Download PlistEdit Pro for Mac

In the edit

PlistEdit Pro is a macOS editor for property list and JSON files, built for the kind of work that comes with Mac and iOS development.

1. Open a plist or JSON file from Finder or the app itself. You can also search an entire folder of plist files for a specific key or value — useful when you are not sure which file holds the setting you need.
2. Browse and edit the structure. Drag and drop entries to reorganise them, use copy and paste to move data between files, and rely on the built-in structure definitions for standard Apple plist files to keep things consistent.
3. Use find and replace across a single file or a folder. Keyboard navigation keeps your hands on the keys. If you script your workflow, AppleScript automation is there to tie PlistEdit Pro into the rest of your toolchain.

Version 1.10.0 runs on macOS 14 or later, on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs. The 1.1 update brought UI changes for macOS Tahoe and moved the preferences browser options into a toolbar menu, so the interface stays clean as Apple moves the OS forward.

First days with PlistEdit Pro

When you install PlistEdit Pro and start editing your first plist or JSON file, it is worth taking a moment to get comfortable with the outline view. That is where most of the daily work happens. Drag and drop is fast once you get the hang of it, but the first few times you might accidentally move a key into the wrong branch. The multi-level undo is there for exactly that reason, so don't worry about making mistakes while you learn the layout.

Another early step is to open a few of the standard Apple plist files using the structure definitions. These definitions highlight keys and value types that Apple expects, which helps you avoid typing a key name wrong. If you edit preference files, the preferences browser is a shortcut worth finding early. It saves you from digging through ~/Library/Preferences manually.

One thing that might not be obvious at first is the folder search. If you have a project with dozens of plist files, you can point PlistEdit Pro at the whole folder and search for a key or value across every file. That alone has saved me a lot of time on more than one Monday morning.

Always quit the app before editing its plist

The most frequent slip is editing a plist file while the app that owns it is running. Some applications rewrite their preference files on quit, overwriting your changes. The safe habit is to quit the app, make your edit, then reopen it. PlistEdit Pro can warn you when a file changes on disk, but it is still cleaner to avoid the conflict entirely.

Another mistake is treating plist files like plain text. You can view and edit in plain text mode if you prefer, but the outline view understands the structure. Editing raw XML or JSON by hand is fine for simple changes, but for nested dictionaries and arrays the outline view keeps everything aligned. Beginners often jump to text mode because it looks familiar, then wonder why a value ended up in the wrong place.

A smaller but common issue is forgetting to save before switching files. PlistEdit Pro handles unsaved changes well, but it is worth building the habit of saving after each meaningful edit. Multi-level undo is generous, but it does not replace regular saves.

Who benefits most from PlistEdit Pro

Mac and iOS developers are the obvious audience, but the app is also useful for anyone who works with macOS preference files or app configuration. If you ever find yourself opening a plist in Xcode or a text editor just to change one key, PlistEdit Pro is a faster alternative with better visibility into the structure.

System administrators who manage Macs across a fleet will appreciate the folder search and the command-line pledit tool. You can script changes across many machines without opening a GUI every time. AppleScript support also means you can integrate PlistEdit Pro into a larger automation workflow, which is helpful if you maintain deployment scripts or custom tools.

For designers who work with configuration files that include colour values, font names or layout coordinates, the outline view makes it easier to find and edit the right key without scrolling through raw text. The font customisation option also helps if you prefer a specific typeface for long editing sessions.

Fixing a crash report with three open branches

Say you are an iOS developer and you have just received a crash report that points to a missing key in an Info.plist. You have three different branches of the project open, each with its own version of the file. Instead of opening each one in Xcode, you open the project folder in PlistEdit Pro, search for the key name across all plist files, and see exactly which branch has the mismatch. You fix the value, save, and move on. The whole thing takes about a minute. That is the kind of task that PlistEdit Pro handles without ceremony, and it is the reason it stays in the dock during a busy release cycle.

New this release

• Requires macOS 14 or later.
• Updated UI elements for macOS Tahoe.
• Preferences browser options moved into a toolbar menu.
• 'Ask to revert when file changes on disk' changed to a small popover.

Mac it needs

• macOS 14 or later
• Intel or Apple Silicon