Where Does Rancher Desktop Store Settings and VM Data?
Rancher Desktop spreads config and VM data across OS app-data folders, with settings.json at the center.
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Rancher Desktop follows each OS idioms. On Linux the home is ~/.local/share/rancher-desktop with config in ~/.config/rancher-desktop and cache in ~/.cache/rancher-desktop. macOS uses ~/Library/Application Support/rancher-desktop plus Preferences, Caches, and Logs siblings. Windows consolidated on %LOCALAPPDATA%\rancher-desktop after migrating off Roaming.
The ~/.rd marker file and snapshots folder matter during cleanup. Uninstallers leave data behind by design, so a factory reset plus deleting these folders is the real uninstall. Old Windows installs may still have a stray settings.json under Roaming that auto-migrates on launch.
Where Rancher Desktop stores this, by platform
~/.local/share/rancher-desktop
App home with settings.json; config, cache, and snapshots beside it. ~/.rd marker at home root. Factory reset before deleting.
~/Library/Application Support/rancher-desktop
Plus ~/Library/Preferences, Caches, and Logs rancher-desktop siblings and ~/.rd. Uninstall docs list all five for full removal.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\rancher-desktop
Current home since the Roaming-to-Local migration. Legacy %APPDATA%\rancher-desktop\settings.json auto-copies here if found.
Frequently asked questions
How do I fully uninstall Rancher Desktop on Windows?
Run a factory reset first (rdctl reset), unregister the WSL distros, then delete %LOCALAPPDATA%\rancher-desktop. Skipping the reset leaves VM disks behind, which is where most of the gigabytes hide.
Where is the main settings file?
Edit settings.json in the app home for your OS and restart. Admins can additionally lock defaults via the system-level defaults files. The UI writes the same file, so hand edits and clicks never fight.
Notice an outdated path? Let us know.