diff --git a/source/net/filebot/Main.java b/source/net/filebot/Main.java
index 46979f47..62519260 100644
--- a/source/net/filebot/Main.java
+++ b/source/net/filebot/Main.java
@@ -194,6 +194,9 @@ public class Main {
 			HistorySpooler.getInstance().commit();
 			SupportDialog.maybeShow();
 
+			// backup preferences on exit
+			Settings.store(ApplicationFolder.AppData.resolve("preferences.backup.xml"));
+
 			System.exit(0);
 		}));
 
diff --git a/source/net/filebot/Settings.java b/source/net/filebot/Settings.java
index b734de3a..9f736f7c 100644
--- a/source/net/filebot/Settings.java
+++ b/source/net/filebot/Settings.java
@@ -2,6 +2,13 @@ package net.filebot;
 
 import static net.filebot.Logging.*;
 
+import java.io.BufferedInputStream;
+import java.io.BufferedOutputStream;
+import java.io.File;
+import java.io.FileInputStream;
+import java.io.FileOutputStream;
+import java.io.InputStream;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.ResourceBundle;
 import java.util.logging.Level;
@@ -249,4 +256,20 @@ public final class Settings {
 		}
 	}
 
+	public static void store(File f) {
+		try (OutputStream out = new BufferedOutputStream(new FileOutputStream(f))) {
+			Preferences.userRoot().exportSubtree(out);
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			debug.log(Level.SEVERE, e, e::toString);
+		}
+	}
+
+	public static void restore(File f) {
+		try (InputStream in = new BufferedInputStream(new FileInputStream(f))) {
+			Preferences.importPreferences(in);
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			debug.log(Level.SEVERE, e, e::toString);
+		}
+	}
+
 }