Where Does btop Store Config and Themes?
btop config file btop.conf and themes folder under ~/.config on Linux and Mac.
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btop keeps settings in btop.conf inside a btop folder under ~/.config, with a themes subfolder beside it for custom color schemes. The layout is identical on Linux and macOS, which makes dotfile repos trivially portable.
Most options are friendlier through the in app menu: press Esc inside btop to reach options, themes and presets without touching the file. Hand editing suits version controlled setups, where the conf file's commented defaults double as documentation. Like its cousins, btop writes on exit, so quit before editing by hand.
Where btop stores this, by platform
~/.config/btop/btop.conf
Respects $XDG_CONFIG_HOME when set. The themes subfolder holds .theme files, each loadable from the in app theme picker. Back up the whole btop directory, not just the conf, to keep custom themes.
~/.config/btop/btop.conf
Identical path and layout to Linux. Configs copy cleanly between the two platforms, since btop stores no machine specific absolute paths in the default file.
Frequently asked questions
how do i reset btop settings
Delete btop.conf with btop closed and relaunch. Defaults regenerate on next start, wiping broken themes, stuck presets and misconfigured update intervals in one move.
how do i move btop config and themes to a new pc
Copy the whole btop folder to the new machine with btop closed. Config plus the themes subfolder travel together, so custom themes keep working without re downloading anything.
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