Where Does Dreamweaver Store Preferences and Site Settings?
Dreamweaver keeps preferences, the Configuration folder, and registry entries in versioned locations on Windows and Mac.
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Dreamweaver stores its working state in a folder named for its release, such as Dreamweaver 2021, tucked inside Adobe's application data. That folder holds the Configuration directory with your extensions, snippets, and the WinFileCache (or MacFileCache) file that Dreamweaver rebuilds on launch. Your actual websites live wherever you put them. Dreamweaver only remembers their locations.
On Windows a slice of the settings also lives in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Dreamweaver. That is why Adobe's own reset instructions delete both the folder and the registry key. On a Mac the same job is done by a preferences file and an Application Support folder.
Where Adobe Dreamweaver stores this, by platform
%APPDATA%\Adobe\Dreamweaver <version>
Holds the Configuration subfolder with extensions, snippets, and the WinFileCache file. Delete WinFileCache to fix a broken Extensions panel. Registry settings sit at HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Dreamweaver <version>. Back up the registry key before touching it.
~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Dreamweaver <version>
Configuration and MacFileCache live here. The matching preferences file is ~/Library/Preferences/Adobe Dreamweaver <version> Prefs. Reset by holding Cmd+Option+Shift at launch and confirming, which clears both this folder and the prefs file.
Frequently asked questions
How do I back up my Dreamweaver site definitions?
Use Site, then Manage Sites, and export each site to a .ste file kept somewhere safe. The local site files themselves are just folders on your disk, so copy those too. Import the .ste files on the new machine instead of recreating every login by hand.
Dreamweaver crashes on launch. What should I try first?
Reset preferences: hold Windows key+Ctrl+Shift while double-clicking Dreamweaver.exe on Windows, or Cmd+Option+Shift at launch on Mac. It deletes the settings folder and registry entries, then recreates them with defaults. If the crash persists, the cause lies elsewhere.
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