Where Does Shotcut Store Settings and Autosaves?
Shotcut settings, app data and autosaves on every OS, plus the portable mode that unites them.
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Shotcut splits settings from data. Settings live in the registry on Windows (HKCU Meltytech Shotcut), a binary plist on Mac, and a plain INI at ~/.config/Meltytech/Shotcut.conf on Linux. Bulk data (autosaves, proxies, thumbnails, presets, db.sqlite3) lives in the app data dir per OS.
Autosave is crash recovery, not versioning: it never updates your .mlt, so reopen the project after a crash to be prompted. Untitled projects prompt on next launch. Portable mode (Settings, App Data Directory, Set) collapses everything into shotcut.ini plus data subfolders beside the app for USB use.
Where Shotcut stores this, by platform
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Meltytech\Shotcut\
App data: autosave/, proxies/, thumbnails/, presets/, db.sqlite3. Settings in HKCU\Software\Meltytech\Shotcut (delete key for clean reset). Exact folder via Settings, App Data Directory, Show. Portable mode uses <dir>/shotcut.ini.
~/Library/Application Support/Meltytech/Shotcut/
Same app data role (autosave, proxies, thumbnails). Settings in ~/Library/Preferences/com.meltytech.Shotcut.plist. Portable mode collapses both into one chosen folder.
~/.config/Meltytech/Shotcut.conf
Plain text INI settings, easiest of the three to inspect. App data in ~/.local/share/Meltytech/Shotcut. Portable override via Settings or --appdata.
Frequently asked questions
Where are Shotcut autosaves after a crash?
In autosave/ inside the app data dir above. Reopen Shotcut (or the project) to be prompted; autosave never overwrites your .mlt, so unsaved Untitled work prompts on next launch.
How do I run Shotcut portably from USB?
Set Settings, App Data Directory to a folder on the stick. Settings collapse into shotcut.ini there with all data subfolders, and the registry/plist/conf holds only the pointer.
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