macOS defaults

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Key held down behavior ​

Allows you to select the behavior when a key is held down for a long time. The two possible behaviors are:

  • show character accents menu (default)
  • repeat character while key held

⚠️ Restarting the Mac, closing the session or restarting the application is necessary to take into effect the changes.

  • Tested on macOS:
    • Ventura
    • Monterey
    • Big Sur
  • Parameter type: bool

Set to true (default value) ​

By default, when a key is held down, the accents menu is displayed.

bash
defaults write NSGlobalDomain "ApplePressAndHoldEnabled" -bool "true"
defaults write NSGlobalDomain "ApplePressAndHoldEnabled" -bool "true"

Example output with value set to true

Set to false ​

Repeats the key as long as it is held down.

bash
defaults write NSGlobalDomain "ApplePressAndHoldEnabled" -bool "false"
defaults write NSGlobalDomain "ApplePressAndHoldEnabled" -bool "false"

Example output with value set to false

Read current value ​

bash
defaults read NSGlobalDomain "ApplePressAndHoldEnabled"
defaults read NSGlobalDomain "ApplePressAndHoldEnabled"

Reset to default value ​

bash
defaults delete NSGlobalDomain "ApplePressAndHoldEnabled"
defaults delete NSGlobalDomain "ApplePressAndHoldEnabled"