diff --git a/vst/CMakeLists.txt b/vst/CMakeLists.txt
index 8f993b8c..9d13eac0 100644
--- a/vst/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/vst/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ set(VSTPLUGIN_SOURCES
     SfizzVstState.cpp
     SfizzFileScan.cpp
     SfizzForeignPaths.cpp
+    SfizzSettings.cpp
     VstPluginFactory.cpp
     X11RunLoop.cpp
     NativeHelpers.cpp
@@ -31,6 +32,7 @@ set(VSTPLUGIN_HEADERS
     SfizzVstState.h
     SfizzFileScan.h
     SfizzForeignPaths.h
+    SfizzSettings.h
     X11RunLoop.h
     NativeHelpers.h
     FileTrie.h)
@@ -38,6 +40,7 @@ set(VSTPLUGIN_HEADERS
 if(APPLE)
     set(VSTPLUGIN_MAC_SOURCES
         SfizzForeignPaths.mm
+        SfizzSettings.mm
         NativeHelpers.mm)
     list(APPEND VSTPLUGIN_SOURCES ${VSTPLUGIN_MAC_SOURCES})
     set_property(SOURCE ${VSTPLUGIN_MAC_SOURCES} APPEND_STRING
@@ -53,7 +56,8 @@ if(WIN32)
 endif()
 target_link_libraries(${VSTPLUGIN_PRJ_NAME}
     PRIVATE ${PROJECT_NAME}::${PROJECT_NAME}
-    PRIVATE sfizz_editor)
+    PRIVATE sfizz_editor
+    PRIVATE sfizz-pugixml)
 target_include_directories(${VSTPLUGIN_PRJ_NAME}
     PRIVATE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}")
 set_target_properties(${VSTPLUGIN_PRJ_NAME} PROPERTIES
diff --git a/vst/SfizzForeignPaths.cpp b/vst/SfizzForeignPaths.cpp
index 17319997..df7009df 100644
--- a/vst/SfizzForeignPaths.cpp
+++ b/vst/SfizzForeignPaths.cpp
@@ -15,8 +15,6 @@ fs::path getAriaPathSetting(const char* name)
 {
     fs::path path;
 
-    HKEY key = 0;
-
     std::unique_ptr<WCHAR[]> nameW;
     unsigned nameSize = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, name, -1, nullptr, 0);
     if (nameSize == 0)
@@ -27,17 +25,22 @@ fs::path getAriaPathSetting(const char* name)
 
     const WCHAR ariaKeyPath[] = L"Software\\Plogue Art et Technologie, Inc\\Aria";
 
-    if (RegOpenKeyExW(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, ariaKeyPath, 0, KEY_QUERY_VALUE, &key) == ERROR_SUCCESS) {
-        WCHAR valueBuffer[32768 + 1];
-        DWORD valueSize = sizeof(valueBuffer) - sizeof(WCHAR);
-        if (RegQueryValueExW(key, nameW.get(), nullptr, nullptr, reinterpret_cast<LPBYTE>(valueBuffer), &valueSize) == ERROR_SUCCESS) {
-            valueBuffer[32768] = L'\0';
-            path = fs::path(valueBuffer);
-        }
-        RegCloseKey(key);
-    }
+    HKEY key = nullptr;
+    LSTATUS status = RegOpenKeyExW(HKEY_CURRENT_USER, ariaKeyPath, 0, KEY_QUERY_VALUE, &key);
+    if (status != ERROR_SUCCESS)
+        return {};
 
-    return path;
+    WCHAR valueW[32768];
+    DWORD valueSize = sizeof(valueW);
+    DWORD valueType;
+    status = RegQueryValueExW(
+        key, nameW.get(), nullptr,
+        &valueType, reinterpret_cast<LPBYTE>(valueW), &valueSize);
+    RegCloseKey(key);
+    if (status != ERROR_SUCCESS || (valueType != REG_SZ && valueType != REG_EXPAND_SZ))
+        return {};
+
+    return fs::path(valueW);
 }
 #elif defined(__APPLE__)
     // implementation in SfizzForeignPaths.mm
diff --git a/vst/SfizzSettings.cpp b/vst/SfizzSettings.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9560d16d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vst/SfizzSettings.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,173 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause
+
+// This code is part of the sfizz library and is licensed under a BSD 2-clause
+// license. You should have receive a LICENSE.md file along with the code.
+// If not, contact the sfizz maintainers at https://github.com/sfztools/sfizz
+
+#include "SfizzSettings.h"
+#include <cstdlib>
+
+std::string SfizzSettings::load_or(const char* key, absl::string_view defaultValue)
+{
+    absl::optional<std::string> optValue = load(key);
+    return optValue ? *optValue : std::string(defaultValue);
+}
+
+#if defined(_WIN32)
+#include <windows.h>
+
+static HKEY openRegistryKey()
+{
+    LSTATUS status;
+    HKEY root = HKEY_CURRENT_USER;
+    HKEY parent = root;
+    HKEY key = nullptr;
+    for (const WCHAR* component : {L"Software", L"SFZTools", L"sfizz"}) {
+        status = RegCreateKeyExW(
+            parent, component, 0, nullptr,
+            REG_OPTION_NON_VOLATILE, KEY_ALL_ACCESS, nullptr, &key, nullptr);
+        if (parent != root)
+            RegCloseKey(parent);
+        if (status != ERROR_SUCCESS)
+            return nullptr;
+        parent = key;
+    }
+    return key;
+}
+
+static WCHAR* stringToWideChar(const char *str, int strCch = -1)
+{
+    unsigned strSize = MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, str, strCch, nullptr, 0);
+    if (strSize == 0)
+        return {};
+    std::unique_ptr<WCHAR[]> strW(new WCHAR[strSize]);
+    if (MultiByteToWideChar(CP_UTF8, 0, str, strCch, strW.get(), strSize) == 0)
+        return {};
+    return strW.release();
+}
+
+static char* stringToUTF8(const wchar_t *strW, int strWCch = -1)
+{
+    unsigned strSize = WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, strW, strWCch, nullptr, 0, nullptr, nullptr);
+    if (strSize == 0)
+        return {};
+    std::unique_ptr<char[]> str(new char[strSize]);
+    if (WideCharToMultiByte(CP_UTF8, 0, strW, strWCch, str.get(), strSize, nullptr, nullptr) == 0)
+        return {};
+    return str.release();
+}
+
+absl::optional<std::string> SfizzSettings::load(const char* name)
+{
+    std::unique_ptr<WCHAR[]> nameW { stringToWideChar(name) };
+    if (!nameW)
+        return {};
+
+    HKEY key = openRegistryKey();
+    if (!key)
+        return {};
+
+    WCHAR valueW[32768];
+    DWORD valueSize = sizeof(valueW);
+    DWORD valueType;
+    LSTATUS status = RegQueryValueExW(
+        key, nameW.get(), nullptr,
+        &valueType, reinterpret_cast<BYTE*>(valueW), &valueSize);
+    RegCloseKey(key);
+    if (status != ERROR_SUCCESS || (valueType != REG_SZ && valueType != REG_EXPAND_SZ))
+        return {};
+
+    std::unique_ptr<char[]> value { stringToUTF8(valueW) };
+    if (!value)
+        return {};
+
+    return std::string(value.get());
+}
+
+bool SfizzSettings::store(const char* name, absl::string_view value)
+{
+    std::unique_ptr<WCHAR[]> nameW { stringToWideChar(name) };
+    std::unique_ptr<WCHAR[]> valueW { stringToWideChar(std::string(value).c_str()) };
+    if (!nameW || !valueW)
+        return false;
+
+    HKEY key = openRegistryKey();
+    if (!key)
+        return {};
+
+    LSTATUS status = RegSetValueExW(
+        key, nameW.get(), 0, RRF_RT_REG_SZ,
+        reinterpret_cast<const BYTE*>(valueW.get()),
+        (wcslen(valueW.get()) + 1) * sizeof(WCHAR));
+    RegCloseKey(key);
+
+    return status == ERROR_SUCCESS;
+}
+#elif defined(__APPLE__)
+    // implementation in SfizzSettings.mm
+#else
+#include <pugixml.hpp>
+#include <ghc/fs_std.hpp>
+
+static const fs::path getSettingsPath()
+{
+    fs::path dirPath;
+    const char* env;
+    if ((env = getenv("XDG_CONFIG_HOME")) && env[0] == '/')
+        dirPath = fs::path(env);
+    else if ((env = getenv("HOME")) && env[0] == '/')
+        dirPath = fs::path(env) / ".config";
+    else
+        return {};
+    dirPath /= "SFZTools";
+    dirPath /= "sfizz";
+    std::error_code ec;
+    if (!fs::create_directories(dirPath, ec))
+        return {};
+    return dirPath / "settings.xml";
+}
+
+absl::optional<std::string> SfizzSettings::load(const char* key)
+{
+    const fs::path path = getSettingsPath();
+    if (path.empty())
+        return {};
+
+    pugi::xml_document doc;
+    if (!doc.load_file(path.c_str()))
+        return {};
+
+    pugi::xml_node root = doc.child("properties");
+    if (!root)
+        return {};
+
+    pugi::xml_node entry = root.find_child_by_attribute("entry", "key", key);
+    if (!entry)
+        return {};
+
+    return std::string(entry.text().get());
+}
+
+bool SfizzSettings::store(const char* key, absl::string_view value)
+{
+    const fs::path path = getSettingsPath();
+    if (path.empty())
+        return false;
+
+    pugi::xml_document doc;
+    doc.load_file(path.c_str());
+
+    pugi::xml_node root = doc.child("properties");
+    if (!root)
+        root = doc.append_child("properties");
+
+    pugi::xml_node entry = root.find_child_by_attribute("entry", "key", key);
+    if (!entry) {
+        entry = root.append_child("entry");
+        entry.append_attribute("key").set_value(key);
+    }
+    entry.text().set(std::string(value).c_str());
+
+    return doc.save_file(path.c_str());
+}
+#endif
diff --git a/vst/SfizzSettings.h b/vst/SfizzSettings.h
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2fcc2927
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vst/SfizzSettings.h
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause
+
+// This code is part of the sfizz library and is licensed under a BSD 2-clause
+// license. You should have receive a LICENSE.md file along with the code.
+// If not, contact the sfizz maintainers at https://github.com/sfztools/sfizz
+
+#pragma once
+#include <absl/strings/string_view.h>
+#include <absl/types/optional.h>
+
+class SfizzSettings {
+public:
+    absl::optional<std::string> load(const char* key);
+    std::string load_or(const char* key, absl::string_view defaultValue);
+    bool store(const char* key, absl::string_view value);
+};
diff --git a/vst/SfizzSettings.mm b/vst/SfizzSettings.mm
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9ddbaeb4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/vst/SfizzSettings.mm
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+// SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause
+
+// This code is part of the sfizz library and is licensed under a BSD 2-clause
+// license. You should have receive a LICENSE.md file along with the code.
+// If not, contact the sfizz maintainers at https://github.com/sfztools/sfizz
+
+#include "SfizzSettings.h"
+
+#if defined(__APPLE__)
+#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
+#if !__has_feature(objc_arc)
+#error This source file requires ARC
+#endif
+
+static NSUserDefaults* getUserDefaults()
+{
+    return [[NSUserDefaults alloc] initWithSuiteName:@"tools.sfz.sfizz"];;
+}
+
+absl::optional<std::string> SfizzSettings::load(const char* key)
+{
+    NSUserDefaults* ud = getUserDefaults();
+    NSString* value = [ud stringForKey:[NSString stringWithUTF8String:key]];
+    if (!value)
+        return {};
+    return std::string(value.UTF8String);
+}
+
+bool SfizzSettings::store(const char* key, absl::string_view value)
+{
+    NSUserDefaults* ud = getUserDefaults();
+    NSString* object =
+        [[NSString alloc] initWithBytes:value.data()
+         length:(NSUInteger)value.size() encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
+    [ud setObject:object forKey:[NSString stringWithUTF8String:key]];
+    return true;
+}
+#endif