what happened to system preferences on mac?
in apple's mac user guide, system preferences became system settings. apple's mac user guide for macos monterey 12 tells you to choose apple menu > system preferences, and its guide for macos ventura 13 tells you to choose apple menu > system settings. the grid of icons also gave way to a list of settings in a sidebar, and in apple's guide, app menus now say settings instead of preferences.
this guide follows apple's mac user guide as we read it in november 2026. for a permission that lives in system settings, see screen recording permission on mac.
download the remynd desktop app to search text you saw in a focused window, by app and date.
when did system preferences change?
it changed with macos ventura, going by apple's guides. apple's newsroom post announcing that macos ventura was available is dated october 24, 2022. apple's newsroom gives october 25, 2021 as the day macos monterey became available, the version whose guide still says system preferences. apple's monterey guide is titled customize your mac with system preferences, and its ventura guide is titled customize your mac with system settings.
what's different in system settings?
the layout and some names changed. this table follows apple's monterey and ventura guides.
| system preferences (monterey) | system settings (ventura) | |
|---|---|---|
| how to open it | its dock icon, or apple menu > system preferences | its dock icon, or apple menu > system settings |
| layout | a grid of icons, one per preference pane | a list of settings in the sidebar |
| search | matching options are listed and their panes highlighted | matching settings are listed below the search field |
| app options | app name > preferences | app name > settings |
| hide or reorder | view > customize, or organize by categories or alphabetically | not in apple's guide |
how do you open system settings now?
you open it from the apple menu or its dock icon, going by apple's ventura guide. apple's current guide gives these steps:
- go to the system settings app on your mac. apple's macos sequoia guide says to choose apple menu > system settings.
- click an option in the sidebar. apple says you may need to scroll down, and settings may vary depending on your mac and the apps you installed.
- change any options. for most settings, apple says you can click the help button for more information.
if a red badge shows on the system settings icon in the dock, apple says you need to take one or more actions, for example finishing icloud setup.
how do you find a setting you can't see?
search for it, in our view. apple's find options guide says to type a word or phrase in the search field, and matching settings appear below it. click the search field to see suggestions based on settings you access most often, plus a recents list of the settings you last visited.
where did app preferences go?
app preferences moved to a menu item called settings in apple's guide. to change options for an app such as mail or safari, apple says to open the app, click its name in the menu bar and pick settings. apple adds that some apps don't offer settings. apple's keyboard shortcuts page lists command comma to open settings (preferences) for the front app.
where does remynd fit?
in microsoft's work trend index, published may 9, 2023, which surveyed 31,000 full-time employed or self-employed workers in 31 markets, 62% of respondents said they struggle with spending too much of their workday searching for information. the same survey found 86% were looking for ai to help find the information and answers they need.
in our read, system settings search finds settings, not text you read in other apps. remynd records your screen, runs ocr locally with apple vision, and keeps a searchable index on your computer. text comes from the focused window only, and video covers windows you have not excluded.
you can exclude apps and sites, and private browser windows are excluded by default.
press control space to search in plain language, refine by app, date or source, and jump to an exact moment, provided remynd was running then, the window was not excluded and, for text, it was the focused window. it needs macos 14 or later on an apple silicon mac.
limits of this guide
- it follows apple's mac user guide as we read it on the date above. we did not test every macos version.
- it compares apple's monterey and ventura guides. we did not check guides for earlier versions.
- it covers system settings on mac only.
download the remynd desktop app and search what you saw in a focused window, by app and date.