Need to restore MuseScore 3.6.2 preferences

• Jan 25, 2023 - 03:24

I need to restore MuseScore 3.6.2 preferences—I was distracted with a client while trying to restart the audio engine, and instead of pressing Restart Audio and MIDI Devices I mistakenly pressed Reset All Preferences to Default.

Therefore I'd like to know:

• Where DOES MuseScore 3.6.2 store preferences (plist?) on MacOS Ventura 13.1?

• To restore my full configuration will I need to restore a single prefs file and/or a folder of items?

• I had several custom palettes. Will restoring the3.6.2 preferences reload them.

And I have a recommendation/request:

When the user presses the Reset All button it would be great if MuseScore posted an alert asking, "Do you really want to revert all preferences to the default values?"

Had I seen such a warning I wouldn't have made this mistake!

Thanks!!

scorster


Comments

There is "import" and "export" for shortcuts but not for other preferences. Maybe the preferences should be part of the workspace.
- Changing workspaces would allow changing preferences.
- The default workspace would have the default preferences. (Reset might not be necessary.)
- One could examine the defaults without losing one's preferences.

I would still keep the shortcuts in a separate file and let the workspace include the name of the shortcuts file.

In reply to by Aaron Grosky

Thanks ... but not sure I follow.

Background regarding my configuration: I had multiple workspaces. I changed a few keystrokes. I had designed several palettes (and exported them to be safe in situations like this. It appears all of that was reset due to pressing the Reset All Preferences to Default.

My inquiry was to see if I could resurrect my MuseScore 3.6.2 preferences (including resources and settings mentioned) by restoring some files/folders from a backup disk. To do so I need to know what items need restoring, and the directory path to them.

Using MacOS Ventura 13.1 and Apple Time Machine backup.

In reply to by scorster

I was not perfectly clear. I don't have a solution to your problem.

What I suggested is a design change that would prevent your problem by eliminating the "return to factory settings" button. The factory settings would always be available in a workspace with the default settings (better than my original suggestion - having the factory settings in the default workspace - would be to have a "factory settings" workspace that cannot be changed). This design would also provide the ability to have workspaces with different defaults.

In reply to by Jojo-Schmitz

Thanks Jojo. Surgery complete. And all is well!

Amazingly, and with very little effort, it appears everything including workspaces, palettes, and the "recently opened" list are restored ... and surely some not-so-obvious prefs and shortcuts too.

Here are the steps I took to restore the MuseScore 3 plist on MacOS Ventura from a TimeMachine backup:

• Quit MuseScore (just to be safe)

Locate and select MuseScore's plist preference file

• Finder>Go>Go to folder
• Then enter:
~/Library/Preferences/org.musescore.MuseScore3.plist
• Double-click the document that ends with MuseScore3.plist (in the short list of provided documents)

That opens the User library and reveals the MuseScore3.plist pre-selected

Final steps (from a TimeMachine restore) were to:

• Connect my TimeMachine drive
• From the TimeMachine menu choose Browse TimeMachine history
• Select an earlier version of the plist (I went chose one from three days before my accidental pref reset)
• Press the Restore button
• When prompted, choose the option to Replace the plist file.

That's it. Works beautifully.

Thanks for your advice on this Jojo!

scorster

In reply to by scorster

scorster wrote > I have a recommendation/request:

When the user presses the Reset to All Preferences to Default button I recommend that MuseScore post an alert asking, "Do you really want to revert all preferences to the default values?"
*Had I seen such a warning I wouldn't have made this mistake!

Interestingly, MuseScore's Help>Revert command affords a warning.

But as mentioned, MuseScore offers no such alert when the user clicks MuseScore>Preferences>Reset to All Preferences to Default button ... AND that button appears at the bottom of every Preferences page.

In reply to by scorster

Hi Scorster. I tried, well, closely similar steps, and restored both org.musescore.musescore3.plist and ~/library/application support/musescore/musescore 3 (full folder) from last night, when I still had all my custom palettes, etc. But when I relaunched MS, none of my palettes or other customizations of my workspace were there.

Let me check what I did against what you wrote, since I said that I tried closely similar rather than identical steps. Maybe you can spot why it worked for you and not for me.

I have my system set to allow me to go straight to the library without needing to type in a path. I highlighted the plist, entered Time Machine, and restored/overwrote today's plist with yesterday's. I did the same with the subfolders within ~/Library/Application Support.

When you say above "Double-click the document that ends with MuseScore3.plist…", did you mean simply to highlight it? When I double clicked on the plist, I got a system message: "There is no application set to open the document “org.musescore.MuseScore3.plist”" and the option to go to the app store, choose application or cancel. I cancelled out of it.

Your thoughts?

Thanks.

Richard

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