what is plist? How do I read it?

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what is plist? How do I read it?

New to Mac... I followed some instructions about backing up my mail folders, and there is now a file called com.apple.mail.plist on my desktop. What do I do with this? What is it? Can I read it or anything? Thanks

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.5.2)

Posted on Apr 17, 2008 9:21 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 17, 2008 9:24 AM in response to kasmus

.plist files are Property List files, or preference files. Not sure what it's doing on your desktop but you can delete it, as if it hasn't already it will rebuild itself in ~/Library/Preferences

You can read them with any text editor

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Answer 2

Apr 17, 2008 9:47 AM in response to kasmus

A plist is a way of storing data. It is usually used for preference files.

You can read plists either with the Property List Editor (included in developer tools) or with a standard text reader. Some plists will not open in text readers, however, in which case you need to open the Terminal and type plutil -convert xml1 '/path/to/your/plist' on one line.

However, if com.apple.mail.plist is on your desktop, you might as well delete it. it isn't doing anything.

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