Settings reverting

[Lance]

I tried seting my clipboard timeout to 90 and 120 but after awhile it gets reset to 30 which is default. I also set intergration settings such as "drop to background after autotype" and this gets reset back to default. Is anyone else having the same issue?

[wellread1]

Currently, do any changes to settings stick after you exit KeePass and restart it?

Settings can revert when certain conditions occur:

• When KeePass can't write to the location the contains the active keepass.config.xml file. Check that the date modified time stamp on the active keepass.config.xml file updates every time KeePass exits normally.
  • The default location of keepass.config.xml for the installed version of KeePass is %APPDATA%\KeePass Note: If there is a small keepass.config.xml file in the KeePass application directory it may not be the active config file.
  • The default location of keepass.config.xml file for the portable version of KeePass is the KeePass application directory. Check that, without elevating privileges, you can write to the location that contains the active keepass.config.xml file. For example, KeePass can't write to protected Windows program folders.
  • It is possible to configure an alternate keepass.config.xml location using the -cfg-local: command line switch. If you use this command line switch, make sure that KeePass is always started using this switch and that the target folder is accessible and writable, and that there are no syntax errors in the path that would prevent the switch from working.
• When KeePass can't read the active keepass.config.xml. This could happen if there are connectivity issues at the location that contains the active keepass.config.xml.

[Lance]

My keepass.config.xml is located in ProgramFiles(x86). I can write there but get the windows security shield icon when I do that.
The date on my xml file is 2 years old.
I don't think I have the portable version so I'm not sure why it is installed in the program directory instead of AppData.
Do you suggest that I uninstall and reinstall the windows version again?

[Lance]

I uninstalled it and trying to install it again and by default the path is C:\Program Files (x86)\KeePass Password Safe 2. I did see there is another xml file in AppData/Roaming and I made a setting change and it saved to that xml file. I will see if the setting persists.

[wellread1]

Uninstalling KeePass is not usually a solution. Mostly that action will confuse the situation.

If you used the KeePass installer then the keepass.config.xml file in the KeeProgram directory is probably not your active config file. More likely that file directs KeePass to prefer a local configuration file. The local configuration file is usually in the AppData folder.

The AppData folder is normally a hidden directory. An easy way to access the KeePass AppData folder is to paste the string %APPDATA%\KeePass into the address bar of File Explorer.

Alternatively, you can unhide the hidden folders by clearing the "Hidden Items" checkbox in the "Show/hide" section of the View ribbon in File Manager. You may need to close and restart File Manager after unchecking the "Hidden items" box. The AppData folder path is C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\KeePass.

[wellread1]

I made a setting change and it saved to that xml file. I will see if the setting persists.

Good. If the setting change persists after a KeePass restart it should be permanent.

[Erik W Warren]

Similar problem for me
Each time I open keepass it does not use the settings saved in %APPDATA%\KeePass
It must use some default settings. It never remembers the database file and the recent files list is blank. I update the settings and save them and I can see the updated KeePass.config.xml file which seems to have everything in it that I updated.
However when I open keypass the next time it reverts to the default settings and remembers nothing.
The KeePass.config.xml file with all my settings is 6KB.
If I open KeePass and close it again without updating any settings the KeePass.config.xml file is 4KB.
Why won't KeePass use the xml file I have saved?
Why does it always use some default settings every time it opens?

[wellread1]

Do you have an enforced configuration file keepass.config.enforced.xml located in the KeePass application directory? If so rename it. The run KeePass and see if settings stick.

[Erik W Warren]

Looking at installation directory, there is no KeePass.config.enforced.xml located there.
There is however a KeePass.config.xml which appears to be what KeePass is using every time it opens. It appears to be identical to the xml file that gets stored in %APPDATA%\KeePass if I open KeePass and then close it again without saving any settings.

[wellread1]

• What directory is KeePass installed in?
• Is <PreferUserConfiguration> true or false in the keepass.config.xml file that is located in the KeePass installation directory?
• Does the modification date of the keepass.config.xml file in the KeePass installation directory update when you exit KeePass?

[Paul]

The KeePass.config.xml in the KeePass application directory is used to determine whether to use a local config file. It should only have the following lines.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Configuration xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <Meta>
        <PreferUserConfiguration>true</PreferUserConfiguration>
    </Meta>
</Configuration>

If you have anything else then those setting may override local settings.

cheers, Paul

[Erik W Warren]

Thank you wellread1 and Paul,
Problem is resolved now.
PreferUserConfiguration wes set to false.
Cut down my KeePass.config.xml in the KeePass application directory exactly as Paul suggested and that resolves it.

Thanks,
Erik W