How are Apple types mapped to JSON?

Strings, integers, reals and booleans map to their JSON equivalents, dictionaries become objects and arrays become arrays. Dates are converted to ISO-8601 strings and data blobs are encoded as base64 strings, since JSON has no native date or binary type.

Does it support binary plists?

Yes. Binary plists that begin with bplist00 are decoded by reading the file's trailer, offset table and typed objects, exactly like a native parser. XML plists are handled with the browser's DOMParser.

No. Conversion runs entirely in your browser with the FileReader API and built-in decoders. The plist and the JSON it produces never leave your device.

Why is binary data shown as base64?

JSON cannot represent raw bytes, so NSData blobs are encoded as base64 text. This keeps the output valid JSON while preserving the exact bytes, which you can decode again if needed.

Plist to JSON Converter

The Plist to JSON Converter transforms Apple property list files into clean, standard JSON that you can use in scripts, configuration pipelines or any tool that speaks JSON. Property lists power preferences and metadata across macOS and iOS, but their XML and binary encodings are awkward to work with outside the Apple ecosystem. This converter bridges that gap, handling both formats in the browser.

How it works

The converter detects the format from the file’s first bytes. Files beginning with bplist are treated as binary; everything else is parsed as XML.

For binary plists, the tool reads the 32-byte trailer to find the object count, the offset-table location and the top object, then walks the typed object table. Each Apple type is translated to its closest JSON form: NSString to a JSON string, NSNumber to a number or boolean, NSArray to an array and NSDictionary to an object. Because JSON has no date or binary types, NSDate values are emitted as ISO-8601 strings (converted from Apple’s 2001 reference epoch) and NSData blobs are emitted as base64 strings.

For XML plists, the browser’s DOMParser reads the document and the same type mapping is applied element by element. The result is serialised with two-space indentation so it is easy to read and diff.

Example

A plist dictionary like this:

<dict>
  <key>Name</key><string>Gera</string>
  <key>Count</key><integer>3</integer>
  <key>Enabled</key><true/>
</dict>

converts to:

{
  "Name": "Gera",
  "Count": 3,
  "Enabled": true
}

Tips and notes

Nested dictionaries and arrays convert recursively, preserving the full structure.
Use the Copy button for quick pasting, or Download to save a .json file.
To browse a plist as a tree instead of converting it, try the Plist Viewer.

Everything runs locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded.