diff --git a/backend/Dockerfile b/backend/Dockerfile
index 4581caf..9e12f8f 100644
--- a/backend/Dockerfile
+++ b/backend/Dockerfile
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ RUN pip install --upgrade pip && pip install -r requirements.txt
 COPY . /app
 RUN python configure.py
 RUN python manage.py collectstatic --noinput
-CMD python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --insecure
+CMD python manage.py migrate && python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --insecure
 # TODO serve static files with nginx and remove --insecure
 EXPOSE 8000
 
diff --git a/backend/authentication/admin.py b/backend/authentication/admin.py
index 557cf94..34131ce 100644
--- a/backend/authentication/admin.py
+++ b/backend/authentication/admin.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 from django.contrib import admin
 
-from authentication.models import ToolshedUser, KnownIdentity, FriendRequestOutgoing, FriendRequestIncoming
+from authentication.models import ToolshedUser, KnownIdentity, FriendRequestOutgoing, FriendRequestIncoming, \
+    AccountPreference
 
 
 class ToolshedUserAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
@@ -8,6 +9,11 @@ class ToolshedUserAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
     search_fields = ('username', 'email', 'first_name', 'last_name', 'is_staff', 'is_active', 'date_joined', 'domain')
 
 
+class AccountPreferenceAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
+    list_display = ('user', 'key', 'value')
+    search_fields = ('user__username', 'key')
+
+
 class KnownIdentityAdmin(admin.ModelAdmin):
     list_display = ('username', 'domain', 'public_key')
     search_fields = ('username', 'domain', 'public_key')
@@ -27,3 +33,4 @@ admin.site.register(ToolshedUser, ToolshedUserAdmin)
 admin.site.register(KnownIdentity, KnownIdentityAdmin)
 admin.site.register(FriendRequestOutgoing, FriendRequestOutgoingAdmin)
 admin.site.register(FriendRequestIncoming, FriendRequestIncomingAdmin)
+admin.site.register(AccountPreference, AccountPreferenceAdmin)
diff --git a/backend/authentication/api.py b/backend/authentication/api.py
index ea5874f..d31ac0d 100644
--- a/backend/authentication/api.py
+++ b/backend/authentication/api.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ from rest_framework.authtoken.models import Token
 from rest_framework.authtoken.views import ObtainAuthToken
 from rest_framework.response import Response
 
-from authentication.models import ToolshedUser
+from authentication.models import ToolshedUser, AccountPreference
 from authentication.signature_auth import SignatureAuthenticationLocal
 from files.models import File
 from files.serializers import FileSerializer
@@ -17,6 +17,48 @@ from hostadmin.models import Domain
 
 router = routers.SimpleRouter()
 
+# Schema for the account-level preferences a client may store on the server (see
+# AccountPreference). Device-level preferences are never sent here - they stay in the
+# browser's local storage since they describe the device, not the account.
+PREFERENCE_DEFINITIONS = [
+    {
+        'key': 'ui.compact_mode',
+        'type': 'boolean',
+        'default': False,
+        'label': 'Compact mode',
+        'description': 'Show denser item rows and reduce spacing in lists.',
+    },
+    {
+        'key': 'ui.default_search_scope',
+        'type': 'enum',
+        'options': ['inventory', 'friends', 'all'],
+        'default': 'inventory',
+        'label': 'Default search scope',
+        'description': 'Choose where the global search starts.',
+    },
+    {
+        'key': 'notifications.desktop_enabled',
+        'type': 'boolean',
+        'default': True,
+        'label': 'Desktop notifications',
+        'description': 'Enable in-browser notifications for important updates.',
+    },
+    {
+        'key': 'files.max_upload_mb',
+        'type': 'integer',
+        'default': 25,
+        'label': 'Default upload size limit (MB)',
+        'description': 'Used as a prefill hint in upload dialogs.',
+    },
+    {
+        'key': 'ui.experimental_flags',
+        'type': 'json',
+        'default': {},
+        'label': 'Experimental flags',
+        'description': 'Optional JSON toggles for feature previews.',
+    },
+]
+
 
 class UserAuthToken(ObtainAuthToken):
 
@@ -129,6 +171,42 @@ def registerUser(request):
         return Response({'errors': {'domain': 'Domain does not exist or is not open for registration'}}, status=400)
 
 
+@api_view(['GET'])
+@permission_classes([])
+@authentication_classes([])
+def preference_definitions(request):
+    """Return the schema (types, defaults, labels) for the account preferences clients may set."""
+    return Response(PREFERENCE_DEFINITIONS)
+
+
+@api_view(['GET', 'PUT'])
+@permission_classes([IsAuthenticated])
+@authentication_classes([SignatureAuthenticationLocal])
+def account_preferences(request):
+    """Get or bulk-upsert the authenticated user's account-level preferences.
+
+    GET returns the current preferences as a {key: value} dict. PUT accepts a {key: value}
+    dict of one or more preferences to set/overwrite; unspecified keys are left untouched.
+    """
+    if request.method == 'PUT':
+        if not isinstance(request.data, dict):
+            return Response({'detail': 'Expected an object of key/value pairs.'}, status=400)
+        for key, value in request.data.items():
+            AccountPreference.objects.update_or_create(user=request.user, key=key, defaults={'value': value})
+
+    preferences = {pref.key: pref.value for pref in request.user.preferences.all()}
+    return Response(preferences)
+
+
+@api_view(['DELETE'])
+@permission_classes([IsAuthenticated])
+@authentication_classes([SignatureAuthenticationLocal])
+def account_preference_detail(request, key):
+    """Reset a single account-level preference back to its default by deleting it."""
+    AccountPreference.objects.filter(user=request.user, key=key).delete()
+    return Response(status=204)
+
+
 router.register(r'users', UserViewSet)
 
 urlpatterns = [
@@ -136,4 +214,7 @@ urlpatterns = [
     path('user/', getUserInfo),
     path('register/', registerUser),
     path('token/', UserAuthToken.as_view()),
+    path('preferences/', preference_definitions),
+    path('self/preferences/', account_preferences),
+    path('self/preferences/<str:key>/', account_preference_detail),
 ]
diff --git a/backend/authentication/migrations/0003_accountpreference.py b/backend/authentication/migrations/0003_accountpreference.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..712c593
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/authentication/migrations/0003_accountpreference.py
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+from django.db import migrations, models
+import django.db.models.deletion
+
+
+class Migration(migrations.Migration):
+
+    dependencies = [
+        ('authentication', '0002_toolsheduser_profile_picture'),
+    ]
+
+    operations = [
+        migrations.CreateModel(
+            name='AccountPreference',
+            fields=[
+                ('id', models.AutoField(auto_created=True, primary_key=True, serialize=False, verbose_name='ID')),
+                ('key', models.CharField(max_length=255)),
+                ('value', models.JSONField()),
+                ('user', models.ForeignKey(on_delete=django.db.models.deletion.CASCADE, related_name='preferences',
+                                           to='authentication.toolsheduser')),
+            ],
+            options={
+                'unique_together': {('user', 'key')},
+            },
+        ),
+    ]
+
diff --git a/backend/authentication/models.py b/backend/authentication/models.py
index 598c0cf..c6044a6 100644
--- a/backend/authentication/models.py
+++ b/backend/authentication/models.py
@@ -113,6 +113,23 @@ class ToolshedUser(AbstractUser):
         return self.public_identity.public_key
 
 
+class AccountPreference(models.Model):
+    """A single account-level (server-synced, cross-device) user preference, stored as a key/value pair.
+
+    Device-level preferences are intentionally *not* stored here - they stay in the browser's
+    local storage since they describe the device, not the account.
+    """
+    user = models.ForeignKey(ToolshedUser, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='preferences')
+    key = models.CharField(max_length=255)
+    value = models.JSONField()
+
+    class Meta:
+        unique_together = ('user', 'key')
+
+    def __str__(self):
+        return f"{self.user}: {self.key}"
+
+
 class FriendRequestOutgoing(models.Model):
     secret = models.CharField(max_length=255)
     befriender_user = models.ForeignKey(ToolshedUser, on_delete=models.CASCADE, related_name='friend_requests_outgoing')
diff --git a/backend/toolshed/api/offlinedata.py b/backend/toolshed/api/offlinedata.py
index 1d25547..eadd248 100644
--- a/backend/toolshed/api/offlinedata.py
+++ b/backend/toolshed/api/offlinedata.py
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ from authentication.signature_auth import SignatureAuthentication
 from toolshed.offlinedata import (
     inventory_rows, friend_rows, location_rows, inventory_files, rows_to_csv,
     import_locations, import_friends, import_inventory,
+    profile_data, profile_picture_files, settings_data, import_profile, import_settings,
 )
 
 
@@ -23,11 +24,15 @@ def local_user_or_none(identity):
 
 def user_data(user):
     import io
+    import json
     import zipfile
 
     zip_buffer = io.BytesIO()
 
     with zipfile.ZipFile(zip_buffer, "a", zipfile.ZIP_DEFLATED, False) as zip_file:
+        zip_file.writestr('profile.json', json.dumps(profile_data(user)))
+        zip_file.writestr('settings.json', json.dumps(settings_data(user)))
+
         inventory_csv = b''.join(rows_to_csv(inventory_rows(user)))
         zip_file.writestr('inventory.csv', inventory_csv)
 
@@ -37,8 +42,16 @@ def user_data(user):
         locations_csv = b''.join(rows_to_csv(location_rows(user)))
         zip_file.writestr('locations.csv', locations_csv)
 
-        for arcname, data in inventory_files(user):
+        written_files = set()
+        for arcname, data in profile_picture_files(user):
             zip_file.writestr(arcname, data)
+            written_files.add(arcname)
+
+        for arcname, data in inventory_files(user):
+            if arcname in written_files:
+                continue
+            zip_file.writestr(arcname, data)
+            written_files.add(arcname)
 
     return zip_buffer.getvalue()
 
@@ -89,13 +102,14 @@ def import_files(zip_file):
 def import_user_data(user, data):
     """Fault-tolerant import of an export zip produced by `user_data()`.
 
-    Any of 'inventory.csv', 'friends.csv', 'locations.csv' or the 'files/' subfolder may be
-    missing; whatever is present is imported and everything else is silently skipped.
+    Any of 'profile.json', 'settings.json', 'inventory.csv', 'friends.csv', 'locations.csv' or
+    the 'files/' subfolder may be missing; whatever is present is imported and everything else
+    is silently skipped.
     """
     import io
     import zipfile
 
-    summary = {'locations': 0, 'friends': 0, 'inventory_items': 0, 'files': 0}
+    summary = {'profile': False, 'settings': 0, 'locations': 0, 'friends': 0, 'inventory_items': 0, 'files': 0}
 
     with zipfile.ZipFile(io.BytesIO(data), 'r') as zip_file:
         names = set(zip_file.namelist())
@@ -103,6 +117,12 @@ def import_user_data(user, data):
         available_files = import_files(zip_file)
         summary['files'] = len(available_files)
 
+        if 'profile.json' in names:
+            summary['profile'] = import_profile(user, zip_file.read('profile.json'), available_files)
+
+        if 'settings.json' in names:
+            summary['settings'] = import_settings(user, zip_file.read('settings.json'))
+
         if 'locations.csv' in names:
             summary['locations'] = import_locations(user, zip_file.read('locations.csv'))
 
diff --git a/backend/toolshed/offlinedata.py b/backend/toolshed/offlinedata.py
index 98de35e..e9bee3c 100644
--- a/backend/toolshed/offlinedata.py
+++ b/backend/toolshed/offlinedata.py
@@ -106,6 +106,116 @@ def inventory_files(user):
             yield arcname, data
 
 
+def profile_data(user):
+    """Return the given user's profile as a dict, matching profile.json in the export zip."""
+    import mimetypes
+
+    data = {
+        'username': user.username,
+        'domain': user.domain,
+        'email': user.email,
+        'first_name': user.first_name or '',
+        'last_name': user.last_name or '',
+        'profile_picture': None,
+    }
+    if user.profile_picture:
+        extension = mimetypes.guess_extension(user.profile_picture.mime_type) or ''
+        data['profile_picture'] = f'files/{user.profile_picture.hash}{extension}'
+    return data
+
+
+def profile_picture_files(user):
+    """Generator that yields (arcname, data) for the user's profile picture, if one is set.
+
+    Kept separate from `inventory_files()` so the profile picture is included in the export
+    even for users with no inventory items or whose picture isn't attached to any item.
+    """
+    import mimetypes
+
+    if not user.profile_picture:
+        return
+
+    extension = mimetypes.guess_extension(user.profile_picture.mime_type) or ''
+    arcname = f'files/{user.profile_picture.hash}{extension}'
+
+    user.profile_picture.file.open('rb')
+    try:
+        data = user.profile_picture.file.read()
+    finally:
+        user.profile_picture.file.close()
+
+    yield arcname, data
+
+
+def settings_data(user):
+    """Return the given user's account-level preferences as a {key: value} dict for settings.json.
+
+    Only account preferences (AccountPreference) are exported; device-level preferences stay
+    in the browser's local storage since they describe the device, not the account.
+    """
+    return {pref.key: pref.value for pref in user.preferences.all()}
+
+
+def import_profile(user, data, available_files):
+    """Fault-tolerant import of profile.json, updating the user's editable profile fields.
+
+    Only 'first_name', 'last_name', 'email' and 'profile_picture' (a 'files/...' path present in
+    `available_files`) are applied; 'username' and 'domain' are ignored since they identify the
+    account itself and can't be changed by an import.
+    """
+    import json
+
+    try:
+        profile = json.loads(data.decode('utf-8'))
+        if not isinstance(profile, dict):
+            return False
+
+        if 'first_name' in profile:
+            user.first_name = profile.get('first_name') or ''
+        if 'last_name' in profile:
+            user.last_name = profile.get('last_name') or ''
+        if profile.get('email'):
+            user.email = profile['email']
+
+        picture_path = profile.get('profile_picture')
+        if picture_path and picture_path in available_files:
+            user.profile_picture = available_files[picture_path]
+
+        user.save()
+        return True
+    except Exception as error:
+        print(f'Skipping profile.json: {error}')
+        return False
+
+
+def import_settings(user, data):
+    """Fault-tolerant import of settings.json into the user's account-level preferences.
+
+    Each top-level key/value pair is upserted as an AccountPreference; unreadable data or a
+    non-object payload is skipped rather than aborting the whole import.
+    """
+    import json
+
+    from authentication.models import AccountPreference
+
+    try:
+        settings = json.loads(data.decode('utf-8'))
+        if not isinstance(settings, dict):
+            return 0
+
+        imported = 0
+        for key, value in settings.items():
+            try:
+                AccountPreference.objects.update_or_create(user=user, key=key, defaults={'value': value})
+                imported += 1
+            except Exception as error:
+                print(f'Skipping setting "{key}": {error}')
+        return imported
+    except Exception as error:
+        print(f'Skipping settings.json: {error}')
+        return 0
+
+
 def rows_to_csv(rows, fieldnames=None, encoding='utf-8'):
     """Generator that consumes an iterable of dicts and yields encoded CSV data chunk by chunk."""
     import csv
diff --git a/deploy/dev/Dockerfile.backend b/deploy/dev/Dockerfile.backend
index 4eb1ded..d83b688 100644
--- a/deploy/dev/Dockerfile.backend
+++ b/deploy/dev/Dockerfile.backend
@@ -13,4 +13,4 @@ COPY requirements.txt /code/
 RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
 
 # Run the application
-CMD ["python", "manage.py", "runserver", "0.0.0.0:8000", "--insecure"]
+CMD ["sh", "-c", "python manage.py migrate && python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --insecure"]
diff --git a/deploy/docker-compose.override.yml b/deploy/docker-compose.override.yml
index b3fc9d3..8060c1e 100644
--- a/deploy/docker-compose.override.yml
+++ b/deploy/docker-compose.override.yml
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ services:
       - ../deploy/dev/instance_a/a.sqlite3:/code/db.sqlite3
     expose:
       - 8000
-    command: bash -c "python configure.py; python configure.py testdata; python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --insecure"
+    command: bash -c "python configure.py; python configure.py testdata; python manage.py migrate; python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --insecure"
 
   backend-b:
     build:
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ services:
       - ../deploy/dev/instance_b/b.sqlite3:/code/db.sqlite3
     expose:
       - 8000
-    command: bash -c "python configure.py; python configure.py testdata; python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --insecure"
+    command: bash -c "python configure.py; python configure.py testdata; python manage.py migrate; python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000 --insecure"
 
   frontend:
     build:
diff --git a/frontend/src/store.js b/frontend/src/store.js
index 1dee5a6..259320d 100644
--- a/frontend/src/store.js
+++ b/frontend/src/store.js
@@ -202,6 +202,10 @@ export default createStore({
             state.user_profile = null;
             state.token = null;
             state.keypair = null;
+            state.accountPreferences = {};
+            state.preferenceDefinitions = [];
+            state.preferencesLoaded = false;
+            // Note: devicePreferences are NOT cleared on logout (device-specific)
             localStorage.removeItem('user');
             localStorage.removeItem('token');
             localStorage.removeItem('keypair');
@@ -226,24 +230,33 @@ export default createStore({
         }
     },
     actions: {
-        async loadUserPreferences({state, commit}) {
-            const accountKey = 'toolshed.preferences.account.' + (state.user || 'anonymous')
+        async loadUserPreferences({state, commit, dispatch, getters}) {
+            if (state.preferencesLoaded) return
             const deviceKey = 'toolshed.preferences.device'
-
-            commit('setPreferenceDefinitions', defaultPreferenceDefinitions)
-            commit('setAccountPreferences', parseStoredPreferences(accountKey))
             commit('setDevicePreferences', parseStoredPreferences(deviceKey))
+
+            let definitions = defaultPreferenceDefinitions
+            let accountPreferences = {}
+            try {
+                const servers = await dispatch('getHomeServers')
+                definitions = await servers.get(getters.nullAuth, '/auth/preferences/') || defaultPreferenceDefinitions
+                accountPreferences = await servers.get(getters.signAuth, '/auth/self/preferences/') || {}
+            } catch (error) {
+                console.error('Failed to load user preferences:', error)
+            }
+            commit('setPreferenceDefinitions', definitions)
+            commit('setAccountPreferences', accountPreferences)
             commit('setPreferencesLoaded', true)
         },
-        async setAccountPreference({state, commit}, {key, value}) {
+        async setAccountPreference({state, commit, dispatch, getters}, {key, value}) {
+            const servers = await dispatch('getHomeServers')
+            await servers.put(getters.signAuth, '/auth/self/preferences/', {[key]: value})
             commit('setAccountPreference', {key, value})
-            const accountKey = 'toolshed.preferences.account.' + (state.user || 'anonymous')
-            localStorage.setItem(accountKey, JSON.stringify(state.accountPreferences))
         },
-        async resetAccountPreference({state, commit}, key) {
+        async resetAccountPreference({state, commit, dispatch, getters}, key) {
+            const servers = await dispatch('getHomeServers')
+            await servers.delete(getters.signAuth, '/auth/self/preferences/' + key + '/')
             commit('deleteAccountPreference', key)
-            const accountKey = 'toolshed.preferences.account.' + (state.user || 'anonymous')
-            localStorage.setItem(accountKey, JSON.stringify(state.accountPreferences))
         },
         async setDevicePreference({state, commit}, {key, value}) {
             commit('setDevicePreference', {key, value})
diff --git a/frontend/src/views/settings/Data.vue b/frontend/src/views/settings/Data.vue
index 2aa3365..d807a44 100644
--- a/frontend/src/views/settings/Data.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/views/settings/Data.vue
@@ -134,6 +134,8 @@ export default {
                     return;
                 }
                 alert('Data imported successfully: ' +
+                    `${summary.profile ? 'profile, ' : ''}` +
+                    `${summary.settings || 0} settings, ` +
                     `${summary.inventory_items || 0} inventory items, ` +
                     `${summary.friends || 0} friends, ` +
                     `${summary.locations || 0} locations, ` +