Where are my user preferences stored?

Documentation
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Module preferences

Vassal stores user preferences - those set in File→Preferences of a module - in a file on your machine. Sometimes, it can be useful to be able to remove all these preferences and do a “factory reset” on a given module, or edit the preferences by hand to get out a predicament. The user preferences are stored in a directory which depends on the Operating System (OS) used.

OS Path
windows C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\VASSAL\prefs\
macosx ~/Library/Application Support/VASSAL/prefs/
linux ~/.VASSAL/prefs/

Note: On windows the directory C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData is typically hidden. To access that directory, write the exact path in the location bar of the File Explorer.

The name of the file that a given module’s user preferences are stored in is derived from the title of the module. If the module is called The Greatest Battle of All, then the name of the preference file will be

The_20_Greatest_20_Battle_20_of_20_All

For each character in the module title that is not a letter (a-z or A-Z) or digit (0-9), is replaced by the code-point (integer representation) of that character, surrounded by two _.

Thus, the user preference of the module The Greatest Battle of All is stored in one of

OS Path
windows C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\VASSAL\prefs\The_20_Greatest_20_Battle_20_of_20_All
macosx ~/Library/Application Support/VASSAL/prefs/The_20_Greatest_20_Battle_20_of_20_All
linux ~/.VASSAL/prefs/The_20_Greatest_20_Battle_20_of_20_All

General Vassal user preferences

The general user preferences of Vassal - those available from File→Preferences in the Module Manager are stored in

OS Path
windows C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\VASSAL\prefs\V_Global
macosx ~/Library/Application Support/VASSAL/prefs/V_Global
linux ~/.VASSAL/prefs/V_Global

If you want to “factory reset”, you can delete that file.

Factory-reset everything

If one deletes the Vassal user directory

OS Path
windows C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\VASSAL\
macosx ~/Library/Application Support/VASSAL
linux ~/.VASSAL

one effectively does a full “factory reset” of Vassal.

Documentation Index
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Semi-serious note:

The above is why I love Unix & Linux, and absolutely abhor Microsoft’s hamfisted excuses for operating systems… but at least now they’ve graduated from the 1950’s computing model to the early 1960’s computing model.

Because there’s no shorter logical pathname to place the preferences in Lose-DOS…

Yes, I am highly opinionated…based on experience.

For those still paying through the nose for constantly more restrictive computing environment which, every year, removes more and more things from your cantrol… seriously, try Linux. I understand Linux Mint is specifically made to ease the transition for those who have used nothing but Microsoft products for 20+ years.

As a bonus, you’ll discover that even your old printer that hasn’t been supported on Windows in over a decade… is as fully supported as if it a current market product.