Where Does Rainmeter Store Skins and Settings?
Rainmeter files skins in Documents and settings in AppData, with layouts snapshotting the whole desktop state.
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Rainmeter keeps code and state apart by design. Skins live as INI files in Documents, one folder per suite with a shared resources directory. Settings, active skin list, layouts, and plugins live in Roaming AppData.
Layouts are the migration hero: named snapshots of everything loaded, restorable in one click. Skin authors bundle layouts so suites arrive arranged. Official docs cover both trees plainly, which keeps forum answers short.
Where Rainmeter stores this, by platform
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rainmeter\Skins
Skins live as INI files here, one folder per suite. Portable installs keep the same tree inside the program folder instead.
%APPDATA%\Rainmeter\Rainmeter.ini
Rainmeter.ini, Layouts snapshots, and third party Plugins live here. Copy both trees for complete migrations.
Frequently asked questions
How do I move my desktop to a new PC?
Copy the Skins folder plus the AppData folder with Rainmeter.ini, Layouts, and Plugins. Reinstall first so registry entries exist, then overwrite both trees. Third party plugins ride in the AppData copy.
How do I snapshot my layout?
Save one from the Manager, which snapshots the active skins into a Layouts file. Loading restores positions and variants exactly. Ship layouts with skin suites for one click setups.
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