Where Does Zed Store Its Settings?
Where Zed keeps settings.json on macOS, Linux and Windows, and where per project overrides live.
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Zed keeps global settings in one JSON file: ~/.config/zed/settings.json on macOS and Linux, %APPDATA%\Zed\settings.json on Windows. The Mac path surprises people hunting in Application Support, since Zed follows the XDG layout even on Apple systems.
Extensions and databases are the things that do live in platform folders (~/Library/Application Support/Zed on Mac, for example). For settings migration, the single settings.json is the only file that matters. Copy it and your keymap, theme and editor options come along.
Where Zed stores this, by platform
~/.config/zed/settings.json
Surprising but true: Zed uses ~/.config on Mac, not Application Support, for settings. Extensions sit in ~/Library/Application Support/Zed/extensions. Open the file in app with cmd-,.
~/.config/zed/settings.json
Respects $XDG_CONFIG_HOME when set, so check that variable first on customized systems. Keymap lives beside it as keymap.json.
%APPDATA%\Zed\settings.json
Paste %APPDATA%\Zed into Explorer. Per project overrides live in .zed/settings.json inside each project folder, merged over this global file.
Frequently asked questions
How do I open the Zed settings file from inside Zed?
Press cmd-, (or ctrl-, on Windows and Linux) or run "zed: open settings" from the command palette. The editor opens the live file directly, which avoids hunting for it when XDG overrides move things around.
Can I have different settings per project?
Yes. Create .zed/settings.json in the project root (the palette command "zed: open project settings" scaffolds it). Project settings merge over your global file, though a few global only options like theme stay global.
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