Many macOS settings are not exposed in System Settings but can be changed with the defaults write command in the terminal. That’s handy when moving to a new Mac or automating setup: one script and Finder, Dock, screenshots, and keyboard behave the way you want.
This post is a ready-made script with short explanations of what each option does. Full reference: macos-defaults.com .
Contents
- Finder
- Dock
- Screenshots
- Keyboard and global settings
- Trackpad
- Mission Control
- Miscellaneous
- How to apply
Finder
- Hidden files — show dotfiles and system files.
- File extensions — show suffix (e.g.
.md,.png). - Path bar — show path at the bottom of the Finder window.
- Status bar — show item count and free space.
- Folders on top — when sorting, folders appear above files.
- Default view —
Nlsv(list),icnv(icons),clmv(columns). - Extension change warning — warn when renaming and changing extension.
BASH
# Show hidden files
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
# Show file extensions
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true
# Show path bar at bottom of Finder window
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathbar -bool true
# Show status bar
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowStatusBar -bool true
# Folders first when sorting
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXSortFoldersFirst -bool true
# Default view style: Nlsv=List, icnv=Icon, clmv=Column
defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle -string "Nlsv"
# Warn when changing file extension
defaults write com.apple.finder FXEnableExtensionChangeWarning -bool trueDock
- Auto-hide — Dock hides off-screen and shows on hover.
- Delay —
0means no delay when showing/hiding. - Icon size — in pixels (e.g. 36).
- Position —
left,bottom, orright. - Minimize effect —
genieorscale. - Process indicators — dot under open apps.
- Recents — turn off the “Recent” section in the Dock.
BASH
# Auto-hide Dock
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true
# No delay when auto-hiding (0 = instant)
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0
# Dock icon size
defaults write com.apple.dock tilesize -int 36
# Position: left | bottom | right
defaults write com.apple.dock orientation -string "bottom"
# Minimize effect: genie | scale
defaults write com.apple.dock mineffect -string "genie"
# Show open application indicators
defaults write com.apple.dock show-process-indicators -bool true
# Don’t show recent applications
defaults write com.apple.dock show-recents -bool falseScreenshots
- Format —
png,jpg, orpdf. - Location — where to save screenshots (e.g. a folder on the Desktop).
- Window shadow — disable shadow around the window in screenshots.
- Thumbnail — show preview in corner before saving (can be disabled).
BASH
# Format: png | jpg | pdf
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string "png"
# Screenshot folder
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location -string "${HOME}/Desktop/screenshots"
# No window shadow
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true
# Show thumbnail
defaults write com.apple.screencapture show-thumbnail -bool falseCreate the folder if it doesn’t exist: mkdir -p ~/Desktop/screenshots.
Keyboard and global settings (NSGlobalDomain)
- KeyRepeat — repeat rate when holding a key (lower = faster). Typical values 1–2 for fast repeat.
- InitialKeyRepeat — delay before repeat starts, in milliseconds (15 = short delay).
- Smart quotes and dashes — turn off auto-replacement of “quotes” and — dashes.
- Period on double space — turn off automatic period after double space.
BASH
# Key repeat speed (2 = very fast)
defaults write -g KeyRepeat -int 2
# Delay until repeat (milliseconds)
defaults write -g InitialKeyRepeat -int 15
# Disable “smart” quotes and dashes
defaults write -g NSAutomaticQuoteSubstitutionEnabled -bool false
defaults write -g NSAutomaticDashSubstitutionEnabled -bool false
# Period on double space
defaults write -g NSAutomaticPeriodSubstitutionEnabled -bool falseTrackpad
Three-finger drag — drag windows or selected text with three fingers without enabling “Drag Lock”. Handy if you prefer not to “click and drag”.
BASH
# Three-finger drag (no drag lock)
defaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad TrackpadThreeFingerDrag -bool true
defaults write com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad TrackpadThreeFingerDrag -bool trueMission Control
- Group by application — in Mission Control, windows are grouped by app.
- Don’t switch Space — when activating an app, don’t switch to the Space where its window is open.
BASH
# Group windows by application
defaults write com.apple.dock expose-group-by-app -bool true
# Don’t switch to Space with open window
defaults write com.apple.dock AppleSpacesSwitchOnActivate -bool falseMiscellaneous
- Restore windows on quit —
falsemeans don’t restore windows on next launch (classic behavior). - Quarantine downloaded apps — disabled in the script (commented out): without quarantine macOS won’t warn about unverified apps (use with care).
- Animations — commented examples for turning off animations to speed up the UI.
BASH
# Restore windows when quitting application
defaults write -g NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false
# Disable quarantine for downloaded apps (use with care!)
# defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool false
# Disable animations (for faster UI)
# defaults write -g NSAutomaticWindowAnimationsEnabled -bool false
# defaults write -g NSWindowResizeTime -float 0.001Full script and how to apply
The script below combines all the settings above. Run: ./macos-defaults-examples.sh (make it executable first: chmod +x macos-defaults-examples.sh). Or copy the blocks you need into your own script.
BASH
#!/usr/bin/env bash
# macOS defaults — example settings
# Run: ./macos-defaults-examples.sh
# Or copy the commands you need into your script.
# Reference: https://macos-defaults.com/
set -e
echo "Applying macOS defaults (examples)..."
# === Finder ===
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowPathbar -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder ShowStatusBar -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXSortFoldersFirst -bool true
defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle -string "Nlsv"
defaults write com.apple.finder FXEnableExtensionChangeWarning -bool true
# === Dock ===
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true
defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0
defaults write com.apple.dock tilesize -int 36
defaults write com.apple.dock orientation -string "bottom"
defaults write com.apple.dock mineffect -string "genie"
defaults write com.apple.dock show-process-indicators -bool true
defaults write com.apple.dock show-recents -bool false
# === Screenshots ===
defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string "png"
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location -string "${HOME}/Desktop/screenshots"
defaults write com.apple.screencapture disable-shadow -bool true
defaults write com.apple.screencapture show-thumbnail -bool false
# === Global (NSGlobalDomain) ===
defaults write -g KeyRepeat -int 2
defaults write -g InitialKeyRepeat -int 15
defaults write -g NSAutomaticQuoteSubstitutionEnabled -bool false
defaults write -g NSAutomaticDashSubstitutionEnabled -bool false
defaults write -g NSAutomaticPeriodSubstitutionEnabled -bool false
# === Trackpad ===
defaults write com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad TrackpadThreeFingerDrag -bool true
defaults write com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad TrackpadThreeFingerDrag -bool true
# === Mission Control ===
defaults write com.apple.dock expose-group-by-app -bool true
defaults write com.apple.dock AppleSpacesSwitchOnActivate -bool false
# === Miscellaneous ===
defaults write -g NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false
echo "Done. Restart Finder and Dock: killall Finder Dock"After running the script, restart Finder and Dock so changes take effect:
BASH
killall Finder DockSome options (e.g. trackpad) may require logging out or rebooting. Full reference for keys and values: macos-defaults.com .