MacOS

Information

Show operating system version

sw_vers

View and set macOS system settings

sudo systemsetup

Disk Utility

List available internal / external disk volumes

diskutil list

Show / delete APFS snapshot for volume

diskutil apfs listSnapshots <volume>
diskutil apfs deleteSnapshot <volume> -name <snapshot-name>

Power Metrics

Show all system power / hardware metrics (CPU, GPU, Network etc)

sudo powermetrics

Show specific power metrics (eg. smc for System Management Controller stats)

sudo powermetrics --samplers smc

Power Settings

Show current power settings in use

pmset -g

Show power information for battery and ac adapter

pmset -g batt
pmset -g ac

List sleep and wake counts since boot

pmset -g stats

Output all power setting stats

pmset -g everything

System Integrity Protection

Show System Integrity Protection status

csrutil status

Enable / Disable System Integrity Protection (requires Safe Mode to run)

csrutil enable
csrutil disable

System and Kernel Extensions

List user daemons, agents and XPC services (list all / list third party only)

launchctl list
launchctl list | grep -v com.apple

List system daemons, agents and XPC services

sudo launchctl list

List system extensions

systemextensionsctl list

List kernel extensions (list all / list third party only)

kextstat
kextstat | grep -v com.apple

Unload kernel extension

sudo kextunload <extension.kext>

Location of kernel extension files

/System/Library/Extensions
/Library/Extensions

System Paths

Location of default macOS system $PATH entries

/etc/paths
/etc/paths.d

System Profiler

Report detailed system configuration (-detailLevel mini, basic, full)

system_profiler

List all available profile data types

system_profiler -listDataTypes

System hardware and software summary

system_profiler SPHardwareDataType
system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType

Other system information (storage, memory, display, audio, network, battery, USB, bluetooth)

system_profiler SPStorageDataType
system_profiler SPMemoryDataType
system_profiler SPDisplaysDataType
system_profiler SPAudioDataType
system_profiler SPNetworkDataType
system_profiler SPPowerDataType
system_profiler SPUSBDataType
system_profiler SPBluetoothDataType

Troubleshooting

Relaunch Mac OS features

killall Dock
killall Finder
killall ControlStrip

Rosetta

Show Rosetta process if installed and available

pgrep oahd

Clipboard

Copy input content to the clipboard

pbcopy

Examples for copy to clipboard from files

pbcopy < <file>
cat <file> | pbcopy

Outputs the current contents of the clipboard

pbpaste

Spotlight

Search spotlight file contents and names (or file name only via -name)

mdfind <search-a> <search-b>
mdfind -name <search>

Filter for specific file type (eg. image)

mdfind kind:<type>
mdfind kind:image

Limit search to specific directory

 mdfind -onlyin <directory> <search>

Screen Capture

Capture entire screen to file (default format: PNG)

screencapture <file>

Activate interactive screen capture mode (CTRL clipboard, SPACE selection/window, ESC cancel)

screencapture -i <file>

Other useful screen capture options

  • -t <format> png, pdf, jpg

  • -c Send to clipboard

  • -P Send to Preview app

  • -S Capture screen instead of window

  • -o Exclude window shadow

  • -T <secs> Capture after elapsed seconds

Extended Attributes

Show macOS extended attributes for file

xattr -l <file>

Locked Files

macOS allows locking files via Finder to prevent accidental deletion and editing (Note: This setting prevents changes via sudo)

File -> Get Info -> Locked

App Store

Show software update history (--all includes initial app installs)

softwareupdate --history
softwareupdate --history --all

List available software updates

softwareupdate -l

Install specific software update

softwareupdate -i <package>

Install all available software updates (-r only recommend updates, -R auto restart if required)

softwareupdate -ia

Download update or cancel in progress download without installing

softwareupdate -d <package>
softwareupdate -e <package>

Force App Store updater to remove pending updates (useful if update is in looped state and not installing)

softwareupdate --clear-catalog

Ignore specific package update

softwareupdate --ignore <package>

Clear ignored packages list

softwareupdate --reset-ignored

System Defaults

List defaults preference files (or list as one per line)

defaults domains
defaults domains | tr ',' '\n'

Show current defaults for domain

defaults read <domain>

Show expected type for domain setting

defaults read-type <domain> <key>

Set specific domain key

defaults write <domain> <key> <value>
defaults write <domain> <key> -<type> <value>

Quick Look

Open quick look for file

qlmanage -p <file>

List all registered quick look plugins (includes ones provided internally by apps)

qlmanage -m

Directories for stand along quick look providers

/Library/QuickLook
~/Library/QuickLook

macOS Firewall Settings

List firewall rules

sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --listapps

Add or remove app from firewall rules

sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --add <app-path>
sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --remove <app-path>

Block or unblock app in firewall rules

sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --blockapp <app-path>
sudo /usr/libexec/ApplicationFirewall/socketfilterfw --unblockapp <app-path>

Security and Privacy Permissions

Manage associated app permissions (listed in System Preferences -> Security & Privacy -> Privacy)

Reset app access permissions for category

tccutil reset <app-category>

Reset specific app access permissions for category

tccutil reset <app-category> <app-bundle-id>

Available app categories

  • Accessibility

  • AddressBook

  • AppleEvents

  • Calendar

  • Camera

  • Microphone

  • Photos

  • Reminders

  • ScreenCapture

  • SystemPolicyAllFiles

  • SystemPolicyDesktopFolder

  • SystemPolicyDeveloperFiles

  • SystemPolicyDocumentsFolder

  • SystemPolicyDownloadsFolder

  • SystemPolicyNetworkVolumes

  • SystemPolicyRemovableVolumes

  • SystemPolicySysAdminFiles

SF Mono Fonts

Xcode SF Mono font assets

/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/SharedFrameworks/DVTKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Fonts/

Terminal SF Mono font assets

/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app/Contents/Resources/Fonts
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