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 macOS to set user preferences, replacing the Control Panels folder found in previous versions of classic Mac OS.

In Mac OS X and macOS, 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)

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)