Fix Discord Notification Settings Resetting After Reinstall on Same Device

When you reinstall Discord on the same computer, your custom notification settings for servers and direct messages may revert to default values. This happens because the uninstaller removes the local configuration files that store your preferences, even though you log into the same account. The server-side settings remain intact, but the client-side overrides get erased. This article explains why the reset occurs and provides a complete set of steps to back up and restore your notification settings so you do not have to reconfigure them manually after every reinstall.

Why Discord Resets Notification Settings After a Reinstall

Discord stores most user preferences in two places: on Discord’s servers and in local files on your computer. Server-wide settings such as muted servers, channel notification overrides, and per-server mute durations are saved to your account profile and survive a reinstall. However, client-side settings — including which servers you have set to “All Messages,” “Only @mentions,” or “Nothing” — are stored in a local file called settings.json located inside the Discord application data folder. When you uninstall Discord through the standard Windows uninstaller, this folder is deleted along with the application. The next time you install Discord and log in, the application creates a fresh settings.json with default notification rules, causing all your custom overrides to disappear.

Another factor is the way Discord handles per-channel notification overrides. If you have set a specific channel to suppress all notifications or to notify you of every message, that override is stored locally. The server’s default notification level remains unchanged, but your personal override is lost after a clean reinstall. This distinction between server-side defaults and client-side overrides is the root cause of the problem.

Steps to Back Up and Restore Discord Notification Settings

Follow these steps before uninstalling Discord to preserve your notification settings. If you have already reinstalled, skip to the restore steps in Method 2.

Method 1: Back Up Settings Before Uninstalling

1. Close Discord completely
   Right-click the Discord icon in the system tray and select Quit Discord. Verify that no Discord process remains in Task Manager.
2. Open the Discord data folder
   Press Windows key + R, type %appdata%, and press Enter. Locate the folder named discord. Do not open it yet.
3. Copy the discord folder to a safe location
   Right-click the discord folder and select Copy. Paste it to your Desktop, Documents, or an external drive. This folder contains settings.json and the Local Storage folder that holds per-server notification overrides.
4. Uninstall Discord normally
   Go to Settings > Apps > Apps & features, find Discord, and click Uninstall. Confirm the removal.

Method 2: Restore Settings After Reinstalling

1. Install Discord and log in
   Download the latest version from discord.com and install it. Log in with your credentials. Let the app create its default folders.
2. Close Discord again
   Quit Discord from the system tray to ensure no files are locked.
3. Navigate to the new discord folder
   Press Windows key + R, type %appdata%, and press Enter. Open the discord folder.
4. Replace the settings.json file
   From your backup folder, copy settings.json and paste it into the %appdata%\discord folder. Choose “Replace the file in the destination” when prompted.
5. Restore the Local Storage folder
   If you want to recover all per-server and per-channel notification overrides, delete the existing Local Storage folder inside %appdata%\discord and replace it with the one from your backup. This folder contains IndexedDB data that maps server IDs to your override settings.
6. Launch Discord and verify settings
   Open Discord. Go to a server that previously had custom notification settings and click the server name > Notification Settings. Confirm that your preferred level (All Messages, Only @mentions, or Nothing) is restored.

If Discord Still Resets Notification Settings After Restoring

Settings revert after every Discord update

Some Discord updates overwrite the settings.json file with a fresh default. To prevent this, set the file to read-only after restoring your settings. Right-click settings.json in the %appdata%\discord folder, select Properties, check the Read-only box, and click OK. Note that this may prevent some settings from being saved normally, so only use this method if you are willing to manually update the file when needed.

Server notification overrides are not in the backup

If you did not back up the entire discord folder before uninstalling, the Local Storage folder is lost. In that case, you must manually reconfigure each server. Open the server, click the server name at the top left, select Notification Settings, and choose your desired level. Repeat for every server where you want custom notifications.

Global notification defaults keep changing

Global notification settings for direct messages and friend requests are stored server-side. If these reset, check your account’s synchronization by logging in on a different device. If the settings are correct on another device but wrong on your reinstalled client, clear Discord’s cache by going to %appdata%\discord and deleting the Cache folder while Discord is closed. Then restart Discord.

Item	Stored Server-Side	Stored Locally
Server mute status	Yes	No
Channel notification override	No	Yes
Direct message notification sound	Yes	No
Per-server notification level (All Messages, Only @mentions, Nothing)	No	Yes
Suppress @everyone and @here	No	Yes

By backing up the settings.json and Local Storage folders before uninstalling, you can restore all notification overrides in under two minutes. If you already reinstalled without a backup, you will need to reconfigure each server manually — there is no way to recover deleted local data. To avoid this issue in the future, keep a copy of your Discord data folder in a safe location and update it after making significant notification changes. You can also use the Read-only flag on settings.json to prevent updates from overwriting your preferences.