What is a .PLIST file?
A property list (plist) stores settings and data on macOS and iOS, as XML or binary.
- Did you know
- Property lists have held Apple app preferences since the NeXTSTEP days of the late 1980s.
- Apple deprecated the original NeXTSTEP plist syntax in Mac OS X 10.0, replacing it with XML, then added a compact binary form in 10.2.
- Binary property lists are split into a header, an object table, an offset table and an 8-byte trailer that indexes the whole file.
- What Analyser reads
- Identify and read metadata from developer and data files: JWT tokens (header + claims + expiry), WebAssembly, Java class files, NumPy/Safetensors/GGUF model files, source maps, SQL dumps, Visual Studio/.NET projects, Terraform, Protobuf, GraphQL, SARIF, Python bytecode, and Apple property lists (XML + binary). Jupyter notebooks (IPYNB) and HAR captures now open in a full viewer - see Notebooks & data above.
- Depth of analysis
- .PLIST is an identification-grade format: Analyser recognises it from its bytes and decodes the header metadata it carries, rather than opening it in a full viewer. Formats that do get a full viewer are marked "Full" on the formats page.
- Open a .PLIST file
- Drag a .PLIST file onto the Analyser home page (or tap to pick one). It is identified entirely in your browser - nothing is uploaded, there is no account, and it works offline once installed.