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bogdanw

macrumors 603
Mar 10, 2009
6,116
3,026
but I noticed it did not rewrite the Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist file in the folder. Will this affect any future updates or cause any issues?
No, it will be recreated when new updates are found by Software Update.
@jazzer15 You might have the same problem, try the steps from post #13
 
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jazzer15

macrumors 6502a
Oct 8, 2010
538
119
No, it will be recreated when new updates are found by Software Update.
@jazzer15 You might have the same problem, try the steps from post #13

Thank you!

At first it didn't work, but then I realized I had deleted the wrong file. I deleted Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist which I found in the Library folder under my main hard drive, but I needed to delete the Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences. softwareupdate.plist from the finder Go Menu. A little confusing to me.

Anyway, it worked!
 
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Enigm

macrumors newbie
Mar 30, 2020
1
0
For me it was a hidden xcode/command tools update

`xcode-select --install`showed a bunch of updates in Software Updates and once that was in, badge went away
 

theapplehead

macrumors 6502a
Dec 17, 2018
786
933
North Carolina
I don’t know if this will help, but it helped me when avoiding the installation of Catalina while on Mojave. Open Terminal and enter these following commands:


1) sudo softwareupdate --ignore "macOS Catalina"

2) defaults write com.apple.systempreferences AttentionPrefBundleIDs 0

3) killall Dock
 

akkra_tuns

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2020
6
3
For me it was a hidden xcode/command tools update

`xcode-select --install`showed a bunch of updates in Software Updates and once that was in, badge went away

Thanks for your suggestion. Just tried that. The badge still won't go away. ?
 
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DinkThifferent

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2018
819
2,928
The Netherlands
Thanks for your suggestion. Just tried that. The badge still won't go away. ?

Yup, same problem here. 2019 27" iMac upgraded last week from Mojave to Catalina 10.15.4
Also: i cannot restart or shut down my mac. The icons of the desktop disappear, but the dock remains visible and when i click cmd+option+esc to open the force quit menu, nothing is there to force quit.
 
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akkra_tuns

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2020
6
3
Thank you!

At first it didn't work, but then I realized I had deleted the wrong file. I deleted Library/Preferences/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.plist which I found in the Library folder under my main hard drive, but I needed to delete the Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences. softwareupdate.plist from the finder Go Menu. A little confusing to me.

Anyway, it worked!

Thank you @bogdanw so much for leading me to this thread. I have the same problem, but I can't seem to find Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences. softwareupdate.plist as you all suggested here. There are also no 061-90745 or 061-61260 folders in my /Library/Updates/. How did you @jazzer15 find Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences. softwareupdate.plist with the finder Go menu?
 

bogdanw

macrumors 603
Mar 10, 2009
6,116
3,026
I have the same problem, but I can't seem to find Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences. softwareupdate.plist as you all suggested here. There are also no 061-90745 or 061-61260 folders in my /Library/Updates/.
To clarify, the file com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist from your folder /Library/Preferences, that is /Users/YourUserName/Library/Preferences
It's easier to delete from Terminal with
Code:
rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist
Are there any folders in /Library/Updates/ ?
 
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DinkThifferent

macrumors 6502a
Oct 18, 2018
819
2,928
The Netherlands

MorganK

macrumors regular
Apr 13, 2010
131
2
Texas
Yup, same problem here. 2019 27" iMac upgraded last week from Mojave to Catalina 10.15.4
Also: i cannot restart or shut down my mac. The icons of the desktop disappear, but the dock remains visible and when i click cmd+option+esc to open the force quit menu, nothing is there to force quit.

I just got this (2019 27") on Friday so the notification badge has been driving me wonky on a brand new computer! Glad to see it's not just this one.
 
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jazzer15

macrumors 6502a
Oct 8, 2010
538
119
Thank you @bogdanw so much for leading me to this thread. I have the same problem, but I can't seem to find Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences. softwareupdate.plist as you all suggested here. There are also no 061-90745 or 061-61260 folders in my /Library/Updates/. How did you @jazzer15 find Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences. softwareupdate.plist with the finder Go menu?

@akkra_tuns , Bogdanw explained where it is located, but if that still is a little unclear to you, you can find it by opening the Finder, going to the "Go" menu and then you have to hit the option key when in the menu for "Library" to show up. Once in library you can navigate to the preferences folder and you will find the .plist file mentioned. (Sorry if I'm stating something obvious to you).
 
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ornbarn

macrumors newbie
Apr 2, 2020
2
0
I'm having the same problem as @akkra_tuns.

There is no such file ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist on my machine.

When I try to run defaults read ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist, I get the following response:

Bash:
2020-04-02 09:28:00.466 defaults[1446:28950]
Domain /Users/<username_redacted>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist does not exist

I don't have a folder at ~/Library/Updates, though /Library/Updates does exist index.plist and ProductMetadata.plist
 

bogdanw

macrumors 603
Mar 10, 2009
6,116
3,026
I'm having the same problem
If you don't have ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist and any folders in /Library/Updates, have you tried running
Code:
defaults delete com.apple.systempreferences AttentionPrefBundleIDs; killall Dock
 

ornbarn

macrumors newbie
Apr 2, 2020
2
0
Yeah - that makes the notification go away but as soon as my system checks for updates it comes back
 

JJohnson7

macrumors newbie
Apr 2, 2020
1
0
@akkra_tuns , Bogdanw explained where it is located, but if that still is a little unclear to you, you can find it by opening the Finder, going to the "Go" menu and then you have to hit the option key when in the menu for "Library" to show up. Once in library you can navigate to the preferences folder and you will find the .plist file mentioned. (Sorry if I'm stating something obvious to you).

Thank you @jazzer15 for the step by step instructions. Once I have deleted the .plist file mentioned, then what? The badge is still showing in my dock and system preferences. Thank you in advance for your help!
 

jazzer15

macrumors 6502a
Oct 8, 2010
538
119
Thank you @jazzer15 for the step by step instructions. Once I have deleted the .plist file mentioned, then what? The badge is still showing in my dock and system preferences. Thank you in advance for your help!

Have you rebooted your system? If so, and the badge is still there, take a look at bogdanw's post above (#22) and follow his other directions -- specifically, make sure the folders/files he mentions aren't in Library/Updates and delete them if they are. Then run the terminal command he provided. If you aren't familiar with running a terminal command, you open the terminal program which is found in the applications folder under "utilities", copy and paste the comand he provided (i.e., sudo softwareupdate -l ) and hit enter. I believe you will then also be prompted for your login password.

I hope that helps.
 
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jakerobb

macrumors newbie
Dec 16, 2013
6
2
I finally updated from Mojave to Catalina 10.15.4 a couple days ago. I had become accustomed to the persistent badge, and was annoyed to find that the badge persisted after the upgrade.

At first, it indicated that I should install the XCode command-line tools. I'm a developer, so I needed those anyway. (I was mildly annoyed to find that an in-place upgrade from Mojave with those tools installed to Catalina would remove those tools!) Unfortunately, installing them didn't help.

I went through a few of the suggestions in this thread:

Code:
rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist
defaults delete com.apple.systempreferences AttentionPrefBundleIDs
defaults delete com.apple.systempreferences DidShowPrefBundleIDs
killall Dock

This makes the badge go away, but if I go back into System Preferences and check "Automatically keep my Mac up to date", the badge comes back immediately. I do not want that feature disabled.

Next, I tried:
Code:
$ rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist
$ sudo softwareupdate -l

Password:
Software Update Tool

Finding available software
No new software available.

The badge still remained. Then I tried:

Code:
defaults read ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist

{
    LatestMajorOSSeenByUserBundleIdentifier = "com.apple.InstallAssistant.Catalina";
    ProductKeysLastSeenByUser =     (
        "061-26566",
        "061-62528"
    );
}

I looked up those two keys in /Library/Updates/ProductMetadata.plist:
Code:
...
    <dict>
        <key>cachedProductKey</key>
        <string>061-26566</string>
        <key>tags</key>
        <array>
            <string>DTCommandLineTools</string>
            <string>com.apple.dt.commandlinetools.10.15</string>
        </array>
    </dict>
...
    <dict>
        <key>cachedProductKey</key>
        <string>061-62528</string>
        <key>tags</key>
        <array>
            <string>DTCommandLineTools</string>
            <string>com.apple.dt.commandlinetools.10.15</string>
        </array>
    </dict>
...

Interestingly, there seem to be two identical entries, just with different keys, and apparently it wants me to update both. I'm not sure if this is meaningful, as I don't know exactly how this file is used.

Anyway, I checked /Library/Updates:
Code:
$ ll /Library/Updates
total 2248
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root  wheel    13K Apr  3 10:41 PPDVersions.plist
-rw-r--r--@ 1 root  wheel   1.1M Apr  3 10:41 ProductMetadata.plist
-rw-r--r--  1 root  wheel   222B Apr  3 07:58 index.plist

Nothing to delete there.

I've also rebooted several times. What should I try next?
 
Last edited:

jakerobb

macrumors newbie
Dec 16, 2013
6
2
Try
Code:
rm ~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.preferences.softwareupdate.plist
sudo rm -f /Library/Updates/ProductMetadata.plist
sudo softwareupdate -l
Thanks; no luck. I didn't try a reboot; in the middle of some stuff at the moment. Will reboot later and update again.
 

jhrnandeez

macrumors newbie
Apr 3, 2020
1
0
Does anyone experience the same issue? Would anyone here be able to help to guide me to make the badge disappear?

I am running the latest Catalina on mid-2012 Macbook Pro. Just updated it from Mojave. It is a little annoying to see the red badge on the System Preferences all the time after the update.

i've got the same issue as well. just finished the update a couple minutes ago and this dumb bug alone is making me regret updating. i'm not really up for going to finding and deleting stuff at the moment but i found i'm less bothered by the stupid notification badge by just removing the system preferences icon from my dock. out of sight out of mind. really annoying bug.
 

Barham

macrumors regular
Feb 5, 2004
167
40
Deleting the file in Library/Preferences worked for me! Thanks. That would have driven me crazy.
 
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