcode/
sudo touch /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/AppleInternal/Library/Xcode/AppleInternal.plist |
Disable Xcode Cloud |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode XcodeCloudUpsellPromptEnabled -bool false |
Use 4 spaces for indentation |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode DVTTextIndentWidth -int 4 |
Use spaces instead of tabs |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode DVTTextIndentUsingTabs -bool NO |
Show the sidebar for indentation depth |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode DVTTextShowFoldingSidebar -bool YES |
Show the full stack trace in the sidebar |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode IDEAlwaysShowCompressedStackFrames -bool NO |
Show file extensions |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode IDEFileExtensionDisplayMode -int 1 |
Show up to 30 lines of detail in the issue navigator |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode IDEIssueNavigatorDetailLevel -int 30 |
Show up to 30 lines of detail when searching |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode IDESearchNavigatorDetailLevel -int 30 |
Show the build number in the app icon |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode DVTEnableDockIconVersionNumber -bool YES |
Does the above, and show a debug menu, but useless because of the above an the latter has more checks |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode ShowDVTDebugMenu -bool YES |
Show details on indexing progress |
defaults write com.apple.dt.Xcode IDEIndexerActivityShowNumericProgress -bool true |
Simulator
Description |
Command |
Show touches simulator |
defaults write com.apple.iphonesimulator ShowSingleTouches 1 |
Finder
Description |
Command |
Enable display of filename extensions |
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true |
Disable the warning when changing a file extension |
defaults write com.apple.finder FXEnableExtensionChangeWarning -bool false |
Show hidden files by default |
defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true |
Disable smart quotes and smart dashes they are annoying when typing code |
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticQuoteSubstitutionEnabled -bool false
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticDashSubstitutionEnabled -bool false |
Open finder window in ~/Developer |
defaults write com.apple.finder NewWindowTargetPath -string "file://$HOME/Developer/" |
Finder in column view |
defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle Clmv |
Allow text selection in Quick Look |
defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool TRUE |
Check for software updates daily, not just once per week |
defaults write com.apple.SoftwareUpdate ScheduleFrequency -int 1 |
Setting screenshots location to ~/Desktop/screenshots |
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location -string "$HOME/Desktop/screenshots" I do this because i run a script that automatically imports screenshots to photos. LaunchAgent and [The shortcut][https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/2c7c5cb4a4574437af66623b75521b16] |
Setting screenshot format to PNG |
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string "png" |
Safari
Description |
Command |
Show the full URL in the address bar |
defaults write com.apple.Safari ShowFullURLInSmartSearchField -bool true |
Enable the Develop menu and the Web Inspector |
defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu -bool true
defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDevelopMenu -bool true |
Enabling Safari's bookmarks bar by default |
defaults write com.apple.Safari ShowFavoritesBar -bool true |
Enable the Develop menu and the Web Inspector in Safari |
defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu -bool true
defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDevelopMenu -bool true
defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitDeveloperExtrasEnabledPreferenceKey -bool true
defaults write com.apple.Safari com.apple.Safari.ContentPageGroupIdentifier.WebKit2DeveloperExtrasEnabled -bool true |
Add a context menu item for showing the Web Inspector in web views |
defaults write NSGlobalDomain WebKitDeveloperExtras -bool true |
Warn about fraudulent websites |
defaults write com.apple.Safari WarnAboutFraudulentWebsites -bool true |
Enable “Do Not Track” |
defaults write com.apple.Safari SendDoNotTrackHTTPHeader -bool true |
Update extensions automatically |
defaults write com.apple.Safari InstallExtensionUpdatesAutomatically -bool true |
Do not automatically open "safe" files after downloading |
defaults write com.apple.Safari AutoOpenSafeDownloads -bool false |
Photos
Description |
Command |
Prevent Photos from opening automatically when devices are plugged in |
defaults -currentHost write com.apple.ImageCapture disableHotPlug -bool true |
Mission Control
Description |
Command |
Bottom left screen corner → Put to sleep |
defaults write com.apple.dock wvous-bl-corner -int 10 |
Bottom right corner → do nothing |
defaults write com.apple.dock wvous-bl-modifier -int 0 |
(0: no-operation, 2: Mission Control, 3: Show application windows, 4: Desktop, 5: Start screen saver, 6: Disable screen saver, 7: Dashboard, 10: Put display to sleep, 11: Launchpad, 12: Notification Center, 13: Lock Screen)
AppKit
Description |
Command |
Show an internal AppKit debug menu |
defaults write -g _NS_4445425547 -bool YES |
Read more
Share
Share
Mastodon
Twitter
LinkedIn
Facebook