Where apps hide your files
Inkscape stores your settings, user extensions, templates and palettes in a profile folder in your Library, not inside the app. Here is the exact path, what each item is, and how to reset or move it.
For Inkscape 1.x on macOS, everything personal lives here:
~/Library/Application Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/config/inkscape/Your preferences file is preferences.xml in that folder, and extensions you install yourself go in the extensions folder beside it:
~/Library/Application Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/config/inkscape/preferences.xml
~/Library/Application Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/config/inkscape/extensions/Both paths were checked on the Mac used for this guide. The double nesting is deliberate: the Mac app keeps its configuration area in org.inkscape.Inkscape/config, and Inkscape adds its own inkscape profile folder inside that.
To open the folder, choose Go > Go to Folder in Finder (or press ⇧⌘G), paste the path and press Return. From Terminal:
open ~/Library/Application\ Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/config/inkscapeThe surest check is the program itself. Open the preferences: in Inkscape 1.2 and later they are under Inkscape > Preferences in the menu bar, in 1.0 and 1.1 under Edit > Preferences, and ⇧⌘P opens them in every 1.x release. Go to the System page. Its System info section lists User preferences, User config and User extensions, and the folder lines have a button that opens the folder in Finder. Whatever it shows is the truth for your copy.
Older releases are different. Inkscape 0.92 and earlier, which ran under XQuartz on the Mac, kept the profile in the hidden folder ~/.config/inkscape, and Homebrew's uninstall list for Inkscape still names that folder. If you upgraded from an old version and cannot find files where this page says, check there too.
If Inkscape was started with the INKSCAPE_PROFILE_DIR environment variable set, the profile lives wherever that points. That is rare on a Mac, and the System page would show it.
On the Mac used for this guide the profile folder held these items (most of the folders empty, because nothing had been added):
| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
preferences.xml | Every setting you have changed, as one XML file. |
extensions/ | Extensions and filters you install yourself. Empty until you add some. |
templates/ | Your own document templates, offered by File > New from Template. |
symbols/ | Your own symbol sets. |
palettes/ | Custom colour palettes (.gpl files). |
keys/ | Custom keyboard shortcut files. |
fonts/, fontcollections/ | Extra fonts Inkscape loads, and font collections. A recently used fonts log sits in fontcollections. |
icons/, themes/ | Custom icon sets and themes. |
paint/ | Your own patterns and hatches. |
ui/ | Custom user interface definition files. |
extension-errors.log | A log of extensions that failed to load. Open it when an extension is missing from the Extensions menu. |
dialogs-state-ex.ini | Remembered dialog positions and sizes. |
cphistory.xml | History of the Command Palette, Inkscape's searchable command list. |
Two other places belong to Inkscape but are not the profile. ~/Library/Application Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/cache holds font caches, and ~/Library/Application Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/share holds the recent files list. A small ~/Library/Preferences/org.inkscape.Inkscape.plist may exist too; your Inkscape settings are not in it.
Put third-party extensions in the user extensions folder, not inside the app. Inkscape ships its own extensions inside the application package (under Inkscape.app/Contents/Resources), and an update replaces that package, so anything you add there is lost. The user folder survives updates.
.inx file and a Python script) into the extensions folder from the path above.If one does not appear, look at extension-errors.log in the profile folder, which records why an extension failed to load.
When Inkscape misbehaves, a corrupt or odd setting is a common cause. Quit Inkscape first. Then in Finder rename preferences.xml to something like preferences-old.xml. Inkscape writes a fresh file with defaults the next time it starts, and you can move the old one back if the reset changes nothing. Renaming beats deleting, because you keep your old settings.
If Inkscape still opens, the System page has a reset button beside the User preferences line (labelled Reset Preferences in early 1.x releases and Reset in recent ones), which does the same from inside the app.
Copy the whole config/inkscape folder. It is small. Put it at the same path on the new Mac with Inkscape quit, and your settings, templates, palettes and extensions come with it. Because preferences.xml can contain paths to your own folders, a setting that points to a drive or folder that does not exist on the new Mac may be ignored; adjust it in Preferences.
If you use Time Machine, this folder is already included.
The profile is inside ~/Library, and Spotlight and Finder searches leave ~/Library out of normal results. Names like preferences.xml are also shared with dozens of other apps' files, so even a hit tells you little without the full path.
In Everywhere, typing org.inkscape brings up the support folder and the plist, and typing extension-errors jumps straight to the log when an add-on refuses to load. Typing preferences.xml lists every file of that name, so you pick Inkscape's by its path. The profile sits in the part of ~/Library that Everywhere scans without Full Disk Access, and it matches names only, so it cannot search inside the XML.
In Inkscape 1.x it is at ~/Library/Application Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/config/inkscape/preferences.xml. Inkscape 0.92 and earlier used ~/.config/inkscape. The System page in Inkscape's preferences shows the path your version uses.
In the extensions folder next to preferences.xml, at ~/Library/Application Support/org.inkscape.Inkscape/config/inkscape/extensions. Quit Inkscape first and restart it afterwards.
Quit Inkscape and rename preferences.xml in the profile folder; Inkscape creates a new default file at the next start. If Inkscape opens, the System page of the preferences also has a reset button beside the User preferences line.
Finder hides your Library folder by default. Use Go > Go to Folder (⇧⌘G), or hold the Option key while opening the Go menu to see Library.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
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