diff --git a/src/Notepad3.c b/src/Notepad3.c
index f9cfa2e5b..07a3bf5b3 100644
--- a/src/Notepad3.c
+++ b/src/Notepad3.c
@@ -84,8 +84,7 @@ static WCHAR     s_wchTmpFilePath[MAX_PATH + 1] = { L'\0' };
 
 static WCHAR* const s_tchAvailableLanguages = L"af-ZA be-BY de-DE es-ES en-GB fr-FR ja-JP nl-NL ru-RU zh-CN"; // en-US internal
 
-static int    s_iSettingsVersion = CFG_VER_NONE;
-static bool   s_bSaveSettings = true;
+static int    s_iSettingsVersion = CFG_VER_CURRENT;
 static bool   s_bEnableSaveSettings = true;
 
 static prefix_t s_mxSBPrefix[STATUS_SECTOR_COUNT];
@@ -2950,7 +2949,7 @@ LRESULT MsgInitMenu(HWND hwnd, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
   CheckMenuRadioItem(hmenu,IDM_VIEW_NOESCFUNC,IDM_VIEW_ESCEXIT,i,MF_BYCOMMAND);
 
   i = (int)StringCchLenW(Globals.IniFile,COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile));
-  CheckCmd(hmenu,IDM_VIEW_SAVESETTINGS,s_bSaveSettings && i);
+  CheckCmd(hmenu,IDM_VIEW_SAVESETTINGS,Settings.SaveSettings && i);
 
   EnableCmd(hmenu,IDM_VIEW_REUSEWINDOW,i);
   EnableCmd(hmenu,IDM_VIEW_STICKYWINPOS,i);
@@ -5011,11 +5010,11 @@ LRESULT MsgCommand(HWND hwnd, UINT umsg, WPARAM wParam, LPARAM lParam)
 
     case IDM_VIEW_SAVESETTINGS:
       if (IsCmdEnabled(hwnd, IDM_VIEW_SAVESETTINGS)) {
-        s_bSaveSettings = !s_bSaveSettings;
-        if (s_bSaveSettings)
+        Settings.SaveSettings = !Settings.SaveSettings;
+        if (Settings.SaveSettings == Defaults.SaveSettings)
           IniSetString(L"Settings", L"SaveSettings", NULL);
         else
-          IniSetBool(L"Settings", L"SaveSettings", s_bSaveSettings);
+          IniSetBool(L"Settings", L"SaveSettings", Settings.SaveSettings);
       }
       break;
 
@@ -6614,9 +6613,11 @@ void LoadSettings()
   if (pIniSection) 
   {
     // prerequisites 
-    s_bSaveSettings = IniGetBool(L"Settings", L"SaveSettings", true);
     s_iSettingsVersion = IniGetInt(L"Settings", L"SettingsVersion", CFG_VER_NONE);
 
+    Defaults.SaveSettings = true;
+    Settings.SaveSettings = IniGetBool(L"Settings", L"SaveSettings", Defaults.SaveSettings);
+
     // first load "hard coded" .ini-Settings
     // --------------------------------------------------------------------------
     LoadIniSection(L"Settings2", pIniSection, cchIniSection);
@@ -6648,7 +6649,7 @@ void LoadSettings()
 
     // deprecated
     Defaults.RenderingTechnology = IniSectionGetInt(pIniSection, L"SciDirectWriteTech", -111);
-    if ((Defaults.RenderingTechnology != -111) && s_bSaveSettings) {
+    if ((Defaults.RenderingTechnology != -111) && Settings.SaveSettings) {
       // cleanup
       IniSetString(L"Settings2", L"SciDirectWriteTech", NULL);
     }
@@ -6656,7 +6657,7 @@ void LoadSettings()
 
     // Settings2 deprecated
     Defaults.Bidirectional = IniSectionGetInt(pIniSection, L"EnableBidirectionalSupport", -111);
-    if ((Defaults.Bidirectional != -111) && s_bSaveSettings) {
+    if ((Defaults.Bidirectional != -111) && Settings.SaveSettings) {
       // cleanup
       IniSetString(L"Settings2", L"EnableBidirectionalSupport", NULL);
     }
@@ -6747,12 +6748,12 @@ void LoadSettings()
     LoadIniSection(L"Settings", pIniSection, cchIniSection);
     // --------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-#define GET_BOOL_VALUE_FROM_INISECTION(VARNAME,DEFAULT)                         \
-  Defaults.##VARNAME = DEFAULT;                                              \
+#define GET_BOOL_VALUE_FROM_INISECTION(VARNAME,DEFAULT)  \
+  Defaults.##VARNAME = DEFAULT;                          \
   Settings.##VARNAME = IniSectionGetBool(pIniSection, STRGW(VARNAME), Defaults.##VARNAME)
 
-#define GET_INT_VALUE_FROM_INISECTION(VARNAME,DEFAULT,MIN,MAX)                  \
-  Defaults.##VARNAME = DEFAULT;                                              \
+#define GET_INT_VALUE_FROM_INISECTION(VARNAME,DEFAULT,MIN,MAX)  \
+  Defaults.##VARNAME = DEFAULT;                                 \
   Settings.##VARNAME = clampi(IniSectionGetInt(pIniSection, STRGW(VARNAME), Defaults.##VARNAME),MIN,MAX)
 
     GET_BOOL_VALUE_FROM_INISECTION(SaveRecentFiles, true);
@@ -6840,8 +6841,8 @@ void LoadSettings()
     GET_BOOL_VALUE_FROM_INISECTION(ViewWhiteSpace, false);
     GET_BOOL_VALUE_FROM_INISECTION(ViewEOLs, false);
 
-    GET_INT_VALUE_FROM_INISECTION(DefaultEncoding, CPI_NONE, CED_NO_MAPPING, Encoding_CountOf()-1);
-    // if DefaultEncoding is not defined set to UTF-8 //~system's current code-page 
+    int const iPrefEncIniSetting = Encoding_MapIniSetting(false, PREFERRED_DEFAULT_ENCODING);
+    GET_INT_VALUE_FROM_INISECTION(DefaultEncoding, iPrefEncIniSetting, CED_NO_MAPPING, Encoding_CountOf()-1);
     Settings.DefaultEncoding = ((Settings.DefaultEncoding == CPI_NONE) ?
       PREFERRED_DEFAULT_ENCODING : Encoding_MapIniSetting(true, Settings.DefaultEncoding));
 
@@ -7080,7 +7081,7 @@ void LoadSettings()
 
 #define SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(TYPE,VARNAME)                           \
   if (Settings.##VARNAME != Defaults.##VARNAME) {                            \
-    IniSectionSet##TYPE(pIniSection, STRGW(VARNAME), Settings.##VARNAME);  \
+    IniSectionSet##TYPE(pIniSection, STRGW(VARNAME), Settings.##VARNAME);    \
   }
 
 // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -7096,8 +7097,11 @@ void SaveSettings(bool bSaveSettingsNow)
 
   CreateIniFile();
 
-  if (!(s_bSaveSettings || bSaveSettingsNow)) {
-    IniSetBool(L"Settings", L"SaveSettings", s_bSaveSettings);
+  if (!(Settings.SaveSettings || bSaveSettingsNow)) {
+    IniSetInt(L"Settings", L"SettingsVersion", CFG_VER_CURRENT);
+    if (Settings.SaveSettings != Defaults.SaveSettings) {
+      IniSetBool(L"Settings", L"SaveSettings", Settings.SaveSettings);
+    }
     return;
   }
   // update window placement 
@@ -7110,10 +7114,11 @@ void SaveSettings(bool bSaveSettingsNow)
   int const cchIniSection = INISECTIONBUFCNT * HUGE_BUFFER;
   WCHAR *pIniSection = AllocMem(sizeof(WCHAR) * cchIniSection, HEAP_ZERO_MEMORY);
 
-  if (pIniSection) {
+  if (pIniSection) 
+  {
     IniSectionSetInt(pIniSection, L"SettingsVersion", CFG_VER_CURRENT);
-    IniSectionSetBool(pIniSection, L"SaveSettings", s_bSaveSettings);
 
+    SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(Bool, SaveSettings);
     SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(Bool, SaveRecentFiles);
     SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(Bool, PreserveCaretPos);
     SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(Bool, SaveFindReplace);
@@ -7200,9 +7205,10 @@ void SaveSettings(bool bSaveSettingsNow)
     SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(Bool, ViewWhiteSpace);
     SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(Bool, ViewEOLs);
 
-    if (Settings.DefaultEncoding != Defaults.DefaultEncoding) {
-      IniSectionSetInt(pIniSection, L"DefaultEncoding", Encoding_MapIniSetting(false, Settings.DefaultEncoding));
-    }
+    Settings.DefaultEncoding = Encoding_MapIniSetting(false, Settings.DefaultEncoding);
+    SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(Int, DefaultEncoding);
+    Settings.DefaultEncoding = Encoding_MapIniSetting(true, Settings.DefaultEncoding);
+
     SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(Bool, UseDefaultForFileEncoding);
     SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(Bool, SkipUnicodeDetection);
     SAVE_VALUE_IF_NOT_EQ_DEFAULT(Bool, SkipANSICodePageDetection);
@@ -7903,8 +7909,8 @@ int FindIniFile() {
       bFound = _CheckIniFile(tchPath,tchModule);
     }
 
-    if (bFound) {
-
+    if (bFound) 
+    {
       // allow two redirections: administrator -> user -> custom
       if (_CheckIniFileRedirect(MKWCS(APPNAME), MKWCS(APPNAME) L".ini", tchPath, tchModule)) {
         _CheckIniFileRedirect(MKWCS(APPNAME), MKWCS(APPNAME) L".ini", tchPath, tchModule);
@@ -8843,7 +8849,7 @@ void UpdateSettingsCmds()
 {
     HMENU hmenu = GetSystemMenu(Globals.hwndMain, false);
     bool hasIniFile = (StringCchLenW(Globals.IniFile,COUNTOF(Globals.IniFile)) > 0 || StringCchLenW(s_wchIniFile2,COUNTOF(s_wchIniFile2)) > 0);
-    CheckCmd(hmenu, IDM_VIEW_SAVESETTINGS, s_bSaveSettings && s_bEnableSaveSettings);
+    CheckCmd(hmenu, IDM_VIEW_SAVESETTINGS, Settings.SaveSettings && s_bEnableSaveSettings);
     EnableCmd(hmenu, IDM_VIEW_SAVESETTINGS, hasIniFile && s_bEnableSaveSettings);
     EnableCmd(hmenu, IDM_VIEW_SAVESETTINGSNOW, hasIniFile && s_bEnableSaveSettings);
     if (SciCall_GetZoom() != 100) { EditShowZoomCallTip(Globals.hwndEdit); }
diff --git a/src/TypeDefs.h b/src/TypeDefs.h
index beee2555c..c4d3e627e 100644
--- a/src/TypeDefs.h
+++ b/src/TypeDefs.h
@@ -258,6 +258,7 @@ extern GLOBALS_T Globals;
 
 typedef struct _settings_t
 {
+  bool SaveSettings;
   bool SaveRecentFiles;
   bool PreserveCaretPos;
   bool SaveFindReplace;