# Saving/loading just my custom action groups
**URL:** https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340
**Category:** Mac
**Created:** [December 14, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340 "2025-12-14T14:18:24Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Erichwanh](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Erichwanh)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2025, 2:18pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340/1 "2025-12-14T14:18:24Z")
Mac OS 15.5, Mp3tag 1.9.13
I’m quite happy with the way MP3tag writes a .plist file:
> [@Preferences and Configuration](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/preferences-and-configuration/56296/1):
>
> Exporting the settings and importing on another Mac (or the same) is possible via the `defaults` command in Terminal.app
My question is, is there a way to export/import _only_ my custom action groups? I’m bouncing between plist files to make managing my File List + Tag Panel easier (no need to have every one of my options for every job). The only issue with that, is my action groups don’t carry over, so I have to manage/update my action groups for every plist I’m working with.
If not, I’d like to make a feature suggestion, however it’s not imperative.
Regardless, thank you kindly for your time 8^)
---
### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2025, 7:39pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340/2 "2025-12-14T19:39:10Z")
It took some time to make it work, but I think this is might serve as a workaround until exporting only action groups is possible from the UI:
```plaintext
defaults export app.mp3tag.Mp3tag - | plutil -extract ActionGroups xml1 -o Mp3tagActionGroups.plist -
```
This exports the action groups to the file name `Mp3tagActionGroups.plist`.
```plaintext
plutil -replace ActionGroups -xml "$(cat Mp3tagActionGroups.plist)" ~/Library/Containers/app.mp3tag.Mp3tag/Data/Library/Preferences/app.mp3tag.Mp3tag.plist
```
And this command replaces the existing value for the action groups with what has been exported before.
Hope this helps, and please make a full export before trying this. If the changes are not immediately visible, you can force a re-read via `killall cfprefsd`.
---
### Author:  [@Erichwanh](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Erichwanh)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2025, 8:03pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340/3 "2025-12-14T20:03:14Z")
Yeah, wow, that worked quite well, thank you very kindly 8^)
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [December 21, 2025, 9:37am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340/4 "2025-12-21T09:37:39Z")
Your question inspired me to add support for exporting and importing action groups as JSON files, available with [v1.10](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/mp3tag-for-mac-1-10-released/70391).
---
### Author:  [@Erichwanh](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Erichwanh)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2025, 12:26am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340/5 "2025-12-29T00:26:44Z")
Thank you kindly 8^) forgive me if it’s obvious, but how do I export it as a JSON instead of plist?
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2025, 9:04am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340/6 "2025-12-29T09:04:50Z")
Yes, it’s a JSON export.
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### Author:  [@Erichwanh](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Erichwanh)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2025, 9:36am UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340/7 "2025-12-29T09:36:23Z")
So “defaults export app.mp3tag.Mp3tag - | plutil -extract ActionGroups xml1 -o Mp3tagActionGroups.plist -“ will now create a JSON file? Should I change the extension?
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### Author:  [@Florian](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Florian)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2025, 8:48pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340/8 "2025-12-29T20:48:57Z")
No, I’ve added the export to the menu on the lower left. No more command-line magic needed 🙂
---
### Author:  [@Erichwanh](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/Erichwanh)
#### Post date: [December 29, 2025, 11:52pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340/9 "2025-12-29T23:52:15Z")
Ah! Found it. I didn’t know what “lower left” meant, and the update only states:
”This version adds support for exporting and importing action groups as JSON files.”
So I honestly had no idea where to look. I was looking all over General Settings.
Anyway, thank you once again kindly, and if there’s anyone in the future reading this, I found it here:
---
### Author:  [@system](https://community.mp3tag.de/u/system)
#### Post date: [January 28, 2026, 11:52pm UTC](https://community.mp3tag.de/t/saving-loading-just-my-custom-action-groups/70340/10 "2026-01-28T23:52:36Z")
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