Types of preferences saved

Preferences saved include:

• shelves - stored in the shelves subdirectory
• icons - stored in the icons subdirectory
• marking menus - stored in the markingMenus subdirectory
• color settings - saved in .mel files
• hotkey settings - saved in .mel files
• user preferences - saved in .mel files.

  This includes size and position of windows, and any items defined in the Preferences window.

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 windows.
  Note:

  Maya will not read a previous version’s windowPrefs.mel file because (for example) some of the window sizes change between versions. If Maya recognized the old preferences, it can hide new functionality.

Related topics

• Customize the location of your preferences folder