Our preference data is composed of a set of name->value pairs. The setting names are often "namespaced" with dot ('.') separated words. Many JOSM plugins will store preferences grouped in a namespace.

You can get a similar raw view by viewing this file, but this 'Advanced' preferences panel is intended to provide a easier alternative.

Menus

Most of the settings can be reached via menus

• Help/Action/Preferences (see also Help/Keys by menu)

Other preferences

• Help/JOSM interface customization
• Help/Preferences/Advanced

preferences.xml

Schema

​http://josm.openstreetmap.de/preferences-1.0

Some descriptions can be found in Help/Preferences/ImportExport (stub)

Default location

(expand)

Windows

In short, try opening Explorer window and paste following text in location, then hit enter: %APPDATA%\JOSM.

Resources:

• ​https://blogs.msdn.microsoft.com/patricka/2010/03/18/where-should-i-store-my-data-and-configuration-files-if-i-target-multiple-os-versions/
• ​getAllPossiblePreferenceDirs() in JOSM

Linux

hidden system folder ~/.josm

MacOS

hidden system folder ~/.josm

Auto save subfolder

Utilized by autosave function.

See also

• Help/ResetPreferences - there many ways to reset preferences
• Help/Action/AutoSave feature
• Help/CommandLineOptions - how to change/load custom settings via command line