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 0x7f48acf31d90: Ctrl+Shift+C>]
napari:toggle_ndisplay	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acf329f0: Ctrl+Y>]
napari:toggle_theme	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acf31220: Ctrl+Shift+T>]
napari:reset_view	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acf33350: Ctrl+R>]
napari:delete_selected_layers	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acf321b0: Ctrl+Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acde7980: Ctrl+Backspace>]
napari:show_shortcuts	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acde7c50: Ctrl+Alt+/>]
napari:increment_dims_left	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acde6e40: Left>]
napari:increment_dims_right	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0f50: Right>]
napari:focus_axes_up	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1100: Alt+Up>]
napari:focus_axes_down	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0f80: Alt+Down>]
napari:roll_axes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1040: Ctrl+E>]
napari:transpose_axes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf10a0: Ctrl+T>]
napari:rotate_layers	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1130: Ctrl+Alt+T>]
napari:toggle_grid	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1190: Ctrl+G>]
napari:toggle_selected_visibility	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf11f0: V>]
napari:toggle_unselected_visibility	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1250: Shift+V>]
napari:select_layer_above	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf12b0: Ctrl+Up>]
napari:select_layer_below	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1310: Ctrl+Down>]
napari:show_only_layer_above	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1370: Shift+Alt+Up>]
napari:show_only_layer_below	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf13d0: Shift+Alt+Down>]
napari:hold_for_pan_zoom	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1430: Space>]
napari:activate_labels_erase_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1490: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf14f0: E>]
napari:activate_labels_paint_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1550: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf15b0: P>]
napari:activate_labels_polygon_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1610: 3>]
napari:activate_labels_fill_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1670: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf16d0: F>]
napari:activate_labels_picker_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1730: 5>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1790: L>]
napari:activate_labels_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf17f0: 6>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1850: Z>]
napari:activate_labels_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf18b0: 7>]
napari:new_label	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acde7b60: M>]
napari:swap_selected_and_background_labels	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdee5d0: X>]
napari:decrease_label_id	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdee270: ->]
napari:increase_label_id	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdee150: =>]
napari:decrease_brush_size	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdee1b0: [>]
napari:increase_brush_size	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdee030: ]>]
napari:toggle_preserve_labels	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdee090: B>]
napari:reset_polygon	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdedf10: Escape>]
napari:complete_polygon	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdedf70: Enter>]
napari:activate_points_add_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdedd90: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdede50: P>]
napari:activate_points_select_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdedc40: 3>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdedd00: S>]
napari:activate_points_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded4f0: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdedbb0: Z>]
napari:activate_points_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdeda60: 5>]
napari:select_all_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdedac0: A>]
napari:select_append_all_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded940: Shift+A>]
napari:select_all_data	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded9a0: Ctrl+A>]
napari:delete_selected_points	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded820: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded880: Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded730: Backspace>]
napari:activate_add_rectangle_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded790: R>]
napari:activate_add_ellipse_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded6a0: E>]
napari:activate_add_line_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded6d0: L>]
napari:activate_add_path_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded5e0: T>]
napari:activate_add_polyline_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acded1f0: Shift+L>]
napari:activate_add_polygon_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acd3d7c0: P>]
napari:activate_add_polygon_lasso_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acd3ff50: Shift+P>]
napari:activate_direct_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acd3e570: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acd3ed50: D>]
napari:activate_select_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acf32420: 5>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acf33830: S>]
napari:activate_shapes_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acf309b0: 6>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acf33b60: Z>]
napari:activate_shapes_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acf18830: 7>]
napari:activate_vertex_insert_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0dd0: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0e30: I>]
napari:activate_vertex_remove_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0cb0: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0d10: X>]
napari:copy_selected_shapes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0b90: Ctrl+C>]
napari:paste_shape	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0bf0: Ctrl+V>]
napari:move_shapes_selection_to_front	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0a70: F>]
napari:move_shapes_selection_to_back	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0ad0: B>]
napari:select_shapes_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0950: A>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf09b0: Ctrl+A>]
napari:delete_selected_shapes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0830: 3>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf0890: Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1910: Backspace>]
napari:finish_drawing_shape	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1970: Enter>, <KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf19d0: Escape>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_x	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1a30: X>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_y	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1a90: Y>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_z	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1af0: Z>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_view_direction	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1b50: O>]
napari:auto_contrast_once	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1bb0: C>]
napari:activate_image_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1c10: 1>]
napari:activate_image_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1c70: 2>]
napari:activate_vectors_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1cd0: 1>]
napari:activate_vectors_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1d30: 2>]
napari:activate_tracks_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1d90: 1>]
napari:activate_tracks_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1df0: 2>]
napari:activate_surface_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1e50: 1>]
napari:activate_surface_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7f48acdf1eb0: 2>]

Advanced Settings#

Advanced settings.

advanced

Experimental Settings#

Experimental settings.

experimental

More details on the individual Experimental settings

Render Layers Asynchronously

When enabled, layers are loaded in a background thread, improving responsiveness, especially for remote and multiscale data.

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.

Based on the attributes of the currently selected layers, 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 polygon or 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.