Where Does Podman Desktop Store Settings?
Podman Desktop keeps user preferences in settings.json under a containers/podman-desktop tree that ignores the usual per-OS config conventions.
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Podman Desktop stores its settings in the same relative spot on every OS, which is convenient and slightly rude on Windows. The user file is always settings.json inside a containers/podman-desktop/configuration tree. Do not confuse it with the similarly named engine folders nearby.
The surprising part is intentional: the documented Windows path hangs off %USERPROFILE% instead of %APPDATA%. An upstream docs fix confirmed that spelling after users reported it as a bug. Administrators get two extra files (defaults and locks) in system locations.
Where Podman Desktop stores this, by platform
%USERPROFILE%\.local\share\containers\podman-desktop\configuration\settings.json
The odd one: user config deliberately lives here rather than %APPDATA%, per the official settings reference. Admin defaults sit in %PROGRAMDATA%\Podman Desktop\default-settings.json with locks in locked.json beside it.
~/.local/share/containers/podman-desktop/configuration/settings.json
Same relative tree as other platforms. Admin files live under /Library/Application Support/io.podman_desktop.PodmanDesktop. Machine images and volumes are engine data managed through the Podman CLI, not this file.
~/.local/share/containers/podman-desktop/configuration/settings.json
Follows XDG placement naturally. Managed defaults live in /usr/share/podman-desktop/default-settings.json with locks beside them. Editing settings.json while the app runs can lose to the UI's own writes, so close it first.
Frequently asked questions
Should I edit settings.json by hand or use the UI?
Edit settings.json directly or use Settings and Preferences in the UI; both write the same file. Admin-managed defaults in default-settings.json fill gaps, and locked.json entries cannot be overridden at all.
What are the extra .config/containers folders on Windows?
Those come from the Podman engine and containers libraries, not Podman Desktop itself. The app's own settings stay in the podman-desktop tree. Upstream issues track moving those engine paths to conventional spots.
Notice an outdated path? Let us know.