Guide

Your first preset

Network Switcher lives in the menu bar, with an Ethernet plug icon, and has no Dock icon. Opening the app again from Applications brings up its window.

A preset is a saved IP setup for one adaptor: either DHCP, or a fixed address with a subnet and, if you need one, a router and DNS servers.

1. Click the menu bar icon and choose Edit Presets & Groups… (⌘E).
2. Click + under the preset list.
3. Choose the Network service. This is the adaptor's name as it appears in System Settings → Network, for example Ethernet or USB 10/100/1000 LAN.
4. Choose Manual and type an address on the same network as the device, for example 192.168.0.250 to reach a camera on 192.168.0.100. For the subnet you can type 255.255.255.0 or just 24.
5. Leave Router empty if you're plugged straight into the device.
6. Click Switch Now at the top, or pick the preset from the menu bar.

Changes save as you type, so there's no Save button. Switch Now only changes the adaptor; when the adaptor already matches the preset it shows In Use. If you're already set up the way you want, Fill from Current Settings copies the adaptor's current address into the preset.

macOS sometimes asks for an administrator password when an adaptor's settings change. That's macOS's normal prompt; Network Switcher never stores your password.

The menu

Click the icon to see, from top to bottom:

• Status cards for the adaptors your current group uses: whether a cable is connected and at what speed, the current address, and whether it's DHCP or manual. With Switch Info turned on, the switch, port and VLAN appear here too.
• Group buttons, if you have more than one group.
• Your presets, with a tick next to the one that matches the adaptor right now, and its keyboard shortcut on the right.
• Always Available presets, plus a DHCP option for any adaptor that doesn't already have one, so there's always a way back.
• Automatic Switching, Edit Presets & Groups…, Settings… and Quit.

When a preset is applied, a short notice appears in the top-right corner of the screen. If something goes wrong, the notice stays until you click it.

Editing presets

The app window has three columns: your groups on the left, the selected group's presets in the middle, and the selected preset's details on the right.

Colour, icon and shortcut

Under the preset's name you can pick a colour and an icon (camera, router, switch, speaker and others). They show in the menu, which makes a long list quicker to scan. Below that, Shortcut sets the preset's keyboard number; see Keyboard shortcuts.

Renaming

Rename a preset or group in the list by clicking its name once it's already selected, by clicking and holding, by double-clicking, by force clicking on a trackpad, or by right-clicking and choosing Rename. Press Return to keep the new name, or Escape to cancel.

Reordering, duplicating and removing

Drag presets to reorder them. Right-click a preset to duplicate it, copy or move it to another group, or delete it. The − button also removes the selected preset.

Time server (optional)

A preset can also set the Mac's network time server when it's applied, which is useful on isolated networks with their own time source. This setting applies to the whole Mac rather than one adaptor, and macOS always asks for an administrator password to change it. Leave it empty to keep the current time server.

Groups

Groups keep separate sets of presets for different sites or jobs, for example one per venue, or one for video kit and another for audio. One group is active at a time, and only its presets appear in the menu.

• Switch group with the buttons in the menu, from the keyboard, or with Make Active in the window. Switching group only changes the list; it doesn't touch your network settings until you pick a preset.
• You can edit any group in the window, not just the active one.
• Always Available holds presets you want in every group, such as your office DHCP setup.
• Copying a preset to another group makes an independent copy, so changing one doesn't change the other.

Keyboard shortcuts

These work from any app.

Choose each preset's number in its details: None or 1–9 in a group, None or 0 in Always Available. Each number can belong to only one preset in a group, so picking a number another preset has moves it across. Numbers stay put when you reorder presets. Groups are numbered by their order in the list.

If another app already uses one of these key combinations, that shortcut won't reach Network Switcher.

Automatic switching

Network Switcher can recognise where you are and switch to the right group for you. It's off until you turn on Automatic Switching in the menu.

Group rules

Select a group and open its Automatic tab. Add rules describing the place, then choose whether any or all of them must match. The quickest start is Add From What This Mac Sees Now, which turns what the Mac currently detects into rules.

Groups switch when you arrive somewhere, not when you leave. If two groups match at once, the one higher in the list wins. If you pick a group yourself, it stays until somewhere else is recognised. Each automatic switch shows a notice with Undo.

Preset rules

Presets can have rules too, under Suggest this preset when. When they match, the preset is marked Suggested in the menu, and you choose what happens next: just show it, ask you first, or switch automatically after a five-second countdown you can cancel.

Privacy

Each source is off until you turn it on in Settings, and macOS only asks for permission at that point. macOS only reveals the Wi‑Fi network name to apps with Location access, which is why that source asks for it. Nothing leaves your Mac.

Switch info (LLDP)

Managed switches regularly announce their name, port and VLAN to whatever is plugged into them, using a standard called LLDP. Turn on Settings → Switch Info (LLDP) and Network Switcher shows this on the adaptor's status card. Announcements usually arrive within 30 seconds of plugging in.

Reading the announcements needs a one-off administrator password. Network Switcher installs a small helper that gives administrator accounts permission to read network traffic, the same approach Wireshark uses. On a standard (non-admin) account the option explains this once and stays off. Everything else works without it.

Settings

Open Settings from the menu, with ⌘,, or from the Settings row at the bottom of the Groups column. Every option has a short explanation under it. The main ones:

• Appearance: System, Light or Dark. This only affects Network Switcher, not the rest of your Mac.
• Show preset name in the menu bar next to the icon.
• Launch at login.
• Move Next to Clock, for when the icon is hidden behind the camera notch.
• Automatic switching and what it's allowed to sense, plus Say why it switched: how much the notice says about which rules matched.
• Group presets by adaptor: lists presets under the adaptor they use, in both the menu and the window.
• Show each preset's adaptor: adds the adaptor's name to each preset, and says when it isn't plugged in.

Trial, licence and updates

Everything works for the first 7 days. There's nothing to sign up for and no key to enter: the trial starts when you first open the app. Settings → Licence and the menu show how many days are left.

When the trial ends, your presets, groups and settings all stay as they are, and you can still look at your adaptors' status and edit presets. Applying presets and automatic switching pause until you buy a licence for £4.99. The DHCP options in the menu keep working, so you're never stuck on a fixed address.

Entering your licence key

After buying, you'll get a licence key by email. Paste it into Settings → Licence and click Activate. It needs an internet connection once; after that Network Switcher never needs to go online. To move to another Mac, click Remove Licence… first, then enter the same key on the new one.

Updates

Network Switcher checks for updates about once a day and tells you when a new version is ready, with a list of what's changed. Nothing installs without you choosing to. Updates are free. You can turn checking off, or check straight away, in Settings → Updates.

Troubleshooting

I can't see the menu bar icon

On MacBooks with a notch, a crowded menu bar can hide icons behind it. Open Network Switcher again from Applications, go to Settings and click Move Next to Clock. You can also hold ⌘ and drag the icon to wherever you like. On recent versions of macOS, also check System Settings → Menu Bar to make sure Network Switcher is allowed there.

A preset won't apply

Check that the preset's network service matches an adaptor that's currently connected; a USB adaptor can show up under a different name on another Mac. A warning triangle next to a preset means something in it isn't valid, and hovering over it explains what.

I can't reach the device

Your address needs to be on the same network as the device and not the same as it: for a device on 192.168.1.1 with a /24 subnet, use something like 192.168.1.250. Some devices only answer on a fresh connection, so try unplugging and replugging the cable.

A shortcut does nothing

Check that the preset has a number and that its group is the active one. Another app may also be using the same key combination.

Still stuck?

Email [email protected] with what you were trying to do and what happened. A screenshot helps.

Your data

Presets and groups are saved in one file, which you can back up, copy to another Mac or share. Settings → Presets → Show in Finder takes you to it:

~/Library/Application Support/Network Switcher/presets.json

If the file is ever damaged, Network Switcher keeps a copy of it rather than overwriting it. To remove the app, quit it and delete it from Applications. Delete the folder above as well if you don't want to keep your presets.