Show operating system version
sw_vers
View and set macOS system settings
sudo systemsetup
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>
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
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
Show System Integrity Protection status
csrutil status
Enable / Disable System Integrity Protection (requires Safe Mode to run)
csrutil enable
csrutil disable
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
Location of default macOS system $PATH
entries
/etc/paths
/etc/paths.d
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
Relaunch Mac OS features
killall Dock
killall Finder
killall ControlStrip
Show Rosetta process if installed and available
pgrep oahd
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
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>
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
Show macOS extended attributes for file
xattr -l <file>
macOS allows locking files via Finder to prevent accidental deletion and editing (Note: This setting prevents changes via sudo
)
File -> Get Info -> Locked
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
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>
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
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>
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
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