Where Does Pluma Store Settings?
Pluma keeps settings in dconf under org.mate.pluma on Linux, with the shared binary database at .config dconf user. No text config exists.
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Pluma stores nothing as a text file. Every preference lives in dconf under the org.mate.pluma schema, persisted in a binary database shared with the whole desktop. There is no pluma.conf to copy.
Plugins tell a small history lesson. Their home moved from .config to local share back in 2014, and old guides never caught up. Back up with dconf dump of the Pluma branch and treat the data folder as the plugin sidecar.
Where Pluma stores this, by platform
/org/mate/pluma
Settings branch for the MATE editor with all preferences beneath it. Inspect with gsettings list-recursively. The backing binary database defaults to ~/.config/dconf/user and varies with XDG and profiles.
~/.local/share/pluma/plugins
Current home for user plugins and styles since the 1.7 move. Historic at this point, with present-day use unverified on the newest distros. Never quoted as a settings location.
Frequently asked questions
How do I back up Pluma settings?
Dump the Pluma branch with dconf dump and restore with dconf load against the same path. The binary store at ~/.config/dconf/user is shared with every dconf app, so dump the subtree rather than copying the whole database.
Where is my Pluma plugins folder?
They moved a decade ago. User plugins left ~/.config/pluma for ~/.local/share/pluma back in the 1.7 era. Modern installs keep only data there, with settings firmly in dconf. Stale guides pointing at the old path describe ancient builds.
Is the dconf database always in the same place?
It varies with the environment. XDG_CONFIG_HOME and custom dconf profiles relocate the user database, so ~/.config/dconf/user is the default rather than a promise. Inspect with gsettings list-recursively against the Pluma schema to confirm.
Notice an outdated path? Let us know.