Where Does novelWriter Store Config and Projects?
Where novelWriter keeps its config file and data folders on each OS, and how project folders are organized.
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novelWriter documents its paths officially through Qt standard locations. One config file holds Preferences on every OS, and a data folder beside it keeps recent projects and custom themes. Projects themselves are dedicated folders with an nwProject.nwx manifest at the root.
That three-part split keeps restores obvious. Copy the project folder to move the writing, copy config and data folders to move the environment. Automatic backups zip the project on close into a folder you choose, which is the safety net most people actually need.
Where NovelWriter stores this, by platform
%LOCALAPPDATA%\novelwriter\novelwriter.conf
Central Preferences file plus a data folder under Roaming for recent projects and themes. Projects are standalone folders anywhere you create them. Backups default to a Backups folder in home as dated zips per project name.
~/Library/Preferences/novelwriter/novelwriter.conf
Config under Preferences and data under Application Support, matching Qt conventions. Same project folder structure as everywhere else. Recent file lists and themes live in the data folder, not in projects.
~/.config/novelwriter/novelwriter.conf
Config under ~/.config and data under local share. Note recent versions migrated the config format to TOML, so very old backups may not slot straight in. Projects remain plain folders you can keep anywhere.
Frequently asked questions
how do I move a novelWriter project
Copy the project folder with the app closed; everything the story needs sits inside it under nwProject.nwx. App config and themes stay behind on the old machine unless you copy those paths too. Backups zip automatically to your chosen folder when closing projects.
project vs app settings in novelWriter
Open Project Settings for name, author, and backup overrides, or Preferences for global behavior. GUI state splits too: per-project window state in meta/options.json, global settings in the main config. The ToC.txt file maps documents to files on disk.
how do I back up novelWriter automatically
Point the backup path in Preferences at a synced folder and let close-project backups accumulate there as dated zips. The project folder itself also syncs fine between writes. Never leave the app open on two machines against the same synced folder.
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