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 0x7fa648c3f890: Ctrl+Shift+C>]
napari:toggle_ndisplay	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648c3d220: Ctrl+Y>]
napari:toggle_theme	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648c3c440: Ctrl+Shift+T>]
napari:reset_view	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648c3e900: Ctrl+R>]
napari:delete_selected_layers	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648c3ecf0: Ctrl+Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1a30: Ctrl+Backspace>]
napari:show_shortcuts	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1a00: Ctrl+Alt+/>]
napari:increment_dims_left	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1a90: Left>]
napari:increment_dims_right	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1af0: Right>]
napari:focus_axes_up	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1b80: Alt+Up>]
napari:focus_axes_down	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1be0: Alt+Down>]
napari:roll_axes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648c49490: Ctrl+E>]
napari:transpose_axes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648bf61b0: Ctrl+T>]
napari:rotate_layers	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648bf6510: Ctrl+Alt+T>]
napari:toggle_grid	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648c4e9f0: Ctrl+G>]
napari:toggle_selected_visibility	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648c3cce0: V>]
napari:toggle_unselected_visibility	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648c3cb60: Shift+V>]
napari:select_layer_above	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648c3f740: Ctrl+Up>]
napari:select_layer_below	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648c3c2f0: Ctrl+Down>]
napari:show_only_layer_above	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1910: Shift+Alt+Up>]
napari:show_only_layer_below	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1970: Shift+Alt+Down>]
napari:hold_for_pan_zoom	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae17f0: Space>]
napari:activate_labels_erase_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1850: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae16d0: E>]
napari:activate_labels_paint_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1730: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae15b0: P>]
napari:activate_labels_polygon_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1610: 3>]
napari:activate_labels_fill_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1490: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae14f0: F>]
napari:activate_labels_picker_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1370: 5>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae13d0: L>]
napari:activate_labels_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1250: 6>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae12b0: Z>]
napari:activate_labels_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1130: 7>]
napari:new_label	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1190: M>]
napari:swap_selected_and_background_labels	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1010: X>]
napari:decrease_label_id	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1070: ->]
napari:increase_label_id	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0ef0: =>]
napari:decrease_brush_size	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0f50: [>]
napari:increase_brush_size	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0d70: ]>]
napari:toggle_preserve_labels	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0e30: B>]
napari:reset_polygon	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0c20: Escape>]
napari:complete_polygon	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0ce0: Enter>]
napari:activate_points_add_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0590: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0b90: P>]
napari:activate_points_select_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0a40: 3>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0aa0: S>]
napari:activate_points_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0920: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0980: Z>]
napari:activate_points_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0800: 5>]
napari:select_all_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0860: A>]
napari:select_append_all_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae06b0: Shift+A>]
napari:select_all_data	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0710: Ctrl+A>]
napari:delete_selected_points	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae05c0: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae05f0: Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae0440: Backspace>]
napari:activate_add_rectangle_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae04a0: R>]
napari:activate_add_ellipse_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae03b0: E>]
napari:activate_add_line_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1c70: L>]
napari:activate_add_path_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1cd0: T>]
napari:activate_add_polyline_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1d30: Shift+L>]
napari:activate_add_polygon_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1d90: P>]
napari:activate_add_polygon_lasso_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1df0: Shift+P>]
napari:activate_direct_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1e50: 4>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1eb0: D>]
napari:activate_select_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1f10: 5>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1f70: S>]
napari:activate_shapes_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae1fd0: 6>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2030: Z>]
napari:activate_shapes_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2090: 7>]
napari:activate_vertex_insert_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae20f0: 2>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2150: I>]
napari:activate_vertex_remove_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae21b0: 1>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2210: X>]
napari:copy_selected_shapes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2270: Ctrl+C>]
napari:paste_shape	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae22d0: Ctrl+V>]
napari:move_shapes_selection_to_front	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2330: F>]
napari:move_shapes_selection_to_back	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2390: B>]
napari:select_shapes_in_slice	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae23f0: A>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2450: Ctrl+A>]
napari:delete_selected_shapes	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae24b0: 3>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2510: Delete>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2570: Backspace>]
napari:finish_drawing_shape	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae25d0: Enter>, <KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2630: Escape>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_x	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2690: X>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_y	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae26f0: Y>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_z	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2750: Z>]
napari:orient_plane_normal_along_view_direction	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae27b0: O>]
napari:auto_contrast_once	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2810: C>]
napari:activate_image_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2870: 1>]
napari:activate_image_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae28d0: 2>]
napari:activate_vectors_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2930: 1>]
napari:activate_vectors_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2990: 2>]
napari:activate_tracks_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae29f0: 1>]
napari:activate_tracks_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2a50: 2>]
napari:activate_surface_pan_zoom_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2ab0: 1>]
napari:activate_surface_transform_mode	[<KeyBinding at 0x7fa648ae2b10: 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.