Where Does Caffeine Store Settings on Mac?
Caffeine keeps its preferences in the standard macOS preferences file, with no documents or libraries anywhere else.
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Caffeine is tiny and its footprint matches. The menu bar helper stores activation time and launch settings in the standard preferences plist under its Lighthead domain. There is no application support folder and no database.
That simplicity is the whole backup story. One plist holds everything, and deleting it resets the app completely. Time Machine covers it automatically with the rest of preferences, so manual copies only matter for same day migrations.
Where Caffeine stores this, by platform
~/Library/Preferences/com.lighthead.caffeine.plist
Every Caffeine setting lives in this plist. Use Go to Folder in Finder to open Preferences. Delete it with the app closed for a clean reset.
Frequently asked questions
How do I reset Caffeine to defaults?
Delete the preferences plist while logged out or with the app closed, then relaunch. Defaults return on next start. The app holds nothing else, so nothing else needs moving.
Is copying the plist enough to migrate Caffeine?
No. Caffeine runs from the menu bar and stores a handful of toggles in preferences. Copying the plist moves every setting it has.
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