# Where your settings are stored

> Find the Settings Saver store on Windows, macOS and Linux, see what each file in it holds, and move it with a JVM argument or environment variable.

URL: https://xichil.dev/wiki/settings-saver/v0/guides/store-location/ · Updated: 2026-11-06 · Applies to: Fabric, Quilt, Legacy Fabric, Forge, NeoForge, MC 1.7.10 - 26.3

Settings Saver keeps your profiles in one folder per user, outside every game instance: the
**store**. Every instance on the computer reads and writes the same store, whatever launcher started
it. This guide shows where the store is, what is inside and how to move it.

## Default location

| System | Store folder |
| --- | --- |
| Windows | `%APPDATA%\SettingsSaver` |
| macOS | `~/Library/Application Support/SettingsSaver` |
| Linux and BSD | `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/settings-saver`, which is `~/.config/settings-saver` when `XDG_CONFIG_HOME` is not set |

The game log names it at every launch, in a line like this:

```text
[Settings Saver] Starting on ..., store=/home/alex/.config/settings-saver
```

## What is inside

```text
settings-saver.properties              global config: backups, defaultProfile
.lock                                  lets several games share the store safely
profiles/
  default/
    profile.properties                 the profile's excluded settings
    vanilla/options.txt                the saved settings
  pvp/
    ...
backups/
  vanilla/                             options.txt files replaced by Load or auto + always apply
```

- [`settings-saver.properties`](https://xichil.dev/wiki/settings-saver/v0/config/global/index.md) holds the global settings.
- Each folder in `profiles` is one profile. Its [`profile.properties`](https://xichil.dev/wiki/settings-saver/v0/config/profile/index.md) holds
  the excluded settings, and `vanilla/options.txt` the saved settings.
- `backups` holds copies of instance files Settings Saver replaced. See
  [Restoring a backup](https://xichil.dev/wiki/settings-saver/v0/guides/backups/index.md).

The saved `options.txt` is always in the newest format Settings Saver knows (26.3), whatever version
you saved it from. Settings Saver converts it when it applies it to an older version. See
[Converting between versions](https://xichil.dev/wiki/settings-saver/v0/mechanics/version-conversion/index.md).

Each instance also has its own [`config/settings-saver.properties`](https://xichil.dev/wiki/settings-saver/v0/config/instance/index.md), inside
the instance's game folder, with its profile and sync mode.

## Move the store

To keep the store somewhere else, for example on another drive or in a synced folder, point
Settings Saver at it in one of two ways. The first one set wins.

1. The JVM argument `-Dsettingssaver.home=<folder>`, added to the instance's Java arguments in your
   launcher. It applies to that instance only.
2. The environment variable `SETTINGS_SAVER_HOME=<folder>`. It applies to every game started with
   that variable.

```text
-Dsettingssaver.home=D:\Games\SettingsSaver
```

Copy the old store folder to the new place with every game closed, then start the games. A folder
without a store gets a new, empty one.

> **Warning:** Instances that point at different stores don't share anything. Set the same folder for every
> instance, or use the environment variable, so they all see the same profiles.

## Take your settings to another computer

Copy the store folder to the same location on the other computer (or to a folder you point at as
above) while no game is running. Every profile, exclusion list and backup comes along. Settings Saver
converts the settings for whatever Minecraft versions you play there.