Where Does Tailscale Store State?
Tailscale daemon state and profiles on Linux, Windows and macOS; identity lives server-side.
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Tailscale keeps daemon state under /var/lib/tailscale on Linux and per-user profiles on desktop platforms. The tailnet identity itself is coordinated, not file-bound.
Local state speeds re-login; it is not the account. Wiping it signs the node out without deleting anything from the tailnet.
Where Tailscale stores this, by platform
/var/lib/tailscale
Holds tailscaled.state and profiles. Root-owned. Re-login with tailscale up after wipes; prune stale nodes in the admin console.
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Tailscale
Per-user login profiles and cache. Sign back in after clearing. Exact inner layout shifts between client releases.
Frequently asked questions
How do I move Tailscale to a new machine?
Re-authenticate with tailscale up. Machine identity persists in local state where kept; fresh logins re-register the node. Remove stale machines from the admin console afterward.
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