Settings and preferences getting reset on macOS restart

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Settings and preferences getting reset on macOS restart

Hello. I’m on macOS Monterey 12.1 on a MacBook Pro 16", 2021 model with Apple M1 Max, 64 GB.

I’m having a huge issue with all my preferences and settings getting completely reset on each macOS restart. It doesn’t happen every time, perhaps 50%. Not sure if it also helps but I also notice macOS re-opening a lot of windows I had open previously whenever things get reset. It has been happening ever since I purchased the MacBook. Upgrading to 12.1 has not fixed things. Here’s what’s getting reset:

Dark mode getting reset to light mode
Wallpaper resetting to the default Monterey one
Keyboard and mouse preferences reset to defaults

Even the setting to make keys repeat faster is reset:

defaults write -g ApplePressAndHoldEnabled -bool false

Many of the dotfiles in my home folder (/Home/users/USERNAME) also get reset and removed too. I have to then restore them from backups.

I have tried resetting the PRAM and SMC many times with no resolution.

Is there something wrong with my hardware or what I can do to fix this? Thanks for your assistance!

Posted on Jan 13, 2022 7:01 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Shannon_DN

Community Specialist

Jan 19, 2022 10:59 AM in response to helmite

Thanks for following up.

Next, let’s create another admin account on your computer. Restart and boot into that account and then set some of your settings. You don’t have to set everything, just a few that will let us know if this still happens. Once you have a few of the settings set, restart the computer again and then boot back into that new account.

Note: Do not download any apps or additional software on the new account. Also, do not change all the settings. Just some of the basics. Ex: Background. We want to test with the basic apps and basic settings.

You can learn how to make a new user account here: Create a user account in macOS Server - Apple Support

Let us know if it happens with the new account.

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Answer 2

Shannon_DN

Community Specialist

Jan 14, 2022 3:45 PM in response to helmite

Hey there, and welcome to Apple Support Communities, helmite!

From our understanding, your settings are getting reset when the computer shuts down. We can certainly understand your concern and can help provide some insight.

Since this is intermittent, do you notice anything similar about the times this happens? For example, does it happen when a certain app has been used?

Kindest regards!

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Answer 3

helmite Author

Level 1

15 points

Jan 18, 2022 6:48 PM in response to Shannon_DN

Hi following up on this, I still suspect something is wrong hardware-wise. The settings only get reset on restart, they don't get reset during normal operation. Everything is fine until I restart. Please advise, thanks.

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Answer 4

helmite Author

Level 1

15 points

Jan 17, 2022 9:57 AM in response to Shannon_DN

Hi so far there's nothing I can notice, it appears to be quite random and has been happening ever since I got the laptop (more than 3 months).

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Settings and preferences getting reset on macOS restart

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