Where does Prism store its preferences file? How can I delete it or move it?

What does the preference file contain?

Prism Windows uses a single preferences file to store:

• The options you set in the preferences dialog

• Color schemes you create

• The list of recently used files

• The list of user-defined equations (which are also stored within every file that uses them)

• Defaults you set in various dialogs that have a checkbox to make these choices the default

• Autocomplete choices

Prism Mac uses one file to store preferences, another for the list of recently used files, another for color schemes, and another for autocomplete items.

Why delete the preference file?

You might want to delete this file (or files) if a new user is taking over a computer, and wants to begin anew. Also, on very rare occasions, Prism is unable to open the preferences file and thus is unable to start.

Quit (exit) Prism before you delete the file. 

Deleting the file is no problem, once you find it. The location and name vary with Prism version and OS or Windows version.

You might rename the file rather than remove it. Once the name is changed Prism won't find it, so will create a new preferences file. If that doesn't solve the problem, you can delete the newly created file and then rename the old file back to its original name.

You can also move this file to a new computer before running Prism the first time (or overwrite an existing file).

If Prism can't find a preference file for the version of Prism that is running, Prism will try to import preferences from prior versions. So if you want to start fresh with no saved preferences, delete all the preference files you can find.

Now when you restart Prism, it will create a new preference file. 

Location of the file for Prism Windows

The file is named PRISM6.CFG or PRISM7.CFG or PRISM8.CFG or PRISM9.CFG, Its location depends on which version of Windows you use. Note below that [system disk] is usually C: and [user] is the name of the user account:

For recent versions of Windows, you'll find the preference file in this location:

[system disk]:\Users\[user]\AppData\Roaming\GraphPad Software\Prism\9.0       (or \8.0 or \7.0 or \6.0)

With Windows XP, the location is:

[system disk]:\Documents and Settings\[user] \Application data\GraphPad Software\Prism\7.0    (or \6.0 or \5.0)

There may be cases in which the "AppData" folder is hidden. To display this folder, follow the tips from this link.

Location of the file for Prism Mac

The preference file is called com.GraphPad.Prism.plist and it is located in:
      ~/Library/Preferences

Note that there are at least two Library folders on your Mac. One is at the top level of the folder tree. This is not the location of the preferences file. The other Library folder is in the Users folder, in the folder with the user's (your) name. We show that above as "~/Library". If multiple users log on to the computer, each will have his or her own Library folder, and a Prism preference file will exist for each user that uses Prism. 

Deleting this file is tricky because the folder it resides in is usually invisible. 

The simplest method to view that folder in Finder is to drop the Go menu in Finder, and choose "Go to Folder...". Then enter:   ~/Library/Preferences/com.GraphPad.Prism.plist 

An alternative method is to view invisible files, and then navigate to the ~/Library/Preferences folder. 

Drag com.GraphPad.Prism.plist to the trash, and then restart the computer (reboot).  Really! OSX 10.9 and later will not notice that the file is missing until the computer is restarted. 

If you are a Mac geek familiar with Terminal, you can skip the steps above and delete the preference file using this single command:  

defaults delete com.GraphPad.Prism

Other Prism Mac configuration files

Mac Prism 7, 8 and 9 store the list of recently used files in:
~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.ApplicationRecentDocuments/com.graphpad.prism.sfl2

Mac Prism 7, 8 and 9 store the list of autocomplete suggestions in:
~/Library/Preferences/com.GraphPad.Prism.autocomplete.plist

Mac Prism 7, 8 and 9 store user-defined color schemes inside the folder
~/Library/Application Support/GraphPad/Prism/Common/ColorSchemes

Mac Prism 5 and 6 store the list of recently used files in:
     ~/Library/Preferences/com.GraphPad.Prism.LSSharedFileList.plist

Mac Prism 5 and 6 store the list of autocomplete suggestions in:
    ~/Library/Preferences/com.GraphPad.Prism.autocomplete.plist

Mac Prism 5 stores user-defined color schemes in the folder
     ~/Library/Preferences/com.GraphPad.Prism.colorSchemes

Mac Prism 6 stores user-defined color schemes inside the folder
     ~/Library/Application Support/GraphPad/Prism

About older versions:

Prism 4 Windows

The file is called Prism4.cfg and it is located in:

• Windows 98: In the windows folder

• Windows NT: In the winnt folder.

• Win 2000 or XP:
  [system disk]:\Documents and Settings\[user] \Application data\GraphPad Software\Prism\4.0

Prism 3 Windows

The file is called Prism3.cnf, but since some versions of Windows refuse to show the ".cnf" extension, it usually appears as the Prism 3 "speed dial" file.

• Windows 95/98: In the windows folder

• Windows NT : In the winnt folder.

• Windows 2000 or XP:
  [system disk]:\Documents and Settings\[user]\Application data\Prism

Prism Mac 3 or 4

The file is named "Prism4 Preferences" or "Prism3 Preferences". It's location depends on your Mac OS:

• Mac OS 8, 9: In the Preferences folder within the System folder

• Mac OS X: ~[local user]:Library:Preferences