Published: August 7, 2026
Last updated: August 7, 2026
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Overview

User defaults cover profile and account preferences — theme, preview behavior, sidebar layout, file viewer options, upload settings — plus global permissions (admin, api, share, realtime) for new users. File-operation permissions (view, download, modify, create, delete) are not part of user defaults in v2.0.0; configure those per source in Settings → Access management or source config. See User permissions.

If any user default value is set in the config, it will be locked out from the UI. If you want to adjust them in the UI, you can remove them from the config file and edit them in the UI.

Config file vs editable via web page

On first startup, userDefaults in config.yaml seeds database. Only fields you explicitly set in config remain locked in Settings → User management → User defaults (shown as config-locked). After initial launch and the settings will be saved in the UI and you can safely remove them from the config and adjust them freely in the UI.

YAML 
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userDefaults:
  darkMode: true
  locale: "en"
  stickySidebar: true
  permissions:
    admin: false
    api: false
    share: false
    realtime: false
  preview:
    image: true
    video: true
  fileLoading:
    maxConcurrentUpload: 10

For the full YAML shape, see User management — User defaults.

Opening the User defaults editor

  1. Log in as admin
  2. Open Settings → User Management
  3. Click User defaults

The editor mirrors the profile settings users see under Settings → Profile, grouped by category (listing, preview, sidebar, file viewer, uploads, account, and so on). Admins edit the template values that apply to new users and can toggle enforce on individual fields.

Enforced user defaults

When an admin enables enforce on a user default field:

  • All non-admin users are updated.
  • Non-admin users see enforced fields as locked in their Profile with an “enforced by admin” indicator.
  • Admin users are exempt — for themselves and other admin users.