Common uses of defaults: $ defaults read DOMAIN # gets all $ defaults read DOMAIN PROPERTY_NAME # gets $ defaults write DOMAIN PROPERTY_NAME VALUE # sets $ defaults delete DOMAIN PROPERTY_NAME # resets a property $ defaults delete DOMAIN # resets preferences DOMAIN should be replaced by the plist file name sans extension ('.plist'). plist files are named with
reverse domain name notation. For example: $ defaults read com.apple.iTunes # prints all iTunes preference values plist files store keys and values. The PROPERTY_NAME key is the name of the property to modify. For example, to remove the search field from
Safari's
address bar: $ defaults write com.apple.Safari AddressBarIncludesGoogle 0 $ # or $ defaults write com.apple.Safari AddressBarIncludesGoogle -bool NO # case-sensitive! Using "1", "YES", or "TRUE" instead restores this to the default of including search. Preferences can at times corrupt applications. To reset Address Book's preferences, either the file ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.AddressBook.plist must be removed or the following command issued: $ defaults delete com.apple.AddressBook
Compound values defaults prints values in the OpenStep format. It allows the VALUE to be arrays and dicts, as long as they conform to old-style plist syntax. ==Settings==