Defaults

Change macOS user preferences via command line
Way to Copy Mac OS X preferences into a shell file
defaults 命令详解

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -string YES

Let’s take it apart to get familiar with the terminology used throughout this article:

• defaults - interface
• write - method
• comapple.finder - domain
• AppleShowAllFiles - key
• -string - type descriptor
• YES - new value

• read - prints current user settings
• read-type - prints the type of given key
• write - writes new settings
• delete - deletes a key or a full domain
• domains - prints the full list of domains
• find - searches all domain and keys for a given name
• help - I’m sure you know what this does

Domains are objects that contain settings for a particular system component, installed application or a configuration .plist file located in /Library/Preferences/.

# List all domains
defaults domains
defaults domains | tr ',' '\n'

1. Print the settings for the notes app to find the right key.
2. Check the value type for a given key.
3. Write new settings.

1. Save a state before a change.
2. Make a change through GUI.
3. Save a state after a change.
4. Find the difference.

# Read global shortcuts
defaults read -g NSUserKeyEquivalents
defaults read-type -g NSUserKeyEquivalents
## Type is dictionary

# Write global shortcuts
defaults write -g "NSUserKeyEquivalents" -dict \
"Copy" "^C" \
"Paste" "^V" \
"Select All" "^A" \
"Cut" "^X" \
"Undo" "^Z" \
"Redo" "^Y" \
"Find..." "^F" \
"Replace" "^R" \
"Find Next" "\\Uf706" \
"Find Previous" "$\\Uf706" \
"Save..." "^S" \