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macOS settings migration

Capture user-level macOS preferences on an old Mac and re-apply them on a new one.

On the OLD Mac

cd scripts/macos
./capture.sh

This writes:

  • restore.sh — a generated, reviewable script of defaults write lines populated with your current values, plus keyboard-shortcut imports.
  • snapshot/*.plist — full domain exports, as XML.

Then commit the result — git is the transport:

git add scripts/macos/restore.sh scripts/macos/snapshot
git commit -m "Recapture macOS settings"

restore.sh is generated but committed on purpose: it's the only record of the captured values, and committing it means a new Mac gets them from git clone alone. Of the snapshot exports only com.apple.symbolichotkeys.plist is tracked — it's the one restore.sh reads back for keyboard shortcuts. The rest are bulky backups already covered by restore.sh, so they stay local.

Re-run capture.sh and commit whenever you change a setting you care about; the diff shows exactly what moved.

On the NEW Mac

Already there after install.sh (or any git clone):

cd ~/.dotfiles/scripts/macos
less restore.sh   # review first
./restore.sh

Restore is cautious: user-level defaults only, no sudo, idempotent, prints every change, and restarts Dock/Finder/SystemUIServer to apply.

Not transferable via defaults (do by hand)

Touch ID, Apple ID/iCloud, Wi-Fi/keychain, FileVault, and anything locked by an MDM/IT configuration profile.

Which settings are captured

Edit settings.sh to add/remove scalar keys or snapshot domains, then re-run capture.sh.