PlistExplorer

A lightweight Windows desktop application for viewing and editing Apple .plist (Property List) files, built with WPF and .NET.

Apple's XML property list format is commonly used for configuration and data storage on macOS and iOS. PlistExplorer brings a native Windows experience for inspecting and modifying these files without needing a Mac.

Features

• Open and browse .plist files in a familiar tree view, with support for nested arrays and dictionaries
• Edit values for all standard plist element types: String, Number, Boolean, Date, Data, UID, Array, and Dictionary
• Save changes back to the original XML plist format
• Recent files list for quickly reopening previously viewed files
• MVVM architecture powered by the CommunityToolkit.Mvvm library

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Windows 10/11
• .NET 10 SDK or later
• Visual Studio 2022 (or later) with the .NET desktop development workload, for building from source

Building from source

git clone https://github.com/atshaw1994/PlistExplorer.git
cd PlistExplorer
dotnet build

Running

dotnet run --project PlistExplorer.csproj

Or open PlistExplorer.slnx in Visual Studio and press F5.

Usage

1. Launch PlistExplorer.
2. Use File > Open (or the toolbar) to select a .plist or .xml file.
3. Browse and expand the element tree to inspect values.
4. Double-click an element to edit its name, type, or value.
5. Save your changes with File > Save.

Project Structure

• Models/ – Core data types representing plist elements
• Viewmodels/ – MVVM view models that drive the UI
• Views/ – WPF windows and user controls
• Services/ – Supporting services such as recent files persistence
• Helpers/ – Value converters used in XAML bindings

Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome. Please open an issue to discuss significant changes before submitting a PR.

License

This project is licensed under the terms specified in LICENSE.txt.