TINKERTOOL FOR MAC: DISCOVER HIDDEN SYSTEM PREFERENCES

The way your Mac operates and responds to commands can be adjusted through the system preferences but a whole lot is hidden. If you're not looking with the right tool, you will never discover those hidden system preferences. 

Terminal app and some other apps have tried to uncover these preferences but TinkerTool  For Mac does it better at no cost. It's easier to use without causing any harm that the reset button can't fix.

TinkerTool from Marcel Bresink gives you access to many of the hidden system preferences that are available in OS X.

TinkerTool is designed with an easy-to-use graphical interface without all the confusing commands that Terminal comes with. You can tinker with Mac's preference settings all you like.

tinkertool for mac

Pros

·        Easy-to-use app that exposes many useful system settings.

·        You can undo changes made to your preference settings.

·        Organizes preferences by the apps or services they affect.

·        Very safe; it only affects your user account and not anyone else’s.

·        It's free.

Cons

The only con I came up with is I wish it could do more.

TinkerTool, currently at version 5.32 at the time of this review, is designed for use with Mavericks and OS X Yosemite.

 Because Apple usually makes changes to existing system preferences, adds new preferences, or in some cases, removes preferences, TinkerTool should be matched to the version of OS X you're using. You can find other versions of TinkerTool on Marcel Bresink’s web site if you’re using an older version of OS X.

Tinkertool Download | Installing Tinkertool

TinkerTool installs as a standalone app that resides in your /Applications folder.

One note about uninstalling TinkerTool: Since the app just makes changes to various system preference files, uninstalling the app won't cause any of the preferences to revert to their previous state. If you wish to revert any changes you made, you should use the Reset tab within TinkerTool before you uninstall the app.

Getting Started With TinkerTool For Mac

TinkerTool launches as a single-window app composed of a toolbar along the top and a window that contains the various preferences you can change. The toolbar organizes the preferences by app or service, and currently contains the following:

Finder, Dock, General, Desktop, Applications, Fonts, Safari, iTunes, QuickTime Player X, and Reset.

Selecting any of the toolbar items displays a list of associated preferences you can change.

Most of the options are set by placing a checkmark in a box to enable them, or removing a checkmark to disable them. 

In other cases, drop-down menus allow you to select from multiple options. In many cases, changes you make won’t take effect until the next time you log in, or in the case of changes to the Finder, until you restart the Finder. 

Fortunately, TinkerTool includes a button to restart the Finder for you.

Using TinkerTool is very easy. If you've used your Mac’s System Preferences to set the various system options, you'll be able to use TinkerTool without any problems.

Unexpected Issues When Setting Preferences

TinkerTool is actually safe to use am mentioned earlier, but remember that TinkerTool exposes system options that Apple chose to hide from the general user. Some of the items are hidden because they would only appeal to a limited audience. Some of those hidden preference changes can cause strange behavior or inconveniences. 

Take for instance, using TinkerTool to remove the title bar from QuickTime Player. This will give you more display space for watching movies, however, without the title bar, you'll have trouble dragging the player around, or closing a player window. 

You'll probably end up having to force quit the QuickTime Player; an inconvenience, but not something that will harm your Mac.

The TinkerTool FAQ is there to guide you on how to go about making various changes.