Where Does napari Store Settings and Plugins?
napari keeps settings.yaml in the platform config folder (via appdirs) with per environment subfolders, and plugins install into the Python environment, not a data folder.
Last updated
napari settings live in a settings.yaml resolved through appdirs, which means ~/.config on Linux, Application Support on Mac, and AppData on Windows, further nested per napari version and environment. The napari info command prints the exact path so nobody has to derive it.
Plugins break the usual pattern entirely. They are Python packages in the active environment, not files in a plugins folder. Migrating napari means exporting the environment and reinstalling, with settings.yaml as the only simple file copy in the story.
Where napari stores this, by platform
%APPDATA%\napari\settings.yaml
Version and environment nested settings.yaml via appdirs. Run napari --info for the exact Settings path. Delete to reset prefs.
~/Library/Application Support/napari/settings.yaml
Same appdirs resolution as other platforms for settings.yaml. Plugins stay in the Python env, recreated via pip or conda exports.
~/.config/napari/settings.yaml
Config home variant of the same settings.yaml layout. Check napari --info output rather than guessing the nested folder.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my napari settings file?
Run napari --info and read the Settings path line, since per environment hashing changes the exact folder. The file is settings.yaml in YAML. Delete it to reset preferences while keeping plugins installed.
How do I move napari plugins to a new machine?
Install them with pip or conda into the same environment running napari. There is no central plugins folder to copy: user_plugin_dir exists for prefix installs but normal setups keep plugins as packages. Recreate the environment from an export file on new machines.
Notice an outdated path? Let us know.