Where apps hide your files

Xcode's UserData folder, explained

Updated 2026-10-28 · 6 min read

Your Xcode themes, key bindings and code snippets live in ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData, each in its own subfolder. This is what is in each one and how to copy them to another Mac.

The location

Xcode keeps your personal customisations in one folder:

~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData

Inside it, each kind of customisation has its own subfolder:

~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/FontAndColorThemes     (themes, .xccolortheme)
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/KeyBindings            (key bindings, .idekeybindings)
~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/CodeSnippets           (snippets, .codesnippet)

FontAndColorThemes and KeyBindings are confirmed on the Mac used for this guide, which runs Xcode 26.3. CodeSnippets was not there, because no snippet had been saved. Xcode's source editor framework refers to a CodeSnippets folder and the .codesnippet extension, and community guides and snippet repositories all place it at the path above, but Apple does not document the location, so treat it as the convention rather than a promise.

~/Library is hidden in Finder. Choose Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G) and paste the path, or from Terminal:

open ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData

Themes

A theme is a single .xccolortheme file, which is a property list of colours and fonts for the editor, the console and the other panes. To pick or change one, open Xcode's Settings and choose Themes.

The folder FontAndColorThemes holds the themes you created, imported or changed. On the Mac used for this guide it contains one file, Default (Light).xccolortheme, about 9 KB, which shares its name with a stock theme. The themes that ship with Xcode are not in your home folder: most sit inside the app, at Xcode.app/Contents/SharedFrameworks/DVTUserInterfaceKit.framework/Versions/A/Resources/FontAndColorThemes (19 files in Xcode 26.3, from Bare to Sunset). Editing the app's copies is a bad idea, because an Xcode update replaces them and the signature breaks. Put your own themes in the user folder.

The theme currently chosen is a preference, not a file. This reads it without changing anything:

defaults read com.apple.dt.Xcode XCFontAndColorCurrentTheme

It prints a theme file name, such as Default (Light).xccolortheme. Xcode keeps the theme for Dark Mode under a second key, XCFontAndColorCurrentDarkTheme. On the Mac used for this guide that key has never been set, so reading it prints an error, and it may on yours too.

To install a theme from a download or a teammate, quit Xcode, drop the .xccolortheme file into FontAndColorThemes (create the folder if it is missing), then reopen Xcode and pick it in Settings > Themes.

Key bindings

Settings has a Key Bindings pane. Shortcuts you change are stored as .idekeybindings files in the KeyBindings folder, named after the key set. On the Mac used for this guide the folder holds Default.idekeybindings, 181 bytes, and it parses as an empty dictionary. Xcode's code saves a key binding set as a delta against the stock set, which fits a file that records only your changes. The full list of stock shortcuts ships inside the app as IDEDefaultKeyBindings.idekeybindings, in the IDEKit framework's resources.

To move your shortcuts to another Mac, quit Xcode there, copy the file into the same KeyBindings folder and keep its name. Xcode records the active set by file name in the IDEKeyBindingCurrentPreferenceSet preference, which reads Default.idekeybindings on the Mac used for this guide, so a copied Default.idekeybindings should be picked up when Xcode reopens.

Snippets

A code snippet is saved as a .codesnippet file in CodeSnippets, one file per snippet, usually named with a UUID. To make one, select code in the editor and choose Editor > Create Code Snippet (it is also in the editor's right-click menu). The library itself opens from View > Show Library (⇧⌘L).

Xcode also ships a set of built-in snippets, SystemCodeSnippets.codesnippets, inside its debugger UI framework. Those are Apple's, not yours, and they are not stored in UserData.

To share snippets, copy the .codesnippet files into the folder on the other Mac and restart Xcode, which is what snippet repositories on GitHub tell you to do. The file names are UUIDs, so open each one in a text editor only if you want to read what it does; snippets are small and normally contain only the code you wrote.

Other things in UserData

You may also see:

• Capabilities, IB Support, Previews and XcodeCloud: working files Xcode manages itself. Leave them alone.
• Provisioning Profiles, which holds signing profiles in current Xcode. See the separate post on that.
• IDETemplateMacros.plist, which holds custom file header text if you set some up. Xcode 26.3 still refers to that file name, but it is not present on the Mac used for this guide, and Xcode does not create it for you.

Custom file and project templates are not in UserData either. By long-standing community convention they go in ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/Templates, which Xcode does not create; that folder does not exist on the Mac used for this guide.

Back up before you change anything

Before replacing or editing a customisation file:

1. Quit Xcode, so it does not write over your edit.
2. Copy the folder: cp -R ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData ~/Desktop/UserData-backup.
3. Make the change, reopen Xcode and check the theme, shortcut or snippet looks right.
4. To undo, quit Xcode and put the backed-up file back.

Never move or delete the whole UserData folder just to reset a theme or shortcut; that also takes your profiles and Xcode Cloud state with it. Move only the single file concerned.

Moving to a new Mac

Copy FontAndColorThemes, KeyBindings and CodeSnippets to the same place on the new Mac, with Xcode closed. Settings, such as which theme is selected, are a preference and are not in these folders, so choose it again once Xcode opens.

Why a normal search misses them

All of it sits inside ~/Library, which Finder searches skip, and snippet files have UUID names that say nothing about what they contain.

Finding them again

To locate every theme on the Mac, type .xccolortheme into Everywhere. It lists the ones in your user folder separately from the stock ones inside Xcode.app, since it covers package contents. Typing .idekeybindings or .codesnippet does the same for shortcuts and snippets. It searches file names only, so it cannot find a snippet by its text. Press ⌘↵ to reveal a result in Finder.

Common questions

Where does Xcode store custom themes?

In ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/FontAndColorThemes, as .xccolortheme files. The stock themes are inside the Xcode app itself.

Where are Xcode code snippets stored?

In ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/CodeSnippets, one .codesnippet file per snippet, by the convention community guides follow. The folder does not exist until you save a snippet with Editor > Create Code Snippet.

Where are Xcode key bindings saved?

As .idekeybindings files in ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/UserData/KeyBindings, named after the key set.

How do I copy my Xcode setup to a new Mac?

With Xcode closed, copy FontAndColorThemes, KeyBindings and CodeSnippets to the same place on the new Mac, then reselect your theme in Settings.