Common NuGet configurations

NuGet's behavior is driven by the accumulated settings in one or more NuGet.Config (XML) files that can exist at project-, user-, and computer-wide levels. A global NuGetDefaults.Config file also specifically configures package sources. Settings apply to all commands issued in the CLI, the Package Manager Console, and the Package Manager UI.

Config file locations and uses

Scope NuGet.Config file location Description
Solution Current folder (aka Solution folder) or any folder up to the drive root. In a solution folder, settings apply to all projects in subfolders. Note that if a config file is placed in a project folder, it has no effect on that project.
User Windows: %appdata%\NuGet\NuGet.Config
Mac/Linux: ~/.config/NuGet/NuGet.Config or ~/.nuget/NuGet/NuGet.Config (varies by OS distribution)
Settings apply to all operations, but are overridden by any project-level settings.
Computer Windows: %ProgramFiles(x86)%\NuGet\Config
Mac/Linux: $XDG_DATA_HOME. If $XDG_DATA_HOME is null or empty, ~/.local/share or /usr/local/share will be used (varies by OS distribution)
Settings apply to all operations on the computer, but are overridden by any user- or project-level settings.

Notes for earlier versions of NuGet:

  • NuGet 3.3 and earlier used a .nuget folder for solution-wide settings. This folder is not used in NuGet 3.4+.
  • For NuGet 2.6 to 3.x, the computer-level config file on Windows was located in %ProgramData%\NuGet\Config[\{IDE}[\{Version}[\{SKU}]]]\NuGet.Config, where {IDE} can be VisualStudio, {Version} was the Visual Studio version such as 14.0, and {SKU} is either Community, Pro, or Enterprise. To migrate settings to NuGet 4.0+, simply copy the config file to %ProgramFiles(x86)%\NuGet\Config. On Linux, this previous location was /etc/opt, and on Mac, /Library/Application Support.

Changing config settings

A NuGet.Config file is a simple XML text file containing key/value pairs as described in the NuGet Configuration Settings topic.

Settings are managed using the NuGet CLI config command:

  • By default, changes are made to the user-level config file.
  • To change settings in a different file, use the -configFile switch. In this case files can use any filename.
  • Keys are always case sensitive.
  • Elevation is required to change settings in the computer-level settings file.


Although you can modify the file in any text editor, NuGet (v3.4.3 and later) silently ignores the entire configuration file if it contains malformed XML (mismatched tags, invalid quotation marks, etc.). This is why it's preferable to manage setting using nuget config.

Setting a value


# Set repositoryPath in the user-level config file
nuget config -set repositoryPath=c:\packages 

# Set repositoryPath in project-level files
nuget config -set repositoryPath=c:\packages -configfile c:\my.Config
nuget config -set repositoryPath=c:\packages -configfile .\myApp\NuGet.Config

# Set repositoryPath in the computer-level file (requires elevation)
nuget config -set repositoryPath=c:\packages -configfile %ProgramFiles(x86)%\NuGet\Config\NuGet.Config


# Set repositoryPath in the user-level config file
nuget config -set repositoryPath=/home/packages 

# Set repositoryPath in project-level files
nuget config -set repositoryPath=/home/projects/packages -configfile /home/my.Config
nuget config -set repositoryPath=/home/packages -configfile home/myApp/NuGet.Config

nuget config -set repositoryPath=/home/packages -configfile $XDG_DATA_HOME/NuGet.Config


In NuGet 3.4 and later you can use environment variables in any value, as in repositoryPath=%PACKAGEHOME% (Windows) and repositoryPath=$PACKAGEHOME (Mac/Linux).

Removing a value

To remove a value, specify a key with an empty value.

# Windows
nuget config -set repositoryPath= -configfile c:\my.Config

# Mac/Linux
nuget config -set repositoryPath= -configfile /home/my.Config

Creating a new config file

Copy the template below into the new file and then use nuget config -configFile <filename> to set values:


How settings are applied

Multiple NuGet.Config files allow you to store settings in different locations so that they apply to a single project, a group of projects, or all projects. These settings collectively apply to any NuGet operation invoked from the command line or from Visual Studio, with settings that exist "closest" to a project or the current folder taking precedence.

Specifically, NuGet loads settings from the different config files in the following order:

  1. The NuGetDefaults.Config file, which contains settings related only to package sources.
  2. The computer-level file.
  3. The user-level file.
  4. The file specified with -configFile.
  5. Files found in every folder in the path from the drive root to the current folder (where nuget.exe is invoked or the folder containing the Visual Studio project). For example, if a command is invoked in c:\A\B\C, NuGet looks for and loads config files in c:, then c:\A, then c:\A\B, and finally c:\A\B\C.

As NuGet finds settings in these files, they are applied as follows:

  1. For single-item elements, NuGet replaced any previously-found value for the same key. This means that settings that are "closest" to the current folder or project override any others found earlier. For example, the defaultPushSource setting in NuGetDefaults.Config is overridden if it exists in any other config file.

  2. For collection elements (such as <packageSources>), NuGet combines the values from all configuration files into a single collection.

  3. When <clear /> is present for a given node, NuGet ignores previously defined configuration values for that node.

Settings walkthrough

Let's say you have the following folder structure on two separate drives:


You then have four NuGet.Config files in the following locations with the given content. (The computer-level file is not included in this example, but would behave similarly to the user-level file.)

File A. User-level file, (%appdata%\NuGet\NuGet.Config on Windows, ~/.config/NuGet/NuGet.Config on Mac/Linux):


File B. disk_drive_2/NuGet.Config:

        <add key="repositoryPath" value="disk_drive_2/tmp" />

File C. disk_drive_2/Project1/NuGet.Config:

        <add key="repositoryPath" value="External/Packages" />
        <add key="defaultPushSource" value="https://MyPrivateRepo/ES/api/v2/package" />
        <clear /> <!-- ensure only the sources defined below are used -->
        <add key="MyPrivateRepo - ES" value="https://MyPrivateRepo/ES/nuget" />

File D. disk_drive_2/Project2/NuGet.Config:

        <!-- Add this repository to the list of available repositories -->
        <add key="MyPrivateRepo - DQ" value="https://MyPrivateRepo/DQ/nuget" />

NuGet then loads and applies settings as follows, depending on where it's invoked:

  • Invoked from disk_drive_1/users: Only the default repository listed in the user-level configuration file (A) is used, because that's the only file found on disk_drive_1.

  • Invoked from disk_drive_2/ or disk_drive_/tmp: The user-level file (A) is loaded first, then NuGet goes to the root of disk_drive_2 and finds file (B). NuGet also looks for a configuration file in /tmp but does not find one. As a result, the default repository on is used, package restore is enabled, and packages get expanded in disk_drive_2/tmp.

  • Invoked from disk_drive_2/Project1 or disk_drive_2/Project1/Source: The user-level file (A) is loaded first, then NuGet loads file (B) from the root of disk_drive_2, followed by file (C). Settings in (C) override those in (B) and (A), so the repositoryPath where packages get installed is disk_drive_2/Project1/External/Packages instead of disk_drive_2/tmp. Also, because (C) clears <packageSources>, is no longer available as a source leaving only https://MyPrivateRepo/ES/nuget.

  • Invoked from disk_drive_2/Project2 or disk_drive_2/Project2/Source: The user-level file (A) is loaded first followed by file (B) and file (D). Because packageSources is not cleared, both and https://MyPrivateRepo/DQ/nuget are available as sources. Packages get expanded in disk_drive_2/tmp as specified in (B).

NuGet defaults file

The NuGetDefaults.Config file exists to specify package sources from which packages are installed and updated, and to control the default target for publishing packages with nuget push. Because administrators can conveniently (using Group Policy, for example) deploy consistent NuGetDefaults.Config files to developer and build machines, they can ensure that everyone in the organization is using the correct package sources rather than


The NuGetDefaults.Config file never causes a package source to be removed from a developer's NuGet configuration. That means if the developer has already used NuGet and therefore has the package source registered, it won't be removed after the creation of a NuGetDefaults.Config file.

Furthermore, neither NuGetDefaults.Config nor any other mechanism in NuGet can prevent access to package sources like If an organization wishes to block such access, it must use other means such as firewalls to do so.

NuGetDefaults.Config location

The following table describes where the NuGetDefaults.Config file should be stored, depending on the target OS:

OS Platform NuGetDefaults.Config Location
Windows Visual Studio 2017 or NuGet 4.x+: %ProgramFiles(x86)%\NuGet\Config
Visual Studio 2015 and earlier or NuGet 3.x and earlier: %PROGRAMDATA%\NuGet
Mac/Linux $XDG_DATA_HOME (typically ~/.local/share or /usr/local/share, depending on OS distribution)

NuGetDefaults.Config settings

  • packageSources: this collection has the same meaning as packageSources in regular config files and specifies the default sources. NuGet uses the sources in order when installing or updating packages in projects using the packages.config management format. For projects using the PackageReference format, NuGet uses local sources first, then sources on network shares, then HTTP sources, regardless of the order in the configuration files. NuGet always ignores the order of sources with restore operations.

  • disabledPackageSources: this collection also has the same meaning as in NuGet.Config files, where each affected source is listed by its name and a true/false value indicating whether it's disabled. This allows the source name and URL to remain in packageSources without having it turned on by default. Individual developers can then re-enable the source by setting the source's value to false in other NuGet.Config files without having to find the correct URL again. This is also useful to supply developers with a full list of internal source URLs for an organization while enabling only an individual team's source by default.

  • defaultPushSource: specifies the default target for nuget push operations, overriding the built-in default of Administrators can deploy this setting to avoid publishing internal packages to the public by accident, as developers specifically need to use nuget push -Source to publish to

Example NuGetDefaults.Config and application

    <!-- defaultPushSource key works like the 'defaultPushSource' key of NuGet.Config files. -->
    <!-- This can be used by administrators to prevent accidental publishing of packages to -->
        <add key="defaultPushSource" value="" />

    <!-- Default Package Sources; works like the 'packageSources' section of NuGet.Config files. -->
    <!-- This collection cannot be deleted or modified but can be disabled/enabled by users. -->
        <add key="Contoso Package Source" value="" />
        <add key="" value="" />

    <!-- Default Package Sources that are disabled by default. -->
    <!-- Works like the 'disabledPackageSources' section of NuGet.Config files. -->
    <!-- Sources cannot be modified or deleted either but can be enabled/disabled by users. -->
        <add key="" value="true" />