Concise, compact list of all 'defaults' currently configured and their values?

Question

I am wondering what (if any) way there is to get a concise list of all defaults currently configured on a system?

This post suggests that they are configured by application, which I get, and it has some good suggestions about how to get a list, for instance:

defaults read

will produce a decent list of configurations, but it's a bit cumbersome. As well, I'm not sure that's what I'm looking for, or if it's just a bunch of reference information. I couldn't find some corresponding defaults in there that I know I set.

Anyhow, say hypothetically you only care about out of the box defaults that would be on most systems, is there a way to produce a list of them and their corresponding values?

Answer 1

There is/was an preference pane which documented a lot of these called Screts by Blacktree, no idea where that little gem has gone, but was live last week, so maybe it is just down right now...

Anyway... the Google Code page has info about finding them...

https://code.google.com/p/blacktree-secrets/wiki/FindingSecrets

Answer 2

So after poking around in bash builtins, I came across the defaults command again and decided to look at it's help file.

defaults read

will output all the defaults, but this is just an output of them all with no formatting and no indication as to what domain or default it belongs to.

defaults domains

will output all the default domains so I decided that I could recreate the defaults read with extra output and formatting, so as a test I ran this:

for i in `defaults domains | tr ',' '\n'`; do echo "********* READING DEFAULT DOMAIN $i **********"; echo; defaults read $i; done

Which will do the following:

run defaults domains, then format it so each domain is on a single line, then run through each line and run defaults read against it while adding the READING DEFAULT DOMAIN text to output before dumping the default to output. Obviously it could use some more formatting, etc, but at least this is a way of separating each domain and adding custom formatting. From there You could go and dig into each section and see how best to format them.

I'll play with it some more and see if I can come up with a decent report that doesn't look like total crud.

Answer 3

There are a few of these defaults write lists around on github & elsewhere, but this one is pretty comprehensive…

https://gist.github.com/brandonb927/3195465/

Goes without saying, of course, to not just blindly run it, but use it as an info source.

Repro'd here, but they may go out of sync over time
These are not the default defaults, btw, just a reference list you can use defaults read to test against.

#!/bin/sh

# Set the colours you can use
black='\033[0;30m'
white='\033[0;37m'
red='\033[0;31m'
green='\033[0;32m'
yellow='\033[0;33m'
blue='\033[0;34m'
magenta='\033[0;35m'
cyan='\033[0;36m'

# Resets the style
reset=`tput sgr0`

# Color-echo.
# arg $1 = message
# arg $2 = Color
cecho() {
  echo "${2}${1}${reset}"
  return
}

# Set continue to false by default
CONTINUE=false

echo ""
cecho "###############################################" $red
cecho "#        DO NOT RUN THIS SCRIPT BLINDLY       #" $red
cecho "#         YOU'LL PROBABLY REGRET IT...        #" $red
cecho "#                                             #" $red
cecho "#              READ IT THOROUGHLY             #" $red
cecho "#         AND EDIT TO SUIT YOUR NEEDS         #" $red
cecho "###############################################" $red
echo ""


echo ""
cecho "Have you read through the script you're about to run and " $red
cecho "understood that it will make changes to your computer? (y/n)" $red
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  CONTINUE=true
fi

if ! $CONTINUE; then
  # Check if we're continuing and output a message if not
  cecho "Please go read the script, it only takes a few minutes" $red
  exit
fi

# Here we go.. ask for the administrator password upfront and run a
# keep-alive to update existing `sudo` time stamp until script has finished
sudo -v
while true; do sudo -n true; sleep 60; kill -0 "$$" || exit; done 2>/dev/null &

###############################################################################
# General UI/UX


echo ""
echo "Would you like to set your computer name (as done via System Preferences >> Sharing)?  (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  echo "What would you like it to be?"
  read COMPUTER_NAME
  sudo scutil --set ComputerName $COMPUTER_NAME
  sudo scutil --set HostName $COMPUTER_NAME
  sudo scutil --set LocalHostName $COMPUTER_NAME
  sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration/com.apple.smb.server NetBIOSName -string $COMPUTER_NAME
fi

echo ""
echo "Hide the Time Machine, Volume, User, and Bluetooth icons?  (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  # Get the system Hardware UUID and use it for the next menubar stuff
  for domain in ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.systemuiserver.*; do
    defaults write "${domain}" dontAutoLoad -array \
      "/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/TimeMachine.menu" \
      "/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/Volume.menu" \
      "/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/User.menu"
  done

  defaults write com.apple.systemuiserver menuExtras -array \
    "/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/Bluetooth.menu" \
    "/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/AirPort.menu" \
    "/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/Battery.menu" \
    "/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Extras/Clock.menu"
fi

echo ""
echo "Hide the Spotlight icon? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  sudo chmod 600 /System/Library/CoreServices/Search.bundle/Contents/MacOS/Search
fi

echo ""
echo "Disable Spotlight indexing for any volume that gets mounted and has not yet been indexed before? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  echo 'Use `sudo mdutil -i off "/Volumes/foo"` to stop indexing any volume.'
  sudo defaults write /.Spotlight-V100/VolumeConfiguration Exclusions -array "/Volumes"
fi

echo ""
echo "Change indexing order and disable some search results in Spotlight? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  # Yosemite-specific search results (remove them if your are using OS X 10.9 or older):
  #   MENU_DEFINITION
  #   MENU_CONVERSION
  #   MENU_EXPRESSION
  #   MENU_SPOTLIGHT_SUGGESTIONS (send search queries to Apple)
  #   MENU_WEBSEARCH             (send search queries to Apple)
  #   MENU_OTHER
  defaults write com.apple.spotlight orderedItems -array \
    '{"enabled" = 1;"name" = "APPLICATIONS";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 1;"name" = "SYSTEM_PREFS";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 1;"name" = "DIRECTORIES";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 1;"name" = "PDF";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 1;"name" = "FONTS";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "DOCUMENTS";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "MESSAGES";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "CONTACT";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "EVENT_TODO";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "IMAGES";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "BOOKMARKS";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "MUSIC";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "MOVIES";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "PRESENTATIONS";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "SPREADSHEETS";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "SOURCE";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "MENU_DEFINITION";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "MENU_OTHER";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "MENU_CONVERSION";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "MENU_EXPRESSION";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "MENU_WEBSEARCH";}' \
    '{"enabled" = 0;"name" = "MENU_SPOTLIGHT_SUGGESTIONS";}'
  # Load new settings before rebuilding the index
  killall mds > /dev/null 2>&1
  # Make sure indexing is enabled for the main volume
  sudo mdutil -i on / > /dev/null
  # Rebuild the index from scratch
  sudo mdutil -E / > /dev/null
fi

echo ""
echo "Expanding the save panel by default"
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSNavPanelExpandedStateForSaveMode -bool true
defaults write NSGlobalDomain PMPrintingExpandedStateForPrint -bool true
defaults write NSGlobalDomain PMPrintingExpandedStateForPrint2 -bool true

echo ""
echo "Automatically quit printer app once the print jobs complete"
defaults write com.apple.print.PrintingPrefs "Quit When Finished" -bool true

# Try e.g. `cd /tmp; unidecode "\x{0000}" > cc.txt; open -e cc.txt`
echo ""
echo "Displaying ASCII control characters using caret notation in standard text views"
defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSTextShowsControlCharacters -bool true

echo ""
echo "Save to disk, rather than iCloud, by default? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSDocumentSaveNewDocumentsToCloud -bool false
fi

echo ""
echo "Reveal IP address, hostname, OS version, etc. when clicking the clock in the login window"
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.loginwindow AdminHostInfo HostName

echo ""
echo "Check for software updates daily, not just once per week"
defaults write com.apple.SoftwareUpdate ScheduleFrequency -int 1

echo ""
echo "Removing duplicates in the 'Open With' menu"
/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -kill -r -domain local -domain system -domain user

echo ""
echo "Disable smart quotes and smart dashes? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticQuoteSubstitutionEnabled -bool false
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticDashSubstitutionEnabled -bool false
fi

echo ""
echo "Add ability to toggle between Light and Dark mode in Yosemite using ctrl+opt+cmd+t? (y/n)"
# http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/2jr6s2/1010_i_found_a_way_to_dynamically_switch_between/
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/.GlobalPreferences.plist _HIEnableThemeSwitchHotKey -bool true
fi


###############################################################################
# General Power and Performance modifications


echo ""
echo "Disable hibernation? (speeds up entering sleep mode) (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  sudo pmset -a hibernatemode 0
fi

echo ""
echo "Remove the sleep image file to save disk space? (y/n)"
echo "(If you're on a <128GB SSD, this helps but can have adverse affects on performance. You've been warned.)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  sudo rm /Private/var/vm/sleepimage
  echo "Creating a zero-byte file instead"
  sudo touch /Private/var/vm/sleepimage
  echo "and make sure it can't be rewritten"
  sudo chflags uchg /Private/var/vm/sleepimage
fi

echo ""
echo "Disable the sudden motion sensor? (it's not useful for SSDs/current MacBooks) (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  sudo pmset -a sms 0
fi

echo ""
echo "Disable system-wide resume? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.systempreferences NSQuitAlwaysKeepsWindows -bool false
fi

echo ""
echo "Disable the menubar transparency? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.universalaccess reduceTransparency -bool true
fi

echo ""
echo "Speeding up wake from sleep to 24 hours from an hour"
# http://www.cultofmac.com/221392/quick-hack-speeds-up-retina-macbooks-wake-from-sleep-os-x-tips/
sudo pmset -a standbydelay 86400


################################################################################
# Trackpad, mouse, keyboard, Bluetooth accessories, and input


echo ""
echo "Increasing sound quality for Bluetooth headphones/headsets"
defaults write com.apple.BluetoothAudioAgent "Apple Bitpool Min (editable)" -int 40

echo ""
echo "Enabling full keyboard access for all controls (enable Tab in modal dialogs, menu windows, etc.)"
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleKeyboardUIMode -int 3

echo ""
echo "Disabling press-and-hold for special keys in favor of key repeat"
defaults write NSGlobalDomain ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

echo ""
echo "Setting a blazingly fast keyboard repeat rate"
defaults write NSGlobalDomain KeyRepeat -int 0

echo ""
echo "Disable auto-correct? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain NSAutomaticSpellingCorrectionEnabled -bool false
fi

echo ""
echo "Setting trackpad & mouse speed to a reasonable number"
defaults write -g com.apple.trackpad.scaling 2
defaults write -g com.apple.mouse.scaling 2.5

echo ""
echo "Turn off keyboard illumination when computer is not used for 5 minutes"
defaults write com.apple.BezelServices kDimTime -int 300

echo ""
echo "Disable display from automatically adjusting brightness? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.iokit.AmbientLightSensor "Automatic Display Enabled" -bool false
fi

echo ""
echo "Disable keyboard from automatically adjusting backlight brightness in low light? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.iokit.AmbientLightSensor "Automatic Keyboard Enabled" -bool false
fi

###############################################################################
# Screen


echo ""
echo "Requiring password immediately after sleep or screen saver begins"
defaults write com.apple.screensaver askForPassword -int 1
defaults write com.apple.screensaver askForPasswordDelay -int 0

echo ""
echo "Where do you want screenshots to be stored? (hit ENTER if you want ~/Desktop as default)"
# Thanks https://github.com/omgmog
read screenshot_location
echo ""
if [ -z "${screenshot_location}" ]
then
  # If nothing specified, we default to ~/Desktop
  screenshot_location="${HOME}/Desktop"
else
  # Otherwise we use input
  if [[ "${screenshot_location:0:1}" != "/" ]]
  then
    # If input doesn't start with /, assume it's relative to home
    screenshot_location="${HOME}/${screenshot_location}"
  fi
fi
echo "Setting location to ${screenshot_location}"
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location -string "${screenshot_location}"

echo ""
echo "What format should screenshots be saved as? (hit ENTER for PNG, options: BMP, GIF, JPG, PDF, TIFF) "
read screenshot_format
if [ -z "$1" ]
then
  echo ""
  echo "Setting screenshot format to PNG"
  defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string "png"
else
  echo ""
  echo "Setting screenshot format to $screenshot_format"
  defaults write com.apple.screencapture type -string "$screenshot_format"
fi

echo ""
echo "Enabling subpixel font rendering on non-Apple LCDs"
defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleFontSmoothing -int 2

echo ""
echo "Enabling HiDPI display modes (requires restart)"
sudo defaults write /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver DisplayResolutionEnabled -bool true

###############################################################################
# Finder
###############################################################################

echo ""
echo "Show icons for hard drives, servers, and removable media on the desktop? (y/n)"
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.finder ShowExternalHardDrivesOnDesktop -bool true
fi

echo ""
echo "Show hidden files in Finder by default? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.Finder AppleShowAllFiles -bool true
fi

echo ""
echo "Show dotfiles in Finder by default? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
fi

echo ""
echo "Show all filename extensions in Finder by default? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write NSGlobalDomain AppleShowAllExtensions -bool true
fi

echo ""
echo "Show status bar in Finder by default? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.finder ShowStatusBar -bool true
fi

echo ""
echo "Display full POSIX path as Finder window title? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.finder _FXShowPosixPathInTitle -bool true
fi

echo ""
echo "Disable the warning when changing a file extension? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.finder FXEnableExtensionChangeWarning -bool false
fi

echo ""
echo "Use column view in all Finder windows by default? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.finder FXPreferredViewStyle Clmv
fi

echo ""
echo "Avoid creation of .DS_Store files on network volumes? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores -bool true
fi

echo ""
echo "Disable disk image verification? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify -bool true
  defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify-locked -bool true
  defaults write com.apple.frameworks.diskimages skip-verify-remote -bool true
fi

echo ""
echo "Allowing text selection in Quick Look/Preview in Finder by default"
defaults write com.apple.finder QLEnableTextSelection -bool true

echo ""
echo "Show item info near icons on the desktop and in other icon views? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :DesktopViewSettings:IconViewSettings:showItemInfo true" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :FK_StandardViewSettings:IconViewSettings:showItemInfo true" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :StandardViewSettings:IconViewSettings:showItemInfo true" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
fi

echo ""
echo "Show item info to the right of the icons on the desktop? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set DesktopViewSettings:IconViewSettings:labelOnBottom false" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
fi

echo ""
echo "Enable snap-to-grid for icons on the desktop and in other icon views? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :DesktopViewSettings:IconViewSettings:arrangeBy grid" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :FK_StandardViewSettings:IconViewSettings:arrangeBy grid" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :StandardViewSettings:IconViewSettings:arrangeBy grid" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
fi

echo ""
echo "Increase grid spacing for icons on the desktop and in other icon views? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :DesktopViewSettings:IconViewSettings:gridSpacing 100" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :FK_StandardViewSettings:IconViewSettings:gridSpacing 100" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :StandardViewSettings:IconViewSettings:gridSpacing 100" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
fi

echo ""
echo "Increase the size of icons on the desktop and in other icon views? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :DesktopViewSettings:IconViewSettings:iconSize 80" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :FK_StandardViewSettings:IconViewSettings:iconSize 80" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
  /usr/libexec/PlistBuddy -c "Set :StandardViewSettings:IconViewSettings:iconSize 80" ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist
fi


###############################################################################
# Dock & Mission Control
###############################################################################

echo "Wipe all (default) app icons from the Dock? (y/n)"
echo "(This is only really useful when setting up a new Mac, or if you don't use the Dock to launch apps.)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-apps -array
fi

echo ""
echo "Setting the icon size of Dock items to 36 pixels for optimal size/screen-realestate"
defaults write com.apple.dock tilesize -int 36

echo ""
echo "Speeding up Mission Control animations and grouping windows by application"
defaults write com.apple.dock expose-animation-duration -float 0.1
defaults write com.apple.dock "expose-group-by-app" -bool true

echo ""
echo "Set Dock to auto-hide and remove the auto-hiding delay? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.dock autohide -bool true
  defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-delay -float 0
  defaults write com.apple.dock autohide-time-modifier -float 0
fi


###############################################################################
# Chrome, Safari, & WebKit
###############################################################################

echo ""
echo "Privacy: Don’t send search queries to Apple"
defaults write com.apple.Safari UniversalSearchEnabled -bool false
defaults write com.apple.Safari SuppressSearchSuggestions -bool true

echo ""
echo "Hiding Safari's bookmarks bar by default"
defaults write com.apple.Safari ShowFavoritesBar -bool false

echo ""
echo "Hiding Safari's sidebar in Top Sites"
defaults write com.apple.Safari ShowSidebarInTopSites -bool false

echo ""
echo "Disabling Safari's thumbnail cache for History and Top Sites"
defaults write com.apple.Safari DebugSnapshotsUpdatePolicy -int 2

echo ""
echo "Enabling Safari's debug menu"
defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeInternalDebugMenu -bool true

echo ""
echo "Making Safari's search banners default to Contains instead of Starts With"
defaults write com.apple.Safari FindOnPageMatchesWordStartsOnly -bool false

echo ""
echo "Removing useless icons from Safari's bookmarks bar"
defaults write com.apple.Safari ProxiesInBookmarksBar "()"

echo ""
echo "Enabling the Develop menu and the Web Inspector in Safari"
defaults write com.apple.Safari IncludeDevelopMenu -bool true
defaults write com.apple.Safari WebKitDeveloperExtrasEnabledPreferenceKey -bool true
defaults write com.apple.Safari "com.apple.Safari.ContentPageGroupIdentifier.WebKit2DeveloperExtrasEnabled" -bool true

echo ""
echo "Adding a context menu item for showing the Web Inspector in web views"
defaults write NSGlobalDomain WebKitDeveloperExtras -bool true

echo ""
echo "Disabling the annoying backswipe in Chrome"
defaults write com.google.Chrome AppleEnableSwipeNavigateWithScrolls -bool false
defaults write com.google.Chrome.canary AppleEnableSwipeNavigateWithScrolls -bool false

echo ""
echo "Using the system-native print preview dialog in Chrome"
defaults write com.google.Chrome DisablePrintPreview -bool true
defaults write com.google.Chrome.canary DisablePrintPreview -bool true


###############################################################################
# Mail
###############################################################################

echo ""
echo "Setting email addresses to copy as '[email protected]' instead of 'Foo Bar <[email protected]>' in Mail.app"
defaults write com.apple.mail AddressesIncludeNameOnPasteboard -bool false


###############################################################################
# Terminal
###############################################################################

echo ""
echo "Enabling UTF-8 ONLY in Terminal.app and setting the Pro theme by default"
defaults write com.apple.terminal StringEncodings -array 4
defaults write com.apple.Terminal "Default Window Settings" -string "Pro"
defaults write com.apple.Terminal "Startup Window Settings" -string "Pro"


###############################################################################
# Time Machine
###############################################################################

echo ""
echo "Prevent Time Machine from prompting to use new hard drives as backup volume? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.TimeMachine DoNotOfferNewDisksForBackup -bool true
fi

echo ""
echo "Disable local Time Machine backups? (This can take up a ton of SSD space on <128GB SSDs) (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  hash tmutil &> /dev/null && sudo tmutil disablelocal
fi


###############################################################################
# Messages                                                                    #
###############################################################################

echo ""
echo "Disable automatic emoji substitution in Messages.app? (i.e. use plain text smileys) (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.messageshelper.MessageController SOInputLineSettings -dict-add "automaticEmojiSubstitutionEnablediMessage" -bool false
fi

echo ""
echo "Disable smart quotes in Messages.app? (it's annoying for messages that contain code) (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.messageshelper.MessageController SOInputLineSettings -dict-add "automaticQuoteSubstitutionEnabled" -bool false
fi

echo ""
echo "Disable continuous spell checking in Messages.app? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  defaults write com.apple.messageshelper.MessageController SOInputLineSettings -dict-add "continuousSpellCheckingEnabled" -bool false
fi


###############################################################################
# Transmission.app                                                            #
###############################################################################


echo ""
echo "Do you use Transmission for torrenting? (y/n)"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  echo ""
  echo "Setting up an incomplete downloads folder in Downloads"
  mkdir -p ~/Downloads/Incomplete
  defaults write org.m0k.transmission UseIncompleteDownloadFolder -bool true
  defaults write org.m0k.transmission IncompleteDownloadFolder -string "${HOME}/Downloads/Incomplete"

  echo ""
  echo "Don't prompt for confirmation before downloading"
  defaults write org.m0k.transmission DownloadAsk -bool false

  echo ""
  echo "Trash original torrent files"
  defaults write org.m0k.transmission DeleteOriginalTorrent -bool true

  echo ""
  echo "Hide the donate message"
  defaults write org.m0k.transmission WarningDonate -bool false

  echo ""
  echo "Hide the legal disclaimer"
  defaults write org.m0k.transmission WarningLegal -bool false
fi


###############################################################################
# Sublime Text
###############################################################################
echo ""
echo "Do you use Sublime Text 3 as your editor of choice, and is it installed?"
read -r response
if [[ $response =~ ^([yY][eE][sS]|[yY])$ ]]; then
  # Installing from homebrew cask does the following for you!
  # echo ""
  # echo "Linking Sublime Text for command line usage as subl"
  # ln -s "/Applications/Sublime Text.app/Contents/SharedSupport/bin/subl" /usr/local/bin/subl

  echo ""
  echo "Setting Git to use Sublime Text as default editor"
  git config --global core.editor "subl -n -w"
fi


###############################################################################
# Kill affected applications
###############################################################################

echo ""
cecho "Done!" $cyan
echo ""
echo ""
cecho "################################################################################" $white
echo ""
echo ""
cecho "Note that some of these changes require a logout/restart to take effect." $red
cecho "Killing some open applications in order to take effect." $red
echo ""

find ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dock -name "*.db" -maxdepth 1 -delete
for app in "Activity Monitor" "Address Book" "Calendar" "Contacts" "cfprefsd" \
  "Dock" "Finder" "Mail" "Messages" "Safari" "SystemUIServer" \
  "Terminal" "Transmission"; do
  killall "${app}" > /dev/null 2>&1
done

Answer 4

Recent OS X has:

defaults export <domain> - # Writes domain as an xml plist to stdout
defaults export <domain> <path to file> # Writes domain as an binary plist
defaults -currentHost domains
defaults domains

Will give you your domains. Run after creating a new user and you should be good. Moving forward.

Shovel 'em into git and tinker away.

Answer 5

Print out all domains on new lines:

defaults domains | tr , '\n'