Alfred Preferences Not Saving or Syncing

How to fix it

// try these in order, the most common fix is first

1. FIX 1Move the sync folder

   Copy steps
   1. 01Move Alfred.alfredpreferences out of ~/Dropbox/Apps/ (for example to ~/Dropbox/Alfred/ or ~/Documents/Alfred/)
   2. 02Point Alfred's sync location (Advanced preferences) to the new folder
   3. 03Delete any Dropbox conflicted copies
   Did this fix it? Yes No

2. FIX 2Repair permissions

   Copy steps
   1. 01Quit Alfred
   2. 02In Terminal run chown, xattr -rc and chmod on ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred/ and ~/Library/Preferences/com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred* as shown in Alfred's help
   3. 03Relaunch, change a setting and restart to confirm
   Did this fix it? Yes No

3. FIX 3Reset Alfred to defaults

   Copy steps
   1. 01Quit Alfred and delete its plist files in ~/Library/Preferences, ~/Library/Caches/com.runningwithcrayons.Alfred/ and ~/Library/Application Support/Alfred/
   2. 02Reboot, relaunch and re-activate your Powerpack
   Did this fix it? Yes No

4. FIX 4Test a new macOS user

   Copy steps
   1. 01Create a new user in System Settings > Users & Groups
   2. 02If preferences save there, the issue is your original account
   Did this fix it? Yes No

Symptoms

Settings, hotkeys or workflows revert after restarting, preferences show an unable to save error, or synced settings don't match between Macs.

Why it happens

• C-01Alfred lacks write permission to its preference folders
• C-02Sync folder inside the Dropbox Apps folder
• C-03Dropbox conflict (duplicate) files in the sync folder
• C-04User account corruption

// this guide also covers

• alfred preferences not saving
• alfred settings reset after restart
• alfred sync dropbox not working
• alfred unable to save preferences

The same problem in other apps

All sync failures guides →

• Raycast iOS AI Chat Crashing or Not Syncing (Raycast)

Other Alfred errors

• Alfred Hotkey Not Working
• Alfred Not Finding Files
• Alfred Not Finding Apps
• Alfred Clipboard History Not Working
• Alfred Snippets Not Expanding
• Alfred Slow to Open or Lagging
• Alfred Workflows Not Working
• Alfred Powerpack Not Activating