Storyline Preferences - resetting to default at every start up

Because of what Phil mentions, I make a backup copy of the file that controls those settings. In my case, it is found at C:\Users\[My user name]\AppData\Roaming\Articulate\Storyline\360\Workspace.xml

When I close SL after making a change to one of those things, I go there and make a copy of it. Then if I lose it, I copy the copy and rename that to the original name. I don't worry about saving the original, because if something happens to it, SL creates a new default version.

Of course, this is a good fix only for the occasional loss that Phil describes.  If it is a problem with that file, and it happens every time you close, you want to fix that problem first.