macOS Power User¶

System utilities, Homebrew management, and hidden settings.

Keyboard Symbols¶

Symbol	Key
`Cmd`	Command
`Option`	Option
`Ctrl`	Control
`Shift`	Shift

Homebrew¶

Bundle — Reproducible Setup¶

Export your installed packages to a Brewfile:

brew bundle dump --file=~/Brewfile

Install everything from a Brewfile:

brew bundle --file=~/Brewfile

Maintenance¶

Update Homebrew and all packages:

brew update && brew upgrade

Clean up old versions:

brew cleanup --prune=all

List packages not depended on by anything:

brew leaves

`mas` — Mac App Store CLI¶

List installed App Store apps:

mas list

Search and install:

mas search "Xcode"
mas install 497799835

Install: brew install mas

System Utilities¶

`caffeinate` — Prevent Sleep¶

Keep the system awake for 2 hours:

caffeinate -t 7200

Keep awake while a command runs:

caffeinate -s ./long-running-script.sh

Software Updates¶

Check for and install all updates:

softwareupdate --list
softwareupdate --install --all

Disk Utilities¶

List all disks:

diskutil list

Get SMART status:

diskutil info disk0 | grep SMART

`defaults write` — Hidden Settings¶

Show all file extensions in Finder:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true

Show hidden files in Finder:

defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true

Disable the "Are you sure you want to open this application?" dialog:

defaults write com.apple.LaunchServices LSQuarantine -bool false

Speed up Mission Control animations:

defaults write com.apple.dock expose-animation-duration -float 0.1

Speed up SMB network share browsing (skip .DS_Store reads):

defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool TRUE

Re-enable default behavior:

defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool FALSE

Restart affected services after changes:

killall Finder Dock

Tip

Read current values first with defaults read <domain> <key> before changing them.

Clipboard¶

Copy a file's contents to clipboard:

pbcopy < ~/.ssh/id_ed25519.pub

Paste clipboard contents to a file:

pbpaste > output.txt

Shortcut	Action
`Shift`+`Cmd`+`.`	Toggle hidden files
`Shift`+`Cmd`+`G`	Go to folder
`Cmd`+`Shift`+`A`	Applications folder
`Cmd`+`Shift`+`U`	Utilities folder

Quarantine Log¶

View all downloaded files macOS has tracked:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV* \
  'select LSQuarantineDataURLString from LSQuarantineEvent'

Clear the log:

sqlite3 ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.LaunchServices.QuarantineEventsV* \
  'delete from LSQuarantineEvent'