Where are Java preferences stored on Mac OS X?

Question

On Windows, the Java preferences, which you access in your application from java.util.prefs.Preferences are stored in the registry. Where are those stored on Mac OS X?

@javamonkey79, are you saying that your application Java preferences (accessed through java.util.prefs.Preferences) are not stored in the Windows registry on Windows? In my experience, and based on what I can read online, they are. For instance, see: http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/releases/preferences/ — avernet, Feb 09 '11 at 23:13
Look at the date of the article - it is from 2001...long before Windows 7 :) I have found that they are no longer in the same place. — javamonkey79, Feb 10 '11 at 19:09
So you are saying that on Windows 7 the JVM isn't storing preferences in the registry anymore? This is not the subject of this question, but could you share with us more details on where it is stored? — avernet, Feb 15 '11 at 17:52
On my Windows 7, both user and system preferences are saved in the registry. At /HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Software/JavaSoft/Prefs/, HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/JavaSoft/Prefs/ and some at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Wow6432Node/JavaSoft/Prefs/ for 64bits. — Alex, Feb 27 '12 at 08:22

score 56 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 24 '09 at 01:38

56

From Apple Developer Connection:

The preferences files generated by the Preferences API are named com.apple.java.util.prefs. The user’s preferences file is stored in their home directory (~/Library/Preferences/). The system preferences are stored in /Library/Preferences/ and are only persisted to disk if the user is an administrator.

answered Mar 24 '09 at 01:38

Todd Gamblin

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Thank you! This wasn't working for me on Mac, because I was using "Preferences.systemNodeForPackage", when I should have been using the "userNodeForPackage" method. – Richard Feb 14 '12 at 14:46
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No it isnt!! It's in the current logged on users folder / Library/ Preferences/ByHost – Oct 17 '12 at 14:40
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It's actually ~/Library//Preferences/com.apple.java.util.prefs.plist – Oleg Gryb Apr 14 '16 at 19:32
the given link is broken – madduci Jan 22 '18 at 14:33

score 22 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 28 '11 at 13:46

22

Also, note that if the preference is nested enough, it won't directly be in com.apple.java.util.prefs, but rather in its own file. For instance, if you have a node /a/b/c, the key/value pairs for that node will be stored in a.b.c.plist.

The file will be either in ~/Library/Preferences/ or /Library/Preferences/, as for the com.apple.java.util.prefs file.

edited Nov 28 '11 at 13:46

bmargulies

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answered Nov 02 '09 at 22:55

avernet

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csharpfolk · Answer 3 · 2021-08-29T09:06:44.053

When I create preferences objects using code:

package pl.marcinchwedczuk.iunrar.gui;

public class AppPreferences {
    private final Preferences preferences = Preferences
            .userNodeForPackage(AppPreferences.class);

Then the settings will be stored in:

/Users/$USER/Library/Preferences/pl.marcinchwedczuk.iunrar.plist

(for some reason gui part is missing, tested on macOS BigSur).

Also remember to call .flush() on preferences objects.

Where are Java preferences stored on Mac OS X?

3 Answers3

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