Where Are WSL Config Files Stored?
Windows .wslconfig and wsl.conf plus distro VHDX disk paths.
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WSL splits config between a global .wslconfig in your Windows profile and per-distro wsl.conf files inside Linux, with virtual disks stored as VHDX files under app packages. Memory and disk tuning live on the Windows side.
Back up .wslconfig before memory-limit experiments since one bad byte-unit stalls every distro. Export distros with wsl --export before disk moves.
Where Windows stores this, by platform
%USERPROFILE%\.wslconfig
Global CPU, memory and networking settings for WSL2. Per-distro behavior lives in /etc/wsl.conf inside each install. Distro disks sit as ext4.vhdx under AppData\Local\Packages per distro. Edit with line endings intact.
Frequently asked questions
How do I limit WSL memory?
Set memory in .wslconfig above with units like 8GB, then wsl --shutdown. Per-distro tweaks go in wsl.conf inside Linux.
Where are WSL distro disks?
As VHDX files under Packages paths beside the config above. Move them with wsl --export and --import, never raw drags.
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