Option 1 — open it here
- Drop the .plist file onto the editor above.
- Read it as a key / type / value tree, or as XML on the right.
- Edit any value, then use Download to save it as XML or binary.
How to open a .plist file on Windows
Windows has no built-in property list support, and binary plists look like gibberish in Notepad. Drop the file below to read and edit it right away.
- Works with binary plists
- No install, no Xcode
- Edit and save back
- Nothing uploaded
Ready to open a file processed locally — nothing is uploaded
First, check which format you have
Apple property lists come in two common serializations. If the file starts with <?xml and mentions the PropertyList-1.0 DTD, it is an XML plist (Apple calls this format xml1). If the first bytes are bplist00 followed by unreadable symbols, it is a binary plist (binary1) — a text editor cannot help with those.
Option 2 — a text editor (XML plists only)
XML plists open fine in Notepad, Notepad++ or VS Code. Be careful editing by hand: every <key> must be followed by exactly one value element, tags are case-sensitive, and <integer>1</integer> and <real>1.0</real> are different types that Apple's PropertyListSerialization treats differently. A misplaced tag makes the whole file unreadable to macOS.
Option 3 — the command line
On a Mac you would run plutil -convert xml1 file.plist to turn a binary plist into readable XML — but plutil does not exist on Windows. With Python installed, the standard library reads both formats: python -c "import plistlib,sys;print(plistlib.load(open(sys.argv[1],'rb')))" file.plist. Useful in scripts, less pleasant for editing by hand — which is what the editor above is for.
Which files you are likely dealing with
An Info.plist or .entitlements file from an iOS or macOS project, an OpenCore config.plist for a Hackintosh build, a .mobileconfig configuration profile, a .mobileprovision provisioning profile, or user defaults copied out of ~/Library/Preferences on a Mac. All of them are property lists and open here, including signed profiles.
Try a real binary file
The XML and binary downloads contain the same Name, Enabled, Count, Created and Data fields. The binary version starts with bplist00. Open it above: Name should be Example, Count should be the integer 3, and Data contains the bytes for Hi.
Unreadable characters alone do not mean a file is damaged. A parse error may mean a truncated download, an unsupported format or a file that is not a plist. Renaming the extension does not convert its contents.
Convert a copy with Python
If Python is installed, its standard plistlib module reads XML and binary plists. This script writes a separate output file; change the paths to match your files.
import plistlib
with open("input.plist", "rb") as source:
data = plistlib.load(source)
with open("output.plist", "wb") as output:
plistlib.dump(data, output, fmt=plistlib.FMT_XML, sort_keys=False)This example covers ordinary property lists. Binary archives containing UID values may not export as standard XML through plistlib. Neither conversion method validates app-specific settings or cryptographic signatures.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a plist editor for Windows I need to install?
- There are desktop options, but for viewing and small edits this browser editor covers both XML and binary files with nothing to install.
- Will my file be uploaded?
- No. It is parsed and written entirely inside your browser — the same job plutil does on a Mac, without sending the file anywhere.
- Can I save it back in the original format?
- Yes — download it again as an XML plist (xml1) or a binary plist (binary1).
- Why does Notepad show bplist00 and garbage?
- That is a binary plist, Apple's compact serialization. Convert it to XML first — the editor above does that on open.