# Overview

## Settings

Settings are saved on a per-device basis. When you reconnect the same device to Serial the configuration will be remembered automatically.

Device are uniquely identified based on their USB vendor ID, product ID, and serial number. For devices that are not assigned or do not support unique serial numbers Serial will disambiguate multiple devices that look the same using the USB port they are plugged into.

## Profiles

Profiles are snapshots of the current settings that can be saved and applied later to any device.

When you choose a profile the current device settings will be overwritten by those stored in the profile. Applying a profile is a “one-shot” action, meaning the device is not tied to the profile after it is applied. Subsequent changes to the profile will not affect the settings for the device, nor will changes to the device settings affect those stored in the profile.

## Default Profile

When you connect a new device to Serial that hasn’t been connected before the default profile will be used to initialize the settings for the device.

This can be useful when configuring a stack of network switches, for example.

The default profile is optional and if designated will be shown in boldface text.

## Save Profile

Save the current settings into a new or existing profile.

## Manage Profiles

Rename, delete, duplicate or edit your saved profiles.