---
title: "Using Application Settings and User Settings"
ms.date: "03/30/2017"
description: Learn how to use application settings and user settings to create and access values that are persisted between application execution sessions.
helpviewer_keywords: 
  - "user settings [Windows Forms]"
  - "application settings [Windows Forms], how-to topics"
ms.assetid: 54682d3b-1cbf-4683-9351-012b8b4286b5
---
# Using Application Settings and User Settings
Starting with the .NET Framework 2.0, you can create and access values that are persisted between application execution sessions. These values are called *settings*. Settings can represent user preferences, or valuable information the application needs to use. For example, you might create a series of settings that store user preferences for the color scheme of an application. Or you might store the connection string that specifies a database that your application uses. Settings allow you to both persist information that is critical to the application outside the code, and to create profiles that store the preferences of individual users.  
  
 The topics in this section describe how to use settings at design time and run time.  
  
## In This Section  
 [How To: Create a New Setting at Design Time](how-to-create-a-new-setting-at-design-time.md)  
  
 Explains how to use Visual Studio to create a new setting for an application.  
  
 [How To: Change the Value of an Existing Setting at Design Time](how-to-change-the-value-of-an-existing-setting-at-design-time.md)  
  
 Describes how to use Visual Studio to change the value of an existing setting.  
  
 [How To: Change the Value of a Setting Between Application Sessions](how-to-change-the-value-of-a-setting-between-application-sessions.md)  
  
 Details how to change the value of a setting in a compiled application between application sessions.  
  
 [How To: Read Settings at Run Time With C#](how-to-read-settings-at-run-time-with-csharp.md)  
  
 Describes how to use code to read settings with C#.  
  
 [How To: Write User Settings at Run Time with C#](how-to-write-user-settings-at-run-time-with-csharp.md)  
  
 Explains how to use code to write and save the values of user settings with C#.  
  
 [How To: Add Multiple Sets of Settings To Your Application in C#](how-to-add-multiple-sets-of-settings-to-your-application-in-csharp.md)  
  
 Details how to add multiple sets of settings to an application with C#.  
  
## See also

- [Application Settings for Windows Forms](application-settings-for-windows-forms.md)
