Crash changed preferences settings – maybe

coxorange wrote:

Hello,

I’m using macOS Catalina 10.15.7 on an iMac. Last night, after using Parallels virtual machine without any problems and then using Safari with just a YouTube window, I experienced a ‘your computer restarted because of a problem’ crash,

1. The font size in finder’s sidebar is now larger than it was before (it used to be the same size as the files' names).

2. It’s now displaying my username in the menu-bar instead of just showing an icon.

3. Bluetooth is running, even though I had not used it before.

Crashes can corrupt user setting, yes.

Make changes in your >System Preferences> and adjust to your preferred settings

1. General>Sidebar icon size
2. Users & Groups>Log-in options>Display Log-in Window as:
3. Bluetooth (or simple click on t BT icon in the menubar)

I will add Both Wifi and BT are used for many features:

Use Continuity to work across Apple devices - Apple Support

further reading:

Learn what to do if your computer restarts or shuts down unexpectedly, or you get a message that your computer restarted or shut down because of a problem.

If your Mac spontaneously restarts or displays a ... - Apple Support

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT200553

coxorange wrote:

Thanks, I managed to get all settings back.

Instead of doing this manually, could I have copied back the current

Preferences settings file from Time Machine?

If such a file exists, where would I find this?

Good computing coxorange !

Either way is manual, you took the faster more direct route. Pulling associate plist takes a little more effort and a deep dive.