Default Interface Settings

Overview

Every account has its own Settings > Interface page, and out of the box everyone starts on the values Open WebUI ships with. Default Interface Settings let an administrator choose those starting values for the whole instance, so a new account opens on the interface you want rather than the stock one.

They are starting values. Anyone can still change any of them for themselves.

You can configure them in two ways:

1. Admin Panel (recommended for quick edits and experimentation)
2. Environment variable (DEFAULT_INTERFACE_SETTINGS) (recommended for automated / GitOps-style deployments)

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How a value is decided

1. If the person has set that option themselves, their value is used.
2. Otherwise your instance default is used.
3. If you have set no default for it, the built-in value is used.

An on/off option someone has never touched shows a small Default label beside its switch in Settings > Interface. The options that are not switches carry no label, but they inherit the same way.

Untouched options keep tracking your default, so changing a default later moves everyone who has not overridden that option.

Matching the default releases the option

Moving a control to whatever your default currently is releases the override: the Default label comes back and the option follows your defaults again. That is how someone undoes a choice they made earlier.

Releasing happens when that person saves their settings, and it compares against your defaults as they stand at that moment. So setting a default to the value someone had already chosen for themselves does not release their override on its own: their choice stays pinned, and your next change still will not reach them. It is released the next time they save anything on the Interface page, at which point every option of theirs that matches your current defaults is released together, not only the one they just changed.

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Configuring the defaults

Option 1: Using the Admin Panel

1. Log in to your Open WebUI instance as an administrator.
2. Navigate to Settings → Admin → General.
3. Locate the UI section and click Configure next to Default Interface Settings.
4. Set the options you want. The list is the same one users see in Settings > Interface.
5. Click Save at the bottom of the page.

A line above the list counts how many settings you have configured. Every control you touch joins that set, including one you move and then move straight back, so use Clear to empty the set and put everything back on the built-in values.

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Option 2: Using environment variables (DEFAULT_INTERFACE_SETTINGS)

For automated deployments, configure the defaults using the DEFAULT_INTERFACE_SETTINGS environment variable. The value must be a JSON string representing a JSON object, keyed by the setting names in the table below.

Environment variable:

• DEFAULT_INTERFACE_SETTINGS
  • Type: string (containing a JSON object)
  • Default: {}
  • Description: The starting values every account uses for the options in Settings > Interface

Example (Docker Compose)

services:
  open-webui:
    image: ghcr.io/open-webui/open-webui:main
    environment:
      - 'DEFAULT_INTERFACE_SETTINGS={"chatBubble":false,"widescreenMode":true,"chatHoverPreview":false,"title":{"auto":false}}'

If the value is not valid JSON, or parses to something that is not an object, it is ignored and no defaults are applied.

Reach beyond the Interface page

The defaults apply to a person's whole settings record, which is wider than the Interface page. The environment variable therefore accepts keys written by the other personal settings pages as well, such as system (a personal system prompt), params (personal advanced parameters), notificationSound and keyboardShortcuts, even though the Admin Panel editor only offers the interface controls. They inherit and release just like the keys in the table.

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Setting keys

Every option on the Settings > Interface page, in the order it appears there, with the name to use in DEFAULT_INTERFACE_SETTINGS and the value Open WebUI uses when you set no default.

UI

Key	Label in Settings > Interface	Built-in default
textScale	UI Scale	null (shown as Default), otherwise a number from 1 to 1.5
highContrastMode	High Contrast Mode	false
showChatTitleInTab	Display Chat Title in Tab	true
userLocation	Allow User Location	false
hapticFeedback	Haptic Feedback (Android)	false
copyFormatted	Copy Formatted Text	false
showUpdateToast	Toast Notifications for New Updates	true
showChangelog	Show "What's New" Modal on Login	true

textScale is the UI Scale slider and highContrastMode is High Contrast Mode.

Chat

Key	Label in Settings > Interface	Built-in default
enableMessageQueue	Enable Message Queue	true
chatDirection	Chat Direction	"auto", or "LTR" / "RTL"
landingPageMode	Landing Page Mode	"" (shown as Default), or "chat"
backgroundImageUrl	Chat Background Image	null
chatBubble	Chat Bubble UI	true
showUsername	Display the Username Instead of You in the Chat	false
widescreenMode	Widescreen Mode	false
temporaryChatByDefault	Temporary Chat by Default	false
chatFadeStreamingText	Fade Effect for Streaming Text	true
renderMarkdownInUserMessages	Render Markdown in User Messages	true
renderMarkdownInAssistantMessages	Render Markdown in Assistant Messages	true
renderMarkdownInPreviews	Render Markdown in Previews	true
title.auto	Title Auto-Generation	true
autoFollowUps	Follow-Up Auto-Generation	true
autoTags	Chat Tags Auto-Generation	true
responseAutoCopy	Auto-Copy Response to Clipboard	false
scrollOnResponseGeneration	Response Auto-Scroll	true
scrollOnBranchChange	Scroll On Branch Change	true
insertSuggestionPrompt	Insert Suggestion Prompt to Input	false
keepFollowUpPrompts	Keep Follow-Up Prompts in Chat	false
insertFollowUpPrompt	Insert Follow-Up Prompt to Input	false
regenerateMenu	Regenerate Menu	true
collapseCodeBlocks	Always Collapse Code Blocks	false
expandDetails	Always Expand Details	false
chatHoverPreview	Chat Hover Previews	true
displayMultiModelResponsesInTabs	Display Multi-model Responses in Tabs	false
showFilesOnTerminalSelect	Show Files on Terminal Select	true
terminalFileDisplay	Terminal File Display	sidebar
stylizedPdfExport	Stylized PDF Export	true
showFloatingActionButtons	Floating Quick Actions	true
floatingActionButtons	Floating Quick Actions > Manage	null
webSearch	Web Search in Chat	null (shown as Default), or "always"

title.auto is nested, so in the environment variable it is written {"title": {"auto": false}}.

Input

Key	Label in Settings > Interface	Built-in default
ctrlEnterToSend	Enter Key Behavior	false (Enter to Send); true is Ctrl+Enter to Send
richTextInput	Rich Text Input for Chat	true
promptAutocomplete	Prompt Autocompletion	false
showFormattingToolbar	Show Formatting Toolbar	false
insertPromptAsRichText	Insert Prompt as Rich Text	false
largeTextAsFile	Paste Large Text as File	false

Artifacts

Key	Label in Settings > Interface	Built-in default
detectArtifacts	Detect Artifacts Automatically	true
iframeSandboxAllowScripts	iframe Sandbox Allow Scripts	true
iframeSandboxAllowSameOrigin	iframe Sandbox Allow Same Origin	false
terminalPreviewAllowSameOrigin	Terminal Preview Allow Same Origin	false
iframeSandboxAllowForms	iframe Sandbox Allow Forms	true
iframeSandboxAllowDownloads	iframe Sandbox Allow Downloads	true

Voice

Key	Label in Settings > Interface	Built-in default
voiceInterruption	Allow Voice Interruption in Call	false
showEmojiInCall	Display Emoji in Call	false

File

Key	Label in Settings > Interface	Built-in default
defaultUploadContext	Default Upload Mode	"focused" (Using Focused Retrieval); "full" is Using Entire Document
imageCompression	Image Compression	false
imageCompressionSize	Image Compression > Manage	{"width": "", "height": ""}
imageCompressionInChannels	Compress Images in Channels	true

Rows that are not always on screen

A few controls only appear under a condition: Toast Notifications for New Updates and Show "What's New" Modal on Login are shown to admins only, Display the Username Instead of You in the Chat appears when Chat Bubble UI is off, Temporary Chat by Default needs the temporary-chat permission, Prompt Autocompletion needs autocomplete generation enabled on the instance, Show Formatting Toolbar and Insert Prompt as Rich Text appear when Rich Text Input for Chat is on, and Compress Images in Channels appears when Image Compression is on. Setting a default for any of them still works; it simply takes effect for the people who can see the control.

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What this does not do

• It does not restrict anyone. Everyone keeps full control of every option in Settings > Interface. To actually hold people to your values, take Interface Settings Access away from them, see Locking the defaults.
• It does not wipe anyone's existing choices. Whatever someone already set for themselves keeps its value. What changes is the options they never set: those move from the built-in value to yours.
• It does not cover Theme or Language. Both are stored in the browser rather than on the account, so they are not part of this. Use DEFAULT_LOCALE to choose the starting language.

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Locking the defaults

If a set of accounts should stay exactly on your values, remove the Interface Settings Access permission from them (see Permissions). Doing so hides the Interface page and refuses any attempt to save personal settings, so those accounts keep whatever you have configured. Admins are exempt from the permission and can always change their own settings.

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Checking what an account has overridden

GET /api/v1/users/user/settings returns the signed-in account's settings with your defaults already filled in, which is what the app itself uses. Add ?raw=true to get that account's own stored settings instead, without the defaults merged in, so you can see exactly which options it has pinned and which are still inherited.

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Related

• DEFAULT_INTERFACE_SETTINGS in the environment variable reference
• Understanding Settings, on how admin and user settings relate
• Permissions, for Interface Settings Access