Mr.R, Author at defaults-write.com

macOS: Display additional information on the loginscreen

Mr.R — Fri, 05 Apr 2019 12:00:27 +0000

You can display additional information on the loginscreen of macOS. After applying the command you can click on the clock in the upper right corner, toggle between clock, IP address, macOS version and computer name. The information will be displayed for only 60 seconds.

Use the following command to active the additional information:

sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow AdminHostInfo HostName

Reboot your mac, to make changes affect.

Disable the additional information (defaults) with:

sudo defaults delete /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow AdminHostInfo

Example:

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Reverse dark mode to menubar and dock only

Mr.R — Sat, 08 Dec 2018 12:34:22 +0000

Mojave Dark Mode includes a new full Dark Mode. If this modes is to black for you, there is a possibility to reverse to the macOS High Sierra dark mode. The following procedure disables the full Mojave dark mode and only enables a dark menubar and dock just like macOS High Sierra.

Follow these steps:

1. System Preferences ▸ General ▸ Appearance: Light
2. In Terminal, paste this command:

defaults write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool true

3. Go to  ▸ Log Out
4. Log back in
5. System Preferences ▸ General ▸ Appearance: Dark

Dark mode is now active only on the menu bar and dock.

If you want to reverse this, change the Terminal command:

defaults write -g NSRequiresAquaSystemAppearance -bool false

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Speed up Time Machine backups

Mr.R — Thu, 09 Aug 2018 18:26:40 +0000

Time Machine backups are great, but very slow when a large amount of data/files needs to be transferred (such as the initial back-up). As desgined by Apple the Time Machine background proces is running in a very low CPU priority, giving all other running applications en services priority.

With the following Terminal command you can temporary speed up the Time Machine backups:

sudo sysctl debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=0

The command prevents Time Machine’s backup process assuming a low CPU priority, allowing backups to complete more quickly.

The command is not persistent and will become inactive after a reboot. If you want revert to the default setting without a reboot:

sudo sysctl debug.lowpri_throttle_enabled=1

Searching for more Time Machine tweaks? Check this!

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Fix for not working Exposè/Mission Control

Mr.R — Thu, 07 Jun 2018 20:00:36 +0000

Using the the F3-key should normally activate Exposè/Mission Control. In some circumstances nothing happens when you hit the F3-key or the four finger up gesture.

To solve this problem apply the following defaults write command:

defaults write com.apple.dock mcx-expose-disabled -bool FALSE

Restart the OSX Dock:

killall Dock

F3 and the four finger up gesture will work again.

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Enable Reminders debug menu and force a manual update

Mr.R — Sun, 18 Feb 2018 19:12:27 +0000

Some of the built-in macOS applications have the possibility to activate a ‘special’ debug menu. One of these applications is Reminders, the debug menu gives you the option to manually Update/Refresh with your iCloud account.

Quit the Reminders application and start a Terminal window, apply the following command:

defaults write com.apple.reminders RemindersDebugMenu -boolean true

After applying to command start the Reminders application, the Debug menu will appear in the Reminders menubar and gives you the option to manually sync with iCloud whenever you want.

To disable the debug menu, quit Reminders and type the following:

defaults delete com.apple.reminders RemindersDebugMenu

Start de Reminders application and the debug option is gone…

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Toggle Safari DNS Prefetching

Mr.R — Mon, 13 Mar 2017 19:11:03 +0000

To improve performance Safari will attempt to prefetch DNS information. In some circumstances this can result in slow or partial webpage loading, or webpage cannot be found errors.

If you are experiencing those problems, apply this tweak to disable DNS prefetching.

Disable DNS prefetching:

defaults write com.apple.safari WebKitDNSPrefetchingEnabled -boolean false

To activate this close Safari, or reboot your Mac.

Return to the default value with the following command:

defaults write com.apple.safari WebKitDNSPrefetchingEnabled -boolean true

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Change OS X text cursor blink rate

Mr.R — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 19:33:08 +0000

There is no system preference setting for adjusting the cursor blink rate in OS X, as with many hidden settings you can change the blink rate directly using a defaults write command (OS X 10.9 and above).

defaults write -g NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriodOn -float 200
defaults write -g NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriodOff -float 200

Use milliseconds to adjust the blinking rate (e.g. 1000 = 1 second), change 200 in the value you want to use.

You will need to quit and restart your applications for the changes to take effect,

Reverse to default with the command’s:

defaults delete -g NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriodOn
defaults delete -g NSTextInsertionPointBlinkPeriodOff

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Re-activate the Shutdown Dialog

Mr.R — Tue, 21 Oct 2014 13:56:12 +0000

When you press the power button (approx 1 second) on a Mac installed with OS X Mavericks or Yosemite the Mac falls into sleepmode. You can disable the power button’s directly sleep mode and have the ‘old’ shutdown dialog appearing instead, open OS X Terminal window and enter:

defaults write com.apple.loginwindow PowerButtonSleepsSystem -bool no

To undo, simply change ‘no’ in to ‘yes’

defaults write com.apple.loginwindow PowerButtonSleepsSystem -bool yes

The shutdown dialog:

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Finder: Disable ‘Go to Folder’ menu option

Mr.R — Sat, 10 May 2014 18:00:42 +0000

Disable the menu option: ‘Go ▸ Go to folder’ in the Mac OS X Finder menubar.

defaults write com.apple.finder ProhibitGoToFolder -bool true

To make the command take effect, you need to restart the Finder.

killall Finder

Revert to the default setting:

defaults write com.apple.finder ProhibitGoToFolder -bool false

Screenshot: Default option, Go to folder disabled.

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Place the OS X Dock in a screen corner

Mr.R — Mon, 09 Dec 2013 19:00:59 +0000

The OS X Dock is centered along the bottom of the screen, with OS X Terminal you can pin the Dock into the corner of your Mac’s screen. This method works with both 2D & 3D versions of the Dock.

Top corner for a vertical Dock or the lower left corner for horizontal Dock:

defaults write com.apple.dock pinning start;killall Dock

Bottom corners for vertical Dock or the lower right corner for horizontal Dock:

defaults write com.apple.dock pinning end;killall Dock

You can restore the default centered Dock with:

defaults write com.apple.dock pinning middle;killall Dock

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