Below are a list of System Preference pane URLs and paths that can be accessed with scripting to assist users with enabling macOS security settings without having to walk them through launching System Preferences, finding panes, and scrolling to settings. Not all panes have an accessible anchor and some are OS specific.
To find the Pane ID of a specific pane, open the System Preferences app and select the desired Preference Pane. With the pane selected, open the ScriptEditor.app and run the following script to copy the current Pane ID to your clipboard and display any available anchors:
tell application "System Preferences"
set CurrentPane to the id of the current pane
set the clipboard to CurrentPane
get the name of every anchor of current pane
end tell
If the preference pane supports it, you can open them with a URL in terminal using the following syntax (replace <PaneID>
with the desired pane ID):
open "x-apple.systempreferences:<PaneID>"
You can also access the main preference panes using the file path to each pane from /System/Library/PreferencePanes/
using the open
command with slightly different syntax (replace /Path/To/Pane
with your desired pane):
open -b com.apple.systempreferences /Path/To/Pane
Below are all the panes that display on most Macs running 10.15 Catalina but there are a few that are ommitted that are available on later versions of Apple hardware or installed plugins. If the pane supports being opened with URL then it is listed, otherwise you can use the path.
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/AppleIDPrefPane.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/FamilySharingPrefPane.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Appearance.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/DesktopScreenEffectsPref.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Dock.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Expose.prefPane
com.apple.preference.speech
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Speech.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Spotlight.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Localization.prefPane
com.apple.preference.notifications
open -b com.apple.systempreferences /System/Library/PreferencePanes/Notifications.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/InternetAccounts.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Accounts.prefPane
com.apple.preference.universalaccess
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/UniversalAccessPref.prefPane
-
Display
com.apple.preference.universalaccess?Seeing_Display
-
Zoom
com.apple.preference.universalaccess?Seeing_Zoom
-
VoiceOver
com.apple.preference.universalaccess?Seeing_VoiceOver
-
Descriptions
com.apple.preference.universalaccess?Media_Descriptions
-
Captions
com.apple.preference.universalaccess?Captioning
-
Audio
com.apple.preference.universalaccess?Hearing
-
Keyboard
com.apple.preference.universalaccess?Keyboard
-
Mouse & Trackpad
com.apple.preference.universalaccess?Mouse
-
Switch Control
com.apple.preference.universalaccess?Switch
-
Dictation
com.apple.preference.universalaccess?SpeakableItems
com.apple.preference.screentime
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/ScreenTime.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Extensions.prefPane
Tip: The "Advanced" anchor will initially open S&P pane to your last used tab (General, FileValut, Firewall, Privacy)but if the pane is already open it triggers a the panel unlock wherever the user may be at in the Security and Privacy pane. So, if you want them to enable a specific Privacy setting, open the desired Privacy anchor first (e.g. ?Privacy_Contacts) and then open the Advanced anchor (?Advanced) to prompt the user password to unlock the preference pane.
com.apple.preference.security
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Security.prefPane
-
General
com.apple.preference.security?General
-
Advanced
com.apple.preference.security?Advanced
-
FileVault
com.apple.preference.security?FDE
-
Firewall
com.apple.preference.security?Firewall
-
Privacy Main
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy
-
Location Services
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_LocationServices
-
Contacts
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Contacts
-
Calendars
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Calendars
-
Reminders
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Reminders
-
Photos
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Photos
-
Camera
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Camera
-
Microphone
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Microphone
-
Speech Recognition
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_SpeechRecognition
-
Accessibility
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Accessibility
-
Input Monitoring Not Available
-
Full Disk Access
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_AllFiles
-
Files and Folders Not Available
-
Screen Recording Not Available
-
Automation
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Automation
-
Analytics and Improvements
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Diagnostics
-
Advertising
com.apple.preference.security?Privacy_Advertising
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/SoftwareUpdate.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Network.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Bluetooth.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Sound.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/PrintAndFax.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/PrintAndScan.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Keyboard.prefPane
- Dictation
com.apple.preference.speech?Dictation
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Trackpad.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mouse.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Displays.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/EnergySaver.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/DateAndTime.prefPane
com.apple.preferences.sharing
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/SharingPref.prefPane
-
Screen Sharing
com.apple.preferences.sharing?Services_ScreenSharing
-
File Sharing
com.apple.preferences.sharing?Services_PersonalFileSharing
-
Printer Sharing
com.apple.preferences.sharing?Services_PrinterSharing
-
Remote Login
com.apple.preferences.sharing?Services_RemoteLogin
-
Remote Management
com.apple.preferences.sharing?Services_ARDService
-
Remote Apple Events
com.apple.preferences.sharing?Services_RemoteAppleEvent
-
Internet Sharing
com.apple.preferences.sharing?Internet
-
Bluetooth Sharing
com.apple.preferences.sharing?Services_BluetoothSharing
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/TimeMachine.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/StartupDisk.prefPane
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Profiles.prefPane
Anyone know the URI for "Printer Options" within System Settings? I see the two options about PrintAndFax and PrintAndScan, but when you open a printer and click Options & Supplies... it appears to open a window that has a different URI than these preference panes. Anyone know the URI for this window?