---
title: General
url: 'http://bibleindex.app/en/docs/settings-general'
markdown: 'http://bibleindex.app/en/docs/settings-general.md'
lang: en
date: '2026-10-03'
description: 'General The General section of Settings defines startup behavior, the interface language, and default search settings. Window Appearance Use System Title Bar — displays the system title bar above the tabs. When disabled, the built-in header remains in place. Language Language — System Language, Eng…'
---

# General

The **General** section of **Settings** defines startup behavior, the interface language, and default search settings.

## Window Appearance

**Use System Title Bar** — displays the system title bar above the tabs. When disabled, the built-in header remains in place.

## Language

**Language** — **System Language**, **English**, **French**, or **Portuguese (Brazil)**. This changes menus, labels, and messages, not the text of the Bibles.

## Startup

**Default tab on startup** — **New Tab**, **New Search**, **Read a Passage**, or **Reading Tracker** the next time the app launches.

## Search

- **Bible for a new search** — **Automatic** (based on the interface language) or a named Bible
- **Open search options on hover** — enabled: menus open on hover; disabled: a click is required
- **Default options for a new search**: 
    - **Match Mode** — **Keywords**, **Keywords in Order**, or **Exact Phrase**
    - **Word Match** — **Whole Word**, **Start of Word**, **Part of Word**, or **End of Word**
    - **Ignore case**, **Ignore accents**, **Ignore punctuation**

The meanings of **Match mode**, **Word matching**, and the three **Ignore…** options are the same as on the [Search](http://bibleindex.app/en/docs/search) tab. Note the terminology: here, **Match Mode** refers to **multiple words**; **Word Match** refers to **entire word / beginning / part / end**.

These values serve as a starting point; each **Search** tab can modify them for this search only.

## Data Folder

Detailed paths (portable, Windows, Linux, macOS) are described in [Where Are My Files?](http://bibleindex.app/en/docs/where-are-my-files).

Here:

- **Folder in use** or **Folder in use (custom)** — click to open the active location
- **Choose a folder…** — select another folder (restart required)
- **Use the standard folder** — revert to the installation’s default folder

When making a change:

- Empty folder: **Move your data?** with **Move data** or **Change without copying**
- Folder that already contains data: **Use this folder?**
- Portable copy pointing to another drive: **The path will not follow the USB drive**

If the selected folder is inaccessible at startup, a banner will indicate that the session is using the default folder (message such as: *Unable to open … This session is using the default folder: …*).

## See also

- [Where are my files?](http://bibleindex.app/en/docs/where-are-my-files)
- [Theme](http://bibleindex.app/en/docs/settings-theme)

---

## Navigation

- Parent: [User Guide](http://bibleindex.app/en/docs.md)
- Previous: [Settings](http://bibleindex.app/en/docs/settings.md)
- Next: [Theme](http://bibleindex.app/en/docs/settings-theme.md)