Using Pidgin

1. Windows Specific
   1. How does Pidgin for Windows determine which language to use?
   2. Where are my settings and data (including logs) saved?
   3. How do I run multiple instances of Pidgin on Windows?
2. Linux and Unix-like platforms
   1. Where are Pidgin's settings and logs?

Windows Specific

How does Pidgin for Windows determine which language to use?

For the user who installed Pidgin, the language selected during installation will be the default. This can be overridden by setting the PIDGINLANG environment variable (for example, PIDGINLANG=de). If neither of these are specified, it will fall back to the default Windows user locale setting.

Where are my settings and data (including logs) saved?

Data is stored in your user's "Application Data" directory in a .purple subdirectory. The location of this will vary according to your setup and version of Windows.

• For Windows 2000/XP/Vista(?), entering %APPDATA% in your Windows Explorer address bar will take you to the right directory (probably something like C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data).
• For Windows 98/ME it will be something like C:\Windows\Profiles\username.

This can be overridden by setting the PIDGINHOME environment variable.
Logs are stored in a subdirectory called logs.

How do I run multiple instances of Pidgin on Windows?

Pidgin will, by default, prevent multiple instances from running simultaneously. You can override this restriction by defining the PIDGIN_MULTI_INST environment variable. If you do this, you may find the -c parameter useful to specify unique configuration directories for each instance (e.g. -c c:\home\.pidgin-alt).

Linux and Unix-like platforms

Where are Pidgin's settings and logs?

Because Pidgin is a libPurple client, it stores its settings and logs in ~/.purple.