Open PLIST files in your browser
How macOS and iOS keep settings and app details, in XML or binary. Open one right here as a tree you can fold. Nothing leaves your device.
Or drop it anywhere on this page
What you'll see
Your file opens as a tree, its first levels unfolded on a page as wide as a book.
- Fold and unfold • Files of any size
- Search keys and values • Every match counted
- Tree, Table or Text • Show shape
- Export • Save in another form, or just a part
About PLIST
Property lists come from NeXT and are how macOS and iOS keep settings, app details and saved state: an app's Info.plist, the preferences in ~/Library/Preferences, and the files of many Mac and iPhone apps and backups.
A plist holds dictionaries, arrays, strings, numbers, booleans, dates and raw data. The XML kind can be read in any editor, while the binary kind, which starts with bplist00, is smaller and faster for apps to read. Most preferences files are binary.
Filepeek reads both kinds and shows them as the same tree, with dates marked and raw data opening in its own viewer when it holds a picture or another file it knows. Export saves a binary plist as XML, JSON or YAML.
Property list
.plist
Format
- MIME type
- application/x-plist
- Made by
- NeXT, then Apple
Inside the file
- Kinds
- XML or binary (bplist00)
- Values
- Dictionaries, arrays, strings, numbers, dates and data
- Used by
- macOS and iOS
- Encoding
- UTF-8 in XML
Opens in every browser
Browsers download plist files. Filepeek opens XML and binary ones as a tree in Chrome, Edge, Firefox and Safari, on Windows and Android too.
- YouChromeOpens through Filepeek
- YouEdgeOpens through Filepeek
- YouFirefoxOpens through Filepeek
- YouSafariOpens through Filepeek
Questions
How do I open a plist file on Windows?
Drop it on this page or choose Peek a PLIST. It opens at once as a tree, binary or XML, with nothing to install.
What's the difference between XML and binary plists?
They hold the same values. XML can be read and edited as text, and binary is smaller and faster for apps to read, so macOS keeps most preferences that way.
Can I turn a binary plist into XML?
Yes. Choose Export, then Save as XML plist. Save as JSON and Save as YAML are there too.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The file opens inside your browser and never leaves your device.