Preferences#

napari settings#

napari provides persistent settings that are stored on a per environment basis. This means that if you have multiple Python environments, each with a napari installation (e.g. different versions), the napari in each environment will have its own set of stored preferences. So, for example, you could have an environment where napari always uses the Light theme and another one where napari always uses the Dark theme.

A wide range of settings are available, organized into sections, and described in more detail below.

Where settings are stored#

Settings are stored in a settings.yaml file and napari uses appdirs to determine the save location: the platform-specific user configuration directory. You can check where a napari installation has stored settings by looking for “Settings path” in the output of:

napari --info

Resetting settings to defaults using the command line (CLI)#

Sometimes, for example due to a version change, an issue with the stored settings can prevent napari from launching or cause other issues. In those cases, it can be useful to reset the settings to the defaults from the command line. To reset all napari settings to the default values:

napari --reset

Programmatic access to the settings#

Settings are managed by getting the global settings object and modifying settings:

from napari.settings import get_settings

settings = get_settings()
# then modify... e.g:
settings.appearance.theme = 'dark'

You can get more information about individual settings, their types, and default values in each of the settings section descriptions below.

The Preferences dialog#

napari provides a Preferences dialog to manage the settings using a graphical user interface (GUI). Importantly, this dialog also allows you to customize napari keyboard shortcuts (keybindings).

On Windows and Linux, the Preferences dialog can be accessed in the File menu. On macOS, it can be accessed in the napari menu.

The settings are grouped by sections that are accessible in a list on the left side of the dialog.

Application Settings#

Main application settings.

application

More details on the individual Application settings

Brush size on mouse move modifiers

Modifiers to activate changing the brush size by moving the mouse.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.brush_size_on_mouse_move_modifiers.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_BRUSH_SIZE_ON_MOUSE_MOVE_MODIFIERS
Type: <enum 'BrushSizeOnMouseModifiers'>
Default: <BrushSizeOnMouseModifiers.ALT: 'Alt'>.

Confirm window or application closing

Ask for confirmation before closing a napari window or application (all napari windows).

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.confirm_close_window.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_CONFIRM_CLOSE_WINDOW
Type: <class 'bool'>
Default: True.

Console notification level

Select the notification level for the console.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.console_notification_level.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_CONSOLE_NOTIFICATION_LEVEL
Type: <enum 'NotificationSeverity'>
Default: <NotificationSeverity.NONE: 'none'>.

Dask cache

Settings for dask cache (does not work with distributed arrays)

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.dask.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_DASK
Type: <class 'napari.settings._application.DaskSettings'>
Default: DaskSettings(enabled=True, cache=4.191603712).

Depth Axis Orientation

Orientation of the depth axis in 3D view. Default is “Towards”; <0.6.0 was “Away”.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.depth_axis_orientation.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_DEPTH_AXIS_ORIENTATION
Type: <enum 'DepthAxisOrientation'>
Default: <DepthAxisOrientation.TOWARDS: 'towards'>.

Float display precision

Number of significant digits when displaying float values in the status bar and layer tooltips.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.float_display_precision.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_FLOAT_DISPLAY_PRECISION
Type: <class 'int'>
Default: 3.

Grid Height

Number of rows in the grid.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.grid_height.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_GRID_HEIGHT
Type: <class 'int'>
Default: -1.

Grid Spacing

The amount of spacing inbetween grid viewboxes. If between 0 and 1, it is interpreted as a proportion of the size of the viewboxes. If equal or greater than 1, it is interpreted as screen pixels.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.grid_spacing.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_GRID_SPACING
Type: <class 'float'>
Default: 0.

Grid Stride

Number of layers to place in each grid viewbox before moving on to the next viewbox. A negative stride will cause the order in which the layers are placed in the grid to be reversed. 0 is not a valid entry.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.grid_stride.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_GRID_STRIDE
Type: <class 'int'>
Default: 1.

Grid Width

Number of columns in the grid.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.grid_width.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_GRID_WIDTH
Type: <class 'int'>
Default: -1.

GUI notification level

Select the notification level for the user interface.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.gui_notification_level.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_GUI_NOTIFICATION_LEVEL
Type: <enum 'NotificationSeverity'>
Default: <NotificationSeverity.INFO: 'info'>.

Delay to treat button as hold in seconds

This affects certain actions where a short press and a long press have different behaviors, such as changing the mode of a layer permanently or only during the long press.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.hold_button_delay.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_HOLD_BUTTON_DELAY
Type: <class 'float'>
Default: 0.5.

Horizontal Axis Orientation

Orientation of the horizontal axis in 2D and 3D view. Default is “Right”.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.horizontal_axis_orientation.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_HORIZONTAL_AXIS_ORIENTATION
Type: <enum 'HorizontalAxisOrientation'>
Default: <HorizontalAxisOrientation.RIGHT: 'right'>.

New labels data type

data type for labels layers created with the “new labels” button.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.new_labels_dtype.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_NEW_LABELS_DTYPE
Type: <enum 'LabelDTypes'>
Default: <LabelDTypes.uint8: 'uint8'>.

Playback frames per second

Playback speed in frames per second.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.playback_fps.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_PLAYBACK_FPS
Type: <class 'int'>
Default: 10.

Playback loop mode

Loop mode for playback.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.playback_mode.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_PLAYBACK_MODE
Type: <enum 'LoopMode'>
Default: <LoopMode.LOOP: 'loop'>.

Save window geometry

Toggle saving the main window size and position.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.save_window_geometry.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_SAVE_WINDOW_GEOMETRY
Type: <class 'bool'>
Default: True.

Save window state

Toggle saving the main window state of widgets.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.save_window_state.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_SAVE_WINDOW_STATE
Type: <class 'bool'>
Default: False.

Full path to a startup script

Path to a Python script that will be executed on napari startup. This can be used to customize the behavior of napari or load specific plugins automatically.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.startup_script.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_STARTUP_SCRIPT
Type: <class 'pathlib.Path'>
Default: PosixPath('.').

Synced Camera

Controls how camera state is managed when switching between 2D and 3D views. When checked, camera center and zoom are shared between views, with the depth (Z) component synced via the dims slider. When unchecked, each mode remembers its own camera state independently.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.synced_camera.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_SYNCED_CAMERA
Type: <class 'bool'>
Default: True.

Vertical Axis Orientation

Orientation of the vertical axis in 2D and 3D view. Default is “Down”.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.application.vertical_axis_orientation.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_APPLICATION_VERTICAL_AXIS_ORIENTATION
Type: <enum 'VerticalAxisOrientation'>
Default: <VerticalAxisOrientation.DOWN: 'down'>.

Appearance Settings#

User interface appearance settings.

appearance

Plugins Settings#

Plugins settings.

plugins

Shortcuts Settings#

Shortcut settings.

shortcuts

More details on the individual Shortcuts settings

Set keyboard shortcuts for actions.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.shortcuts.shortcuts.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_SHORTCUTS_SHORTCUTS
Type: dict[str, list[app_model.types._keys._keybindings.KeyBinding]]

Default Shortcuts

Action	Shortcut
napari:toggle_console_visibility	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8122360: Ctrl+Shift+C>]
napari:toggle_ndisplay	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8120c50: Ctrl+Y>]
napari:toggle_theme	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8122c60: Ctrl+Shift+T>]
napari:reset_view	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128710: Ctrl+R>]
napari:delete_selected_layers	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81285f0: Ctrl+Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128650: Ctrl+Backspace>]
napari:show_shortcuts	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81286b0: Ctrl+Alt+/>]
napari:increment_dims_left	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128740: Left>]
napari:increment_dims_right	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81287a0: Right>]
napari:focus_axes_up	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128800: Alt+Up>]
napari:focus_axes_down	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128860: Alt+Down>]
napari:roll_axes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81288c0: Ctrl+E>]
napari:transpose_axes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128920: Ctrl+T>]
napari:rotate_layers	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128980: Ctrl+Alt+T>]
napari:toggle_grid	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812aae0: Ctrl+G>]
napari:toggle_selected_visibility	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128a10: V>]
napari:toggle_unselected_visibility	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128b30: Shift+V>]
napari:select_layer_above	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812af60: Ctrl+Up>]
napari:select_layer_below	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812afc0: Ctrl+Down>]
napari:show_only_layer_above	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b020: Shift+Alt+Up>]
napari:show_only_layer_below	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b080: Shift+Alt+Down>]
napari:hold_for_pan_zoom	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b0e0: Space>]
napari:activate_labels_erase_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b140: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b1a0: E>]
napari:activate_labels_paint_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b200: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b260: P>]
napari:activate_labels_polygon_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b2c0: 3>]
napari:activate_labels_fill_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b320: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b380: F>]
napari:activate_labels_picker_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b3e0: 5>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b440: L>]
napari:activate_labels_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b4a0: 6>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b500: Z>]
napari:activate_labels_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b560: 7>]
napari:new_label	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b5c0: M>]
napari:swap_selected_and_background_labels	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b620: X>]
napari:decrease_label_id	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b680: ->]
napari:increase_label_id	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b6e0: =>]
napari:decrease_brush_size	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b740: [>]
napari:increase_brush_size	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8250320: ]>]
napari:toggle_preserve_labels	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8120230: B>]
napari:reset_polygon	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123ef0: Escape>]
napari:complete_polygon	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123f50: Enter>]
napari:activate_points_add_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123dd0: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123e30: P>]
napari:activate_points_select_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123cb0: 3>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123d10: S>]
napari:activate_points_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123b90: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123bf0: Z>]
napari:activate_points_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123a10: 5>]
napari:select_all_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123ad0: A>]
napari:select_append_all_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81238c0: Shift+A>]
napari:select_all_data	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123980: Ctrl+A>]
napari:delete_selected_points	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123320: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123830: Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81236e0: Backspace>]
napari:activate_add_rectangle_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123740: R>]
napari:activate_add_ellipse_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81235c0: E>]
napari:activate_add_line_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123620: L>]
napari:activate_add_path_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81234a0: T>]
napari:activate_add_polyline_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123500: Shift+L>]
napari:activate_add_polygon_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81233b0: P>]
napari:activate_add_polygon_lasso_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123410: Shift+P>]
napari:activate_direct_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8123350: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81231d0: D>]
napari:activate_select_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8120b60: 5>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81208f0: S>]
napari:activate_shapes_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8120c20: 6>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b808ae10: Z>]
napari:activate_shapes_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b823cef0: 7>]
napari:activate_vertex_insert_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8261880: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b82610a0: I>]
napari:activate_vertex_remove_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b826e9f0: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b826e510: X>]
napari:copy_selected_shapes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128440: Ctrl+C>]
napari:paste_shape	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81284a0: Ctrl+V>]
napari:move_shapes_selection_to_front	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128320: F>]
napari:move_shapes_selection_to_back	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128380: B>]
napari:select_shapes_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128200: A>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128260: Ctrl+A>]
napari:delete_selected_shapes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81280e0: 3>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128140: Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b81292e0: Backspace>]
napari:finish_drawing_shape	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812ac00: Enter>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8128bc0: Escape>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_x	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b8129010: X>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_y	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b7d0: Y>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_z	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b830: Z>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_view_direction	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b890: O>]
napari:auto_contrast_once	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b8f0: C>]
napari:activate_image_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b950: 1>]
napari:activate_image_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812b9b0: 2>]
napari:activate_vectors_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812ba10: 1>]
napari:activate_vectors_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812ba70: 2>]
napari:activate_tracks_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812bad0: 1>]
napari:activate_tracks_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812bb30: 2>]
napari:activate_surface_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812bb90: 1>]
napari:activate_surface_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fc8b812bbf0: 2>]

Experimental Settings#

Experimental settings.

experimental

More details on the individual Experimental settings

Render Layers Asynchronously

Asynchronous loading of layers. This setting partially loads data while viewing.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.experimental.async_.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_EXPERIMENTAL_ASYNC_
Type: <class 'bool'>
Default: False.

Enable autoswapping rendering buffers.

Autoswapping rendering buffers improves quality by reducing tearing artifacts, while sacrificing some performance.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.experimental.autoswap_buffers.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_EXPERIMENTAL_AUTOSWAP_BUFFERS
Type: <class 'bool'>
Default: False.

Colormap backend to use for Labels layer

*Color mapping backend to use for Labels layer. ‘partsegcore’ requires the optional ‘partsegcore-compiled-backend’ package. ‘numba’ requires the optional ‘numba’ package. ‘pure python’ uses only NumPy and Python. The ‘fastest available’ backend will select the fastest installed backend. *

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.experimental.colormap_backend.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_EXPERIMENTAL_COLORMAP_BACKEND
Type: <enum 'ColormapBackend'>
Default: fastest_available.

Enable fuzzy search in the command palette

When searching for commands via the command palette, use fuzzy finding instead of matching exact words.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.experimental.command_palette_fuzzy_search.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_EXPERIMENTAL_COMMAND_PALETTE_FUZZY_SEARCH
Type: <enum 'PaletteFuzzySearch'>
Default: <PaletteFuzzySearch.enabled_if_available: 'Enabled if available'>.

Similarity threshold (%) for fuzzy search in the command palette

When searching commands via the command palette, if a command’s similarity to the query is lower than this threshold, it won’t be shown as a match.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.experimental.command_palette_fuzzy_search_threshold.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_EXPERIMENTAL_COMMAND_PALETTE_FUZZY_SEARCH_THRESHOLD
Type: <class 'int'>
Default: 60.

Double-click Labels polygon completion radius (-1 to always complete)

Max radius in pixels from first vertex for double-click to complete a polygon; set -1 to always complete.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.experimental.completion_radius.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_EXPERIMENTAL_COMPLETION_RADIUS
Type: <class 'int'>
Default: -1.

Generate GUI layer controls dynamically instead of using premade panels.

Based on the attributes of the currenty selected layer, generate layer controls dynamically, even when a single layer is selected. Happens by default with multiple layers.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.experimental.dynamic_layer_controls.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_EXPERIMENTAL_DYNAMIC_LAYER_CONTROLS
Type: <class 'bool'>
Default: False.

Minimum distance threshold of shapes lasso and path tool

Value determines how many screen pixels one has to move before another vertex can be added to the polygonor path.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.experimental.lasso_vertex_distance.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_EXPERIMENTAL_LASSO_VERTEX_DISTANCE
Type: <class 'int'>
Default: 10.

Shapes polygon lasso and path RDP epsilon

Setting this higher removes more points from polygons or paths. Setting this to 0 keeps all vertices of a given polygon or path.

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.experimental.rdp_epsilon.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_EXPERIMENTAL_RDP_EPSILON
Type: <class 'float'>
Default: 0.5.

Triangulation backend to use for Shapes layer

*Triangulation backend to use for Shapes layer. The ‘bermuda’ requires the optional ‘bermuda’ package. The ‘partsegcore’ requires the optional ‘partsegcore-compiled-backend’ package. The ‘triangle’ requires the optional ‘triangle’ package. The ‘numba’ backend requires the optional ‘numba’ package. The ‘pure python’ backend uses the default Python triangulation from vispy. The ‘fastest available’ backend will select the fastest available backend. *

Access programmatically with SETTINGS.experimental.triangulation_backend.
Environmental variable: NAPARI_EXPERIMENTAL_TRIANGULATION_BACKEND
Type: <enum 'TriangulationBackend'>
Default: fastest_available.

Reset settings to defaults using the Preferences dialog#

To reset the preferences click on the Restore defaults button and continue by clicking on Restore Defaults.

Overriding settings#

napari settings can also be overridden by using environment variables. The variable names follow a pattern: they start with NAPARI, followed by the Preference section name, yielding, for example, NAPARI_APPLICATION, followed by the setting name, yielding, for example, NAPARI_APPLICATION_CONFIRM_CLOSE_WINDOW. (This specific setting controls whether napari will prompt you to confirm closing the application.) You can also find the environmentvariable names for each setting in the descriptions for each of the Preference sections above.

You can override settings for a single napari session by setting environment variables at launch:

On Mac and Linux:

NAPARI_APPLICATION_CONFIRM_CLOSE_WINDOW=False napari

On Windows:

set NAPARI_APPLICATION_CONFIRM_CLOSE_WINDOW=False && napari

Or programatically in a script/notebook:

import os
os.environ['NAPARI_APPLICATION_CONFIRM_CLOSE_WINDOW'] = 'False'

Or, depending on your shell, you can persist environment variables for a shell session using the export command (e.g. bash, zsh):

export NAPARI_APPLICATION_CONFIRM_CLOSE_WINDOW=False

Or, to persist between shell sessions, add the above command to your shell configuration file e.g ~/.bashrc or ~/.zshrc.