Directly modify the settings files

Maya stores preferences files in the following path:

Windows

(Windows XP)
\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\maya\2012\en_US\prefs
(Windows XP 64bit)
\Documents and Settings\<username>\My Documents\maya\2012-x64\en_US\prefs
(Windows Vista and Windows 7)
\Users\<username>\Documents\maya\2012\en_US\prefs
(Windows Vista and Windows 7 64bit)
\Users\<username>\Documents\maya\2012-x64\en_US\prefs

Mac OS X

/Users/<username>/Library/Preferences/Autodesk/maya/en_US/2012/prefs

Linux (64-bit)

~<username>/maya/2012-x64/prefs

You can change the location of your preferences and other important Maya folders (projects, etc.) by using environment variables. See File path variables for details.

Most preferences are saved as text files of MEL commands.

Shelves are stored in the shelves subdirectory, icons are stored in the icons subdirectory, and marking menus are stored in the markingMenus subdirectory.

When you customize Maya, your new settings are stored in user preference files, so that each time you open Maya, your settings are used instead of the Maya default settings. If you delete a preference file, Maya uses the default settings.

Note

Maya does not detect if you are out of space if your disk overflows while Maya is saving preferences. If this occurs, your preferences may become corrupt or irretrievable. Ensure that your hard drive has space available to save your Maya preference files. If the disk runs out of space, free up some space before exiting the Maya application.

Color and hotkey files

The following .mel files store settings you have customized using the Colors window and Hotkey Editor.

userColors.mel – Contains preferences defined on the Active and Inactive tabs of the Colors window.
userRGBColors.mel – Contains preferences defined on the General tab of the Colors window.
paletteColors.mel – Defines the colors (RGB) making up the index palette in the Active and Inactive tabs of the Colors window.
userHotkeys.mel – Contains any hotkeys you have assigned in the Hotkey Editor window.
userNamedCommands.mel – Contains all the commands that have hotkeys assigned to them.

Default hotbox marking menus

The following files define the default Hotbox marking menus.

menu_ChangePanelLayout.mel – North
menu_ChangePanelType.mel – South
menu_ChangeSelectionMask.mel – West
menu_CommonModelingPanes.mel – Center
menu_ControlPaneVisibility.mel – East

User preferences

The following files define user preferences.

userPrefs.mel – Contains preferences defined in the Preferences window (Window > Settings/Preferences > Preferences).
windowPrefs.mel – Defines the default size and position of Maya windows.
Note
Maya will not read a previous version’s windowPrefs.mel file because some of the window sizes change between versions of Maya. If Maya recognized the old preferences, it could hide new functionality.