System Preferences

System Preferences in macOS 10.15 (Catalina) in Dark Mode

System Preferences in OS X 10.11 (El Capitan)

System Preferences in Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard)

System Preferences is the application utility used by Mac OS X and earlier versions of macOS to set user preferences, replacing the Control Panels folder found in previous versions of classic Mac OS. System Preferences was itself replaced by System Settings in macOS 13 (Ventura).

In Mac OS X through macOS 12, it can be found in the Applications folder or near the right side of the Dock by default. In Mac OS X 10.1.x, this application's name was shortened to System Prefs, but resumed its full name in Mac OS X 10.2, as it appeared in Mac OS X 10.0.x.

Apple announced at the 2022 Worldwide Developers Conference that macOS Ventura (version 13) would replace System Preferences with a new System Settings utility featuring a sidebar style like iPadOS.

Evolution

Under Mac OS X Public Beta and Mac OS X 10.0.x, the user could only drag 6 favorite preferences to the toolbar above, and categories did not exist. System Preferences then had 21 preferences.

Categories started to exist under Mac OS X 10.1.x. At the same time, the number of preferences that can be dragged to the toolbar was rid of its limitations.

Until Mac OS X 10.2.x (and even in "Jaguar"), the System Preferences window would show, even for a short while, a "Loading" screen while a panel was loaded. This disappeared completely as of Mac OS X 10.3, although the title bar now did all the "talking".

Spotlight search capabilities were added in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. At the same time, the toolbar, part of the utility since Mac OS X Public Beta, was fully revamped.

Individual Panels

Mac OS X Public Beta Classic ColorSync Date & Time Energy Saver General International Internet Keyboard Login Monitors Mouse Network Password QuickTime Screen Saver Sharing Sound Speech Startup Disk	Mac OS X 10.0.x Classic ColorSync Date & Time Displays Dock Energy Saver General International Internet Keyboard Login Mouse Network QuickTime Screen Saver Sharing Software Update Sound Speech Startup Disk Users
Mac OS X 10.1.x Personal category Desktop Dock General International Login Screen Saver Universal Access Hardware category ColorSync Displays Energy Saver Keyboard Mouse Sound Internet & Network category Internet Network QuickTime Sharing System category Classic Date & Time Software Update Speech Startup Disk Users	Mac OS X 10.2.x Personal category Desktop Dock General International Login My Account Screen Effects Hardware category Bluetooth CDs & DVDs ColorSync Displays Energy Saver Ink Keyboard Mouse Sound Internet & Network category Internet Network QuickTime Sharing System category Classic Date & Time Software Update Speech Startup Disk Universal Access Users
Mac OS X 10.3.x Personal category Appearance Desktop & Screen Saver Dock Exposé International Security Hardware category Bluetooth CDs & DVDs Displays Energy Saver Keyboard & Mouse Print & Fax Sound Internet & Network category .Mac Network QuickTime Sharing System category Accounts Classic Date & Time Software Update Speech Startup Disk Universal Access	System Preferences in Mac OS X 10.3.7 (Panther), with minor customizations
Mac OS X 10.4 Personal category Appearance Dashboard & Exposé Desktop & Screen Saver Dock International Security Spotlight Hardware category Bluetooth CDs & DVDs Displays Energy Saver Keyboard & Mouse Print & Fax Sound Internet & Network category .Mac Network QuickTime Sharing System category Accounts Classic (optional) Date & Time Software Update Speech Startup Disk Universal Access	System Preferences in Mac OS X 10.4.11 (Tiger)

See also

• Settings, the equivalent app for iOS and iPadOS.

External links

• System Preferences on your Mac at Apple Support
  • Customize your Mac with System Preferences
• System Preferences at Wikipedia

Articles

• Road to Mac OS X Leopard: System Preferences by Prince McLean at AppleInsider (2007-10-24)
• The untold history of macOS System Preferences by Arun Venkatesan (2020-09-17)