Legend:
T
- Tiger Compatible,
L
- Leopard Compatible,
?
- Untested


Note: Items in this section require the dock to restart before they take effect, to do this type:
killall Dock

T
L
Disable Dashboard, replace YES with NO to re-enable:
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES

T
L
Enable widgets on the desktop, replace YES with NO to turn it off:
defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES

T
L
Disable Dashboard, replace YES with NO to re-enable:
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES


T
L
Run your current screen saver directly on the desktop:
/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Resources/\
ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine -background
To return to a normal background, type CTRL-. or CTRL-C


Note: Items in this section require the dock to restart before they take effect, to do this type:
killall Dock

L
2D dock:
defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean YES

L
3D dock:
defaults write com.apple.dock no-glass -boolean NO

T
L
Change the size of the Dock. Replace <INT> in the example below with any number between 1 (tiny) and 512 (massive). Use the Dock Slider option in System Preferences -> Dock to restore:
defaults write com.apple.dock largesize -int <INT>

L
Turn on gradient box on mouse-over in stacks, replace YES with NO to reverse:
defaults write com.apple.dock mouse-over-hilte-stack -boolean YES

L
Make items in stacks spring-loaded, which means they will come to the forefront when the mouse is over them, change YES to NO to disable:
defaults write com.apple.dock enable-spring-load-actions-on-all-items \
-boolean YES

L
Add a 'Recent Things' stack to the dock:
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add \
'{"tile-data" = { "list-type" = 1; }; "tile-type" = "recents-tile"; }'

L
Enable Spacers in the Dock (Left/Application Side):
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array-add \
'{tile-data={}; tile-type="spacer-tile";}'

L
Enable Spacers in the Dock (Right/Document Side):
defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add \
'{tile-data={}; tile-type="spacer-tile";}'

T
L
Translucent Dock Icons for Hidden Applications, replace true with false to disable:
defaults write com.apple.dock showhidden -bool true

L
Change the Dock's appearance under Leopard, here, here and here.


Note: Items in this section require Finder to restart before they take effect, to do this type:
killall Finder

T
L
Show full paths in finder title bar, replace YES with NO to turn it off:
defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool YES

T
L
Show hidden files in Finder, replace TRUE with FALSE to hide:
defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE

T
L
Remove the stripes in Finder's list view, change FALSE to TRUE to restore:
defaults write com.apple.finder FXListViewStripes -bool FALSE

T
L
Change the size of the icons on the desktop. The default size is 48 and maximum size is 512. Replace <INT> in the example below with the desired size. Note: you will need to reset your desktop view options after running this command:
defaults write com.apple.finder DesktopViewOptions -dict IconSize -integer <INT>

T
L
Add a Quit item to Finder's menu, to start Finder again, click its icon in the Dock.
defaults write com.apple.Finder QuitMenuItem 1


?
View HD trailers in Front Row.
Note: Be sure to have run Front Row at least once before running this command.
defaults write com.apple.frontrow TrailerBypass \
http://www.apple.com/trailers/home/xml/current_720p.xml \
&& killall "Front Row"
to remove the HD trailers:
defaults delete com.apple.frontrow TrailerBypass && killall "Front Row"

T
L
[T|L] Open Front Row without the remote by pressing ⌘ + ESC


L
Enable debug menu in iCal, replace YES with NO to turn off:
defaults write com.apple.iCal IncludeDebugMenu YES


L
Enable Data Detectors in iChat, replace 1 with 0 to restore:
defaults write com.apple.iChat EnableDataDetectors 1


?
Force all mail to display as plain text, replace TRUE with FALSE to turn it off:
defaults write com.apple.mail PreferPlainText -bool TRUE

L
Searching Email, place these qualifiers in the search field along with an argument:
from: <full username> subject: <subject> email: <email address>
Example:
from: Jane Doe subject:next week


Note: Commands listed below require admin rights and a reboot before they take effect.


L
Change the menubar to white and remove the transparency:
sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer \
'EnvironmentVariables' -dict 'CI_NO_BACKGROUND_IMAGE' 1

L
Change the menubar to white and remove the transparency:
sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer \
'EnvironmentVariables' -dict 'CI_NO_BACKGROUND_IMAGE' 0

L
Change the menubar to the default translucent state:
sudo defaults delete /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.WindowServer \
'EnvironmentVariables'


L
Use Quick Look from the command line. Replace <filename> in example below with your own filename:
qlmanage -p <filename>

L
Immediately refresh the QuickLook framework, handy if you have just added a new plug-in and don't want to wait for an automatic refresh:
qlmanage -r


Photo Booth

T
L
Option		 Immediately take a picture (no countdown)
T
L
Shift		 Disable flash
T
L
Option and Shift		 Immediately take a picture sans flash


T
L
Enable debug menu in Safari, replace 1 with 0 to turn off:
defaults write com.apple.safari IncludeDebugMenu 1


L
Start the Screen Sharing app directly by dragging the following app to your sidebar or toolbar:
/System/Library/CoreServices/Screen Sharing.app

L
Display the bonjour network browser in Screen Sharing.app when launching it directly, normally it would only prompt for an IP address, replace 1 with 0 to revert back:
defaults write com.apple.ScreenSharing ShowBonjourBrowser_Debug 1

?
Add more options to the Screen Sharing.app toolbar:
defaults write com.apple.ScreenSharing \
'NSToolbar Configuration ControlToolbar' -dict-add 'TB Item Identifiers' \
'(Scale,Control,Share,Curtain,Capture,FullScreen,GetClipboard,\
SendClipboard,Quality)'


L
Change delay when dragging windows off the current space to other spaces, default value is 0.75:
defaults write com.apple.dock workspaces-edge-delay -float 0.5

L
Disable the wrap around when using CTRL-Arrow to change spaces, replace NO with YES to re-enable:
defaults write com.apple.dock workspaces-wrap-arrows -boolean NO


?
Remove the Spotlight icon, replace 0 with 755 to restore:
sudo chmod 0 /System/Library/CoreServices/Spotlight.app && killall Spotlight


?
Change Time Machine's backup interval (in seconds), default is 3600.
sudo defaults write /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/com.apple.backupd-auto \
StartInterval -int 7200

L
Disable 'use this disk?' Time Machine dialog when it detects new removable media.
defaults write com.apple.TimeMachine DoNotOfferNewDisksForBackup -bool YES



?
Enable trackpad tapping at the login window, this will also enable trackpad tapping by default for new accounts:
defaults write /Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences \
com.apple.mouse.tapBehavior -int 1

T
L
Display system stats at login window:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow \
AdminHostInfo SystemVersion
You can replace SystemVersion with one of the following:
SystemVersion SystemBuild, SerialNumber, IPAddress, DSStatus, Time, HostName


?
Remove accounts from the login window, replace 'sname' below with a space separated list of actual account shortnames:
defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow HiddenUserList \
-array-add sname1 sname2 sname3
to restore the accounts, run the following command:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow \
HiddenUsersList -array-add

T
Change Tiger's login background image: Backup and replace /Library/Desktop Pictures/Aqua Blue.jpg with the desired image.


L
Change Leopard's login background image (preferred method):
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow \
DesktopPicture "/Path/to/picture/you/want/to/use/image.jpg"
To Change it back, use the following command:
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow \
DesktopPicture "/System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg"
A few caveats:
  1. The file extension must end in '.jpg'
  2. The image and its directory must be accessible by all users (ie, /Users/Shared)
  3. The image must be in 72 dpi format
L
Change Leopard's login background image (alternative method). Note: this method will also change the default user desktop background: Backup and replace /System/Library/CoreServices/DefaultDesktop.jpg with the desired image.


T
L
List available services:
service --list

T
L
Start or stop a service:
service


T
L
Show suggested software updates:
softwareupdate -l

T
L
Install all available updates:
softwareupdate -i -a

T
L
Install recommended updates:
softwareupdate -i -r


T
L
Turn off .DS_Store files on network files, replace TRUE with FALSE to restore:
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores TRUE \
&& killall Finder

T
L
Turn off verification for disk images when mounting, replace TRUE with FALSE to restore:
defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify TRUE

?
Disable 'unexpectedly quit' dialog when a application crashes. Replace none with prompt to re-enable:
defaults write com.apple.CrashReporter DialogType none

T
L
Tell all applications to use the expanded print menu by default, replace TRUE with FALSE to turn off:
defaults write -g PMPrintingExpandedStateForPrint -bool TRUE

T
L
Use the AirPort tool from the command line, first create a symlink:
sudo ln -s /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Apple80211.framework/Versions/\
Current/Resources/airport /usr/sbin/airport
To test, run:
airport -I

Strip out PPC / Intel code from binaries:
lipo
Examine the contents of a Mac OS X installer (.pkg):
lsbom
Take a screen shot (capture):
screencapture
Open a file or directory:
open
Clear DNS cache (leopard):
dscacheutil -flushcache
Clear DNS cache (tiger):
lookupd -flushcache
Display OSX version:
sw_vers -productVersion
System software overview:
system_profiler SPSoftwareDataType
Show extensive system information:
system_profiler
Install a package:
installer -pkg .pkg -target /
Mount a disk image (.ISO, .DMG, .IMG, etc)
hdiutil mount /path/to/file


Screen Captures
⌘-SHIFT-3 Whole screen
⌘-CTRL-SHIFT-3 Whole screen to clipboard
⌘-SHIFT-4 Selection, use mouse or SPACE
⌘-CTRL-SHIFT-4 Selection to clipboard, use mouse or SPACE


Start Up Commands
C Boot from CD or DVD drive installed in the computer
D Boot from the internal disk drive
N Boot from the network server
R Resets the display on PowerBooks and iBooks to factory settings
X Boot into MacOS X
T Put the computer into FireWire target mode so it can be used as a hard drive
Option Have Open Firmware run the OS Picker app to choose a disk to boot from
Shift Boot into Safe Mode
⌘-V Verbose boot allowing you to see all the BSD output as the system boots
⌘-S Boot into single user to perform some sort of system maintenance
Option-⌘-O-F Access Open Firmware directly without booting into an operating system
Option-⌘-P-R Reset Open Firmware’s NVRAM, also known as "zapping" the PRAM
Shift-Option-⌘-Delete Ignore the boot device and scan for an alternate device
Hold down mouse button Eject any media, such as a CD, in the system’s removable drive