5  Setting Up R, RStudio, and Positron to Use the Same Configuration Files

A unified and robust configuration setup for consistent R behavior across IDEs

5.1 Intro

When working with R, your environment files (.Renviron and .Rprofile) control how R behaves on startup—what packages it loads, what paths it uses, and how it connects to external resources (like CRAN mirrors or proxies).
However, depending on which IDE you use (RStudio, Positron, VS Code, or command-line R), these files might not always point to the same location.

A clean, unified setup ensures: - Reproducible environments across IDEs.
- Consistent library paths (.libPaths() output).
- Fewer surprises when running automated scripts, R Markdown documents, or package builds.
- Fewer “it works on my RStudio but not on Positron” headaches.

This guide describes the recommended setup for aligning your R environment across IDEs, including RStudio and Positron.

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5.2 Step 1. Choose a canonical R configuration directory

Decide on a single folder that will store your personal R configuration files.
We recommend creating a dedicated folder at the root of your working directory, for example:

C:\WBG\R

Inside that folder, you’ll have:

C:\WBG\R.Renviron
C:\WBG\R.Rprofile

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5.3 Step 2. Create (or update) your configuration files

5.3.1 .Renviron

Create a text file named .Renviron at C:\WBG\R\.Renviron and add your preferred settings:

# C:/WBG/R/.Renviron
R_LIBS=C:/WBG/R/r-packages/%v
R_USER=C:/WBG/R
R_LIBS_USER=C:/WBG/R/r-packages/%v
RENV_PATHS_LIBRARY_ROOT=C:/WBG/R/r-packages/.renv/library
LANG=en_US.UTF-8
TZ=UTC
RENVIRON_LOADED_FROM=C:/WBG/R/.Renviron

This file defines environment variables that R reads at startup — for example, custom library locations, locale settings, or proxy credentials.

5.3.2 .Rprofile

Create a text file named .Rprofile at C:\WBG\R\.Rprofile and add the R code that should run automatically at startup:

# C:/WBG/R/.Rprofile
local({
  r <- getOption("repos")
  r["CRAN"] <- "https://cran.rstudio.com/"
  options(repos = r)
})

# Optional: print which file was loaded (for debugging)
cat(sprintf("[.Rprofile loaded from: %s]\n", normalizePath(sys.frame(1)$ofile, mustWork = FALSE)))

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5.4 Step 3. Tell Windows and R where to find these files

The most reliable method is to set persistent user environment variables using setx, which works even in secure or constrained PowerShell environments (like corporate devices).

Open PowerShell or Command Prompt or Terminal in Vscode (no admin rights needed) and run:

setx R_ENVIRON_USER "C:\WBG\R\.Renviron"
setx R_PROFILE_USER "C:\WBG\R\.Rprofile"
setx HOME "C:\WBG\R"
setx R_USER "C:\WBG\R"

These commands instruct R to always look for .Renviron and .Rprofile in that directory, no matter which IDE you open.

Then close and reopen RStudio, Positron, or any terminal using R.

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5.5 Step 4. Verify the configuration

After restarting R (in any IDE), run the following to confirm the setup:

path.expand("~")
normalizePath("~/.Renviron", mustWork = FALSE)
normalizePath("~/.Rprofile", mustWork = FALSE)
Sys.getenv(c("R_ENVIRON_USER", "R_PROFILE_USER", "R_LIBS_USER", "LANG", "TZ"))

Expected results:

• ~ resolves to C:/WBG/R
• .Renviron and .Rprofile point to the same files in that folder
• Your environment variables (R_LIBS_USER, etc.) are correctly loaded

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5.6 Step 5. Optional cleanup

If you previously had .Rprofile files in other locations (like your Documents or OneDrive folder), remove or rename them by adding a .bak at the end (e.g., .Rprofile.bak). R automatically runs the first .Rprofile it finds, so duplicate files can cause confusion or run twice.

By following this setup, your R environment becomes predictable, portable, and IDE-agnostic — a professional-grade configuration for serious R development.