Prefs

Prefs, short for preferences, are configuration options chosen by a user to customize how a software program behaves. They govern aspects such as appearance, behavior, features, and privacy, and are designed to persist across sessions so the user does not have to reconfigure settings each time the program runs.

Preferences can be stored locally in a user profile or in the system registry, database, or configuration directory, depending on the platform. Common storage formats include plain text files (INI, JSON, XML), macOS property lists (plist), or platform-specific stores. Some applications maintain a lightweight key-value store, while others use a relational or embedded database.

Users typically modify prefs through a preferences or settings dialog in the application's user interface. Changes may affect themes, languages, shortcut mappings, or feature toggles. Many programs support importing, exporting, or resetting to default preferences, and some offer per-document or per-project settings in addition to global prefs.

From a development perspective, preferences are separated from core application data and can be accessed via APIs or configuration libraries. They may include versioning and migration logic to handle schema changes between software releases. Privileged or sensitive preferences may be guarded by permissions or encryption.

Terminology varies: "preferences" and "settings" are often used interchangeably, while "options" appears in some programs. The shorthand "prefs" is common in file names (for example, prefs.json) or in user-facing dialogs in certain platforms or extensions.