Settings and preferences getting reset on restart

[ben_hogan]

I've noticed this on several units, an iMac, some MacMinis, and my MacBook Pro, half are on Monterey, and the others on Big Sur, all have a version of the M1 Chip, this also happens across accounts, both Admin and Standard. When the system is restarted OR on a Logout/Login several of the settings reset to the defaults. The ones I've specifically noticed are as follows.

• Mouse Scroll
• Light/Dark Mode
• Language Settings

*There may be others but these are the settings I've personally confirmed between my own settings as well as what my impacted users have told me.

Just wondering if anyone else has seen this.

[dvasquez]

Are you managing the preferences? Sorry if this is an uninformed question.

I would take a look at all of your configuration profiles, maybe there is something there.

Otherwise, take a base (new build) laptop with Monterey and put it through the paces. 

I have not see this in my environments.

[ben_hogan]

None of those settings are being managed specifically. And as for the one department that *most* of the computers in question belong to, it's some TCC Whitelisting, Kernel Extension Exceptions, and WiFi Policy. 

Also, I'm sorry I didn't previously mention, I do have another MacBook that is not currently enrolled and I haven't had this issue with it. So I do think it's something in a configuration profile I'm just not sure what.

[dvasquez]

I hear you. I would keep digging, and check policies, and scripts. It could also be some other management. Look through the profiles to see if anything does not look right. 

[ben_hogan · Accepted solution]

So, not sure why since it doesn't manage any of those settings but, removing and re-adding the Privacy Preferences Policy Control profile followed by deleting the /Users/USERNAME/Library/Preferences/ folder and letting that rebuild seems to fix the issue.

Note: I had tried to remove the local user profile and let it rebuild in the past but the problem persisted, same with adding a new user account to the system. So for some reason, it was the combination of the two things that fixed it.

Again, not sure why, but at least it's fixed.

[pifern]

We're experiencing the same symptoms, but we have multiple config profiles applying PPPC settings, none of which are new. Do you have any details you can share about the PPPC profile you had to delete?

I've been able to get settings to persist for a reboot or two by deleting the ~/Library/Preferences/ contents, but then the problem comes back.