First Config

Recommended Configuration Template

This is a battle-tested starting point for your macOS preferences migration. It includes commonly customized settings with annotations explaining each one.

How to Use This Template

Copy the entire template below to a new file (e.g., my-config.json)
Remove settings you don’t want (e.g., if you don’t use Stage Manager, remove that section)
Adjust values to match your preferences (e.g., change largesize from 128 to your preferred dock magnification)
Optionally add more settings by referencing your raw export (following the Manual Curation Workflow)

The Template

Note: This template uses an extended JSON format with "value" and "note" properties for documentation. When applying with macprefs apply, the tool extracts only the "value" fields. For simple settings without notes, values are provided directly. Both formats work equally well.

{
  "version": "1.0",
  "os": "26",
  "domains": {
    "com.apple.AppleMultitouchTrackpad": {
      "Clicking": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Tap to click - essential for laptop users"
      },
      "TrackpadThreeFingerDrag": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Three finger drag - power user favorite"
      },
      "TrackpadThreeFingerHorizSwipeGesture": 0,
      "TrackpadThreeFingerTapGesture": 0,
      "TrackpadThreeFingerVertSwipeGesture": 0
    },
    "com.apple.driver.AppleBluetoothMultitouch.trackpad": {
      "Clicking": true,
      "TrackpadThreeFingerDrag": true,
      "TrackpadThreeFingerHorizSwipeGesture": 0,
      "TrackpadThreeFingerTapGesture": 0,
      "TrackpadThreeFingerVertSwipeGesture": 0
    },
    "com.apple.dock": {
      "autohide": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Auto-hide dock for more screen space"
      },
      "magnification": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Enable dock magnification on hover"
      },
      "largesize": {
        "value": 128,
        "note": "Magnified icon size (16-128)"
      },
      "minimize-to-application": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Minimize windows into app icon"
      },
      "mru-spaces": {
        "value": false,
        "note": "Don't auto-rearrange Spaces based on recent use"
      },
      "show-recents": {
        "value": false,
        "note": "Hide recent apps section in dock"
      },
      "showAppExposeGestureEnabled": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Enable app expose gesture"
      },
      "wvous-br-corner": {
        "value": 14,
        "note": "Hot corner bottom-right: Quick Note (14)"
      }
    },
    "com.apple.WindowManager": {
      "GloballyEnabled": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Stage Manager enabled globally"
      },
      "AppWindowGroupingBehavior": false,
      "HideDesktop": false,
      "StandardHideDesktopIcons": false,
      "StandardHideWidgets": false
    },
    "com.apple.menuextra.clock": {
      "ShowSeconds": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Show seconds in menu bar clock"
      }
    },
    "com.apple.finder": {
      "FXPreferredViewStyle": {
        "value": "Nlsv",
        "note": "Default to List view (Nlsv=List, icnv=Icon, clmv=Column, Flwv=Gallery)"
      },
      "FXPreferredSearchViewStyle": "Nlsv",
      "ShowStatusBar": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Show status bar at bottom of Finder windows"
      },
      "ShowPathbar": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Show path bar at bottom of Finder windows"
      },
      "FXEnableExtensionChangeWarning": true,
      "WarnOnEmptyTrash": true,
      "FXICloudDriveDesktop": true,
      "FXICloudDriveDocuments": true
    },
    "NSGlobalDomain": {
      "com.apple.mouse.scaling": {
        "value": 2,
        "note": "Mouse tracking speed (0-3)"
      },
      "com.apple.trackpad.forceClick": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Enable Force Click on trackpad"
      },
      "com.apple.trackpad.scaling": {
        "value": 1,
        "note": "Trackpad tracking speed"
      },
      "AppleEnableMouseSwipeNavigateWithScrolls": {
        "value": false,
        "note": "Disable swipe navigation with mouse"
      },
      "AppleEnableSwipeNavigateWithScrolls": {
        "value": false,
        "note": "Disable swipe navigation in apps"
      },
      "AppleMiniaturizeOnDoubleClick": {
        "value": false,
        "note": "Don't minimize on title bar double-click"
      }
    },
    "com.apple.controlcenter": {
      "NSStatusItem Visible Battery": {
        "value": false,
        "note": "Hide battery in menu bar (visible in Control Center)"
      },
      "NSStatusItem Visible Display": false
    },
    "com.apple.assistant.support": {
      "Assistant Enabled": {
        "value": true,
        "note": "Enable Siri"
      }
    }
  }
}