Restore Settings

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.

Features

• 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.gz file.
• 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.

Screenshots

Per-application actions	Export
Import	Welcome

Installation

BigLinux

Install it from the BigLinux repositories:

sudo pacman -S biglinux-config

You can also open it from BigLinux Control Center or from the applications menu as Restore Settings.

Arch Linux and derivatives

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 -si

pkgbuild/PKGBUILD downloads the v2.0.0 tag of this repository and runs the test suite before packaging.

Requirements

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).

Usage

Restore defaults

1. Click an application. Applications with a BIG badge have BigLinux defaults.
2. Choose BigLinux defaults or Program defaults. The Files that will be affected list shows exactly which paths are involved.
3. 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.

Export and import

• 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.gz file.
• 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.

Safety

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 ~/.config or ~/.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.

Flatpak

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.

Translations

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.

Development

Run from source

git clone https://github.com/biglinux/biglinux-config.git
cd biglinux-config
python3 biglinux-config/usr/share/biglinux/biglinux-config/main.py

Running from the checkout uses the translations and icons of the checkout. It works on your real settings, exactly like the installed application.

Tests

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 session

Everything 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 /src

tools/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.

Releases

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.

Project structure

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

Adding an application

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.

Troubleshooting

• 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/app folder 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.

Authors

• Rafael Ruscher — @ruscher
• Bruno Gonçalves — @bigbruno

License

Restore Settings is free software under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later.

Links

• Repository: https://github.com/biglinux/biglinux-config
• Issues: https://github.com/biglinux/biglinux-config/issues
• BigLinux: https://www.biglinux.com.br/