What Is ~/Library/PreferencePanes on Mac?
Your user folderUpdated
- Full path
~/Library/PreferencePanes
- Scope
- Your user folderInside your home folder — one copy per user account.
- Freshist & this folder
- Freshist checks this folder when uninstalling an app. When you uninstall an app, Freshist looks here for items that belong to it. Matches on the app's bundle ID can be pre-selected; name-only guesses are labeled “not sure” and never pre-selected. Removed items go to the Trash, so you can undo.
From Freshist's own cleaning rules — the same catalog the app uses.
What a preference pane is
A preference pane is a bundle with the .prefPane extension that plugs into System Settings (System Preferences on macOS 12 and earlier). Drivers, input devices, backup tools, media codecs and system utilities have used them to put their controls next to Apple's. When you double-click a .prefPane file, macOS asks whether to install it for you alone or for all users. "Just for me" puts it in ~/Library/PreferencePanes; "all users" puts it in /Library/PreferencePanes.
Fewer apps ship panes today. Most developers now put their settings in the app's own window or a menu bar item. Panes still turn up with hardware drivers and long-lived utilities, and older ones linger on Macs that have been migrated forward over the years.
Why panes are left behind
A pane is a separate file from the app it supports. Dragging an app to the Trash doesn't touch it, and many uninstallers forget it too. The result is an entry in System Settings that opens an error message, or a pane for hardware you no longer own.
| Location | Who sees the pane | Can you change it? |
|---|---|---|
~/Library/PreferencePanes | Only your account | Yes |
/Library/PreferencePanes | Every account | Admin password needed |
/System/Library/PreferencePanes | Apple's built-in panes | No, part of macOS |
Checking what's installed
In System Settings, scroll to the bottom of the sidebar: third-party panes usually appear there as a group. To see the files themselves:
ls -la ~/Library/PreferencePanes
ls -la /Library/PreferencePanes
du -sh ~/Library/PreferencePanes
These commands only read. An empty user folder is normal; on many Macs nothing is installed per user at all.
To find out who made a pane, Control-click it in Finder, choose Show Package Contents and open Contents/Info.plist. The bundle identifier usually names the developer, which helps when the pane's file name is vague.
Removing a pane you don't need
- Quit System Settings.
- Check whether the related app has its own uninstaller. Driver packages often do, and it will also remove kernel or system extensions that a pane alone doesn't account for.
- Otherwise, in Finder choose Go → Go to Folder…, enter
~/Library/PreferencePanes, and move the pane to the Trash. - Reopen System Settings and check that the entry is gone.
System Preferences on macOS 12 and earlier also let you Control-click a third-party pane and choose Remove. System Settings doesn't reliably offer that, so Finder is the dependable route.
What to leave alone
Don't remove a pane for hardware you still use, such as a mouse, tablet, audio interface or display. The pane may be the only way to configure the device, even if you rarely open it. Never touch /System/Library/PreferencePanes: those are Apple's panes, protected by macOS.
When you uninstall the software that installed a pane, also check its LaunchAgents and Application Support folders, where background helpers and data tend to stay behind.
Sources
- Mac OS X directories: the Library folder (Apple File System Programming Guide)
- Install and uninstall apps from the internet or a disc on Mac (Apple Support)
Frequently asked questions
Why does a pane say it can't be opened or needs to be updated?
Old panes built for System Preferences may not load in System Settings on newer versions of macOS, especially if they were never rebuilt for Apple silicon. If the app behind it is gone, the pane is just a leftover.
Is there also a PreferencePanes folder outside my home folder?
Yes. /Library/PreferencePanes holds panes installed for every account on the Mac, and changing it requires an administrator password. Apple's own panes live in /System/Library/PreferencePanes, which is part of the protected system and should never be touched.
Does removing a pane reset the software's settings?
Usually not. The pane is just the interface; its settings normally live in a .plist in ~/Library/Preferences or in the app's Application Support folder.