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 0x7fd505f66210: Ctrl+Shift+C>]
napari:toggle_ndisplay	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f662d0: Ctrl+Y>]
napari:toggle_theme	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f661b0: Ctrl+Shift+T>]
napari:reset_view	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66330: Ctrl+R>]
napari:delete_selected_layers	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f663f0: Ctrl+Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66450: Ctrl+Backspace>]
napari:show_shortcuts	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f664b0: Ctrl+Alt+/>]
napari:increment_dims_left	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66510: Left>]
napari:increment_dims_right	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66570: Right>]
napari:focus_axes_up	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f665d0: Alt+Up>]
napari:focus_axes_down	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66630: Alt+Down>]
napari:roll_axes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66690: Ctrl+E>]
napari:transpose_axes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f666f0: Ctrl+T>]
napari:rotate_layers	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66750: Ctrl+Alt+T>]
napari:toggle_grid	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f667b0: Ctrl+G>]
napari:toggle_selected_visibility	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66810: V>]
napari:toggle_unselected_visibility	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd5183d9250: Shift+V>]
napari:select_layer_above	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd5184be2a0: Ctrl+Up>]
napari:select_layer_below	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f662a0: Ctrl+Down>]
napari:show_only_layer_above	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66840: Shift+Alt+Up>]
napari:show_only_layer_below	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65fa0: Shift+Alt+Down>]
napari:hold_for_pan_zoom	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66000: Space>]
napari:activate_labels_erase_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65e80: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65ee0: E>]
napari:activate_labels_paint_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65d60: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65dc0: P>]
napari:activate_labels_polygon_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65c40: 3>]
napari:activate_labels_fill_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65ca0: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65b20: F>]
napari:activate_labels_picker_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65b80: 5>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65a00: L>]
napari:activate_labels_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65a60: 6>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f658e0: Z>]
napari:activate_labels_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65940: 7>]
napari:new_label	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f657c0: M>]
napari:swap_selected_and_background_labels	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65820: X>]
napari:decrease_label_id	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f656a0: ->]
napari:increase_label_id	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65700: =>]
napari:decrease_brush_size	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65580: [>]
napari:increase_brush_size	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f655e0: ]>]
napari:toggle_preserve_labels	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65400: B>]
napari:reset_polygon	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f654c0: Escape>]
napari:complete_polygon	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f652b0: Enter>]
napari:activate_points_add_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65370: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64c50: P>]
napari:activate_points_select_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65220: 3>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f650d0: S>]
napari:activate_points_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65130: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64fb0: Z>]
napari:activate_points_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f65010: 5>]
napari:select_all_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64e90: A>]
napari:select_append_all_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64ef0: Shift+A>]
napari:select_all_data	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64d70: Ctrl+A>]
napari:delete_selected_points	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64dd0: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64c80: Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64cb0: Backspace>]
napari:activate_add_rectangle_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64b00: R>]
napari:activate_add_ellipse_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64b60: E>]
napari:activate_add_line_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f649e0: L>]
napari:activate_add_path_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64a40: T>]
napari:activate_add_polyline_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f649b0: Shift+L>]
napari:activate_add_polygon_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64920: P>]
napari:activate_add_polygon_lasso_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f64500: Shift+P>]
napari:activate_direct_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f668a0: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66900: D>]
napari:activate_select_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66960: 5>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f669c0: S>]
napari:activate_shapes_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66a20: 6>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66a80: Z>]
napari:activate_shapes_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66ae0: 7>]
napari:activate_vertex_insert_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66b40: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66ba0: I>]
napari:activate_vertex_remove_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66c00: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66c60: X>]
napari:copy_selected_shapes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66cc0: Ctrl+C>]
napari:paste_shape	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66d20: Ctrl+V>]
napari:move_shapes_selection_to_front	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66d80: F>]
napari:move_shapes_selection_to_back	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66de0: B>]
napari:select_shapes_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66e40: A>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66ea0: Ctrl+A>]
napari:delete_selected_shapes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66f00: 3>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66f60: Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f66fc0: Backspace>]
napari:finish_drawing_shape	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67020: Enter>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67080: Escape>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_x	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f670e0: X>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_y	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67140: Y>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_z	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f671a0: Z>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_view_direction	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67200: O>]
napari:auto_contrast_once	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67260: C>]
napari:activate_image_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f672c0: 1>]
napari:activate_image_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67320: 2>]
napari:activate_vectors_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67380: 1>]
napari:activate_vectors_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67410: 2>]
napari:activate_tracks_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67470: 1>]
napari:activate_tracks_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f674d0: 2>]
napari:activate_surface_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67530: 1>]
napari:activate_surface_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fd505f67590: 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.