Back up, restore and reset application settings on BigLinux.
Package biglinux-config · GTK 4 and libadwaita
Restore Settings resets, backs up and restores the configuration of the applications installed on your computer, one application at a time. It knows where 136 applications keep their settings — browsers, office suites, media players, editors, terminals, shells, games and desktop environments — and also handles Flatpak applications and the desktop settings that GNOME-based apps keep in dconf.
- Restore BigLinux defaults — copy back the settings that BigLinux ships in
/etc/skel, only for the files registered for that application. - Restore program defaults — remove an application's settings so it starts again with its own defaults. This removes everything in the registered folders — for browsers and mail clients that includes bookmarks, passwords and local mail. Shell history, installed Steam games, virtual machine disks and Bottles prefixes are never reset.
- Back up first — every reset can save a backup of the current settings.
- Export the settings of the applications you choose into one
.tar.gzfile. - Import all or some applications from a backup, with integrity checks and automatic rollback if anything fails.
- Native and Flatpak applications side by side, plus scoped dconf settings.
- Favorites and search — your default apps are favorites automatically; right-click (or long-press, or Menu) to add or remove one. Start typing anywhere to search.
- Adaptive layout for small windows, light and dark styles, keyboard and screen-reader friendly.
| Per-application actions | Export |
|---|---|
 |
 |
| Import | Welcome |
 |
 |
Install it from the BigLinux repositories:
sudo pacman -S biglinux-configYou can also open it from BigLinux Control Center or from the applications menu as Restore Settings.
The package is not in the Arch repositories. Build it with the PKGBUILD of this repository; all dependencies come from the official Arch repositories, and no extra repository is needed:
git clone https://github.com/biglinux/biglinux-config.git
cd biglinux-config/pkgbuild
makepkg -sipkgbuild/PKGBUILD downloads the v2.0.0 tag of this repository and runs the
test suite before packaging.
| Package | Version | Use |
|---|---|---|
python |
3.12 or newer | runtime |
python-gobject |
— | GTK bindings |
gtk4 |
4.12 or newer | interface |
libadwaita |
1.6 or newer | interface |
glib2, pango, hicolor-icon-theme |
— | interface, icons |
dconf |
— | desktop settings (installed with GTK) |
flatpak |
optional | Flatpak applications |
Tested on BigLinux and in a clean Arch Linux container (full test suite,
package build, installation and biglinux-config --version).
- Click an application. Applications with a BIG badge have BigLinux defaults.
- Choose BigLinux defaults or Program defaults. The Files that will be affected list shows exactly which paths are involved.
- Keep Create a backup of the current settings checked (recommended) and confirm. If the application is running, Restore Settings offers to close it.
After a desktop-environment reset you are asked to log out.
- Menu → Export settings… lists every application that has settings, with
their size. Applications that can store passwords, cookies or history are
marked, and the dialog warns you. Choose the destination of the
.tar.gzfile. - Menu → Import settings… opens a backup, shows when and where it was made, and lets you pick the applications to restore.
- From an application's dialog you can export or import just that application.
Close the applications involved before exporting or importing.
Settings are changed only inside your home folder, and only at the paths registered for each application.
- Paths are checked before every change. HOME itself, shared folders such as
~/.configor~/.local/share, the dconf database and anything reached through a symbolic-link folder are never removed or replaced. - New files are prepared in a private folder first. Originals are moved aside and put back automatically if any step fails or you cancel. If even that is impossible, they are kept and the error tells you where.
- Backups are checked before anything is changed: every file has a checksum, and archives with unexpected paths, absolute or escaping links, duplicate members, special files or excessive sizes are refused.
- Backups only restore paths that this version would back up for that application, and only its own dconf settings.
- Only one backup, import or reset runs at a time, and the application refuses to run as root.
Checksums detect damage, not authorship: import only backups you trust, and keep backups private — browser and chat settings include passwords and sessions. Details and manual recovery steps are in docs/SAFETY.md.
When flatpak is installed, every Flatpak application with data in
~/.var/app/<id> appears in the Flatpak category. Backups include its
config and data folders (not cache); Program defaults resets only
config. Running Flatpak applications are detected with flatpak ps.
The interface is written in English and translated with gettext into 32
languages. Translations live in biglinux-config/locale/*.po; compiled
catalogs are in biglinux-config/usr/share/locale/.
bash tools/i18n.sh # update the template, merge every .po and compile the .mo files
bash tools/i18n.sh --check # fail if any catalog is stale or invalid (used by CI)To add a language, copy biglinux-config/locale/biglinux-config.pot to
biglinux-config/locale/<language>.po, translate it and run tools/i18n.sh.
git clone https://github.com/biglinux/biglinux-config.git
cd biglinux-config
python3 biglinux-config/usr/share/biglinux/biglinux-config/main.pyRunning from the checkout uses the translations and icons of the checkout. It works on your real settings, exactly like the installed application.
The tests never touch your settings: every test gets a private HOME and XDG folders and no access to your session bus.
bash tools/check.sh # unit and regression tests
bash tools/check-dconf.sh # dconf tests in a private D-Bus sessionEverything CI does runs in a disposable Arch Linux container (the script installs packages and creates a user, so never run it on your own system):
podman run --rm -v "$PWD:/src:ro" docker.io/library/archlinux:latest bash /src/tools/ci.sh /srctools/ci.sh runs the tests, validates translations, desktop entries, AppStream
data, shell scripts and the PKGBUILD, then builds, installs and starts the
package from the current commit. GitHub Actions runs it on every push and pull
request.
The version is defined once, in ui/metadata.py (APP_VERSION). The test suite
fails unless pkgbuild/PKGBUILD (pkgver) and the AppStream release agree with
it. Tag the release as v<version> and push the tag together with the commit,
because the PKGBUILD builds from that tag. The PKGBUILD has epoch=1 because
older builds used date versions such as 2026_10_02; keep it.
biglinux-config/ installed tree (copied to / by the PKGBUILD)
├── locale/ translation sources (.pot, .po)
└── usr/
├── bin/biglinux-config launcher (big-config is a compatibility link)
└── share/
├── applications/ menu entry and BigLinux Control Center entry
├── biglinux/biglinux-config/
│ ├── main.py entry point and runtime checks
│ ├── backend/ detection, backup, reset, paths, transactions, dconf
│ ├── data/app_registry.py the 136 supported applications and categories
│ └── ui/ GTK 4/libadwaita windows and dialogs
├── icons/ application icon
├── locale/ compiled translations (.mo)
└── metainfo/ AppStream metadata
docs/ safety notes and screenshots
pkgbuild/PKGBUILD Arch package
tests/ pytest suite
tools/ test, translation and CI scripts
Add an AppEntry to APP_REGISTRY in data/app_registry.py:
AppEntry(
app_id="my-app",
name="My App",
icon="my-app", # icon name from the icon theme
binary="/usr/bin/my-app", # used to detect the installation
category="multimedia",
config_paths=["~/.config/my-app"], # what a backup contains
skel_paths=["/etc/skel/.config/my-app"], # optional BigLinux defaults
# reset_paths=[...] narrower than config_paths when the app also keeps
# personal data; [] for backup-only applications
)tests/test_registry.py rejects duplicates, paths outside HOME, reset paths
that the safety backup would not cover, and resets of shared folders.
- An installed application is missing — its executable must exist at the
path registered in
app_registry.py. Flatpak applications appear after they have been started once (their~/.var/appfolder must exist). - "Close the application and try again" — a file changed or was in use while the backup was made. Close the application, including tray icons, and retry.
- A link was not included — links pointing outside your home folder cannot be restored safely and are left out of backups; the result lists them.
- Recovery is required — do not delete the folder named in the message
(
~/.biglinux-config-restore-*or~/.biglinux-config-reset-*); it holds your previous files. See docs/SAFETY.md. - Logs and safety backups are in
~/.local/state/biglinux-config/.
Please report problems with the exact message at the issue tracker.
Restore Settings is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.
- Repository: https://github.com/biglinux/biglinux-config
- Issues: https://github.com/biglinux/biglinux-config/issues
- BigLinux: https://www.biglinux.com.br/