.. _blender-directory-layout: ************************** Blender's Directory Layout ************************** This page documents the different directories used by Blender *(which can be helpful for troubleshooting)*. There are three different directories Blender may use, their exact locations are platform dependent. :LOCAL: Location of configuration and run-time data (for self-contained bundle). :USER: Location of configuration files (typically in the user's home directory). :SYSTEM: Location of run-time data for system wide installation (may be read-only). For system installations both **SYSTEM** and **USER** directories are needed. For locally extracted Blender distributions, the user configuration and run-time data are kept in the same subdirectory, allowing multiple Blender versions to run without conflict, ignoring the **USER** and **SYSTEM** files. Platform Dependent Paths ======================== Here are the default locations for each system: .. note:: The path |INSTALLDIR| is relative to the Blender executable and is used for self-contained bundles distributed by official blender.org builds. .. |INSTALLDIR| replace:: ./|BLENDER_VERSION|/ Linux ----- :LOCAL: .. parsed-literal:: ./|BLENDER_VERSION|/ :USER: .. parsed-literal:: $HOME/.config/blender/|BLENDER_VERSION|/ :SYSTEM: .. parsed-literal:: /usr/share/blender/|BLENDER_VERSION|/ .. note:: The **USER** path will use ``$XDG_CONFIG_HOME`` if it is set: .. parsed-literal:: $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/blender/|BLENDER_VERSION|/ macOS ----- :LOCAL: .. parsed-literal:: ./|BLENDER_VERSION|/ :USER: .. parsed-literal:: /Users/$USER/Library/Application Support/Blender/|BLENDER_VERSION|/ :SYSTEM: .. parsed-literal:: /Library/Application Support/Blender/|BLENDER_VERSION|/ .. note:: macOS stores the Blender binary in ``./Blender.app/Contents/MacOS/Blender``. The local path to data and config is: .. parsed-literal:: ./Blender.app/Contents/Resources/|BLENDER_VERSION|/ Windows ------- :LOCAL: .. parsed-literal:: .\\\ |BLENDER_VERSION|\\ :USER: .. parsed-literal:: %USERPROFILE%\\AppData\\Roaming\\Blender Foundation\\Blender\\\ |BLENDER_VERSION|\\ :SYSTEM: .. parsed-literal:: %USERPROFILE%\\AppData\\Roaming\\Blender Foundation\\Blender\\\ |BLENDER_VERSION|\\ Path Layout =========== This is the path layout which is used within the directories described above. Where ``./config/startup.blend`` could be ``~/.blender/|BLENDER_VERSION|/config/startup.blend`` for example. ``./autosave/ ...`` Autosave blend-file location. (Windows only, temp directory used for other systems.) Search order: ``LOCAL, USER``. ``./config/ ...`` Defaults & session info. Search order: ``LOCAL, USER``. ``./config/startup.blend`` Default file to load on startup. ``./config/userpref.blend`` Default preferences to load on startup. ``./config/bookmarks.txt`` File Browser bookmarks. ``./config/recent-files.txt`` Recent file menu list. ``./datafiles/ ...`` Runtime files. Search order: ``LOCAL, USER, SYSTEM``. ``./datafiles/locale/{language}/`` Static precompiled language files for UI translation. ``./scripts/ ...`` Python scripts for the user interface and tools. Search order: ``LOCAL, USER, SYSTEM``. ``./scripts/addons/*.py`` Python add-ons which may be enabled in the Preferences include import/export format support, render engine integration and many handy utilities. ``./scripts/addons/modules/*.py`` Modules for add-ons to use (added to Python's ``sys.path``). ``./scripts/addons_contrib/*.py`` Another add-ons directory which is used for community maintained add-ons (must be manually created). ``./scripts/addons_contrib/modules/*.py`` Modules for ``addons_contrib`` to use (added to Python's ``sys.path``). ``./scripts/modules/*.py`` Python modules containing our core API and utility functions for other scripts to import (added to Python's ``sys.path``). ``./scripts/startup/*.py`` Scripts which are automatically imported on startup. ``./scripts/presets/{preset}/*.py`` Presets used for storing user-defined settings for cloth, render formats, etc. ``./scripts/templates_py/*.py`` Example scripts which can be accessed from :menuselection:`Text Editor --> Templates --> Python`. ``./scripts/templates_osl/*.osl`` Example OSL shaders which can be accessed from :menuselection:`Text Editor --> Templates --> Open Shading Language`. ``./python/ ...`` Bundled Python distribution. Search order: ``LOCAL, SYSTEM``. .. _temp-dir: Temporary Directory =================== The temporary directory is used to store various files at run-time (including render layers, physics cache, copy-paste buffer and crash logs). The temporary directory is selected based on the following priority: - User Preference (see :ref:`prefs-file-paths`). - Environment variables (``TEMP`` on Windows, ``TMP`` & ``TMP_DIR`` on other platforms). - The ``/tmp/`` directory.