ConfigurationManager.AppSettings Property   
Definition
Important
Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.
Gets the AppSettingsSection data for the current application's default configuration.
public:
 static property System::Collections::Specialized::NameValueCollection ^ AppSettings { System::Collections::Specialized::NameValueCollection ^ get(); };public static System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollection AppSettings { get; }static member AppSettings : System.Collections.Specialized.NameValueCollectionPublic Shared ReadOnly Property AppSettings As NameValueCollectionProperty Value
The contents of the AppSettingsSection object for the current application's default configuration.
Exceptions
Could not retrieve a NameValueCollection object with the application settings data.
Examples
The first example shows a simple console application that reads application settings, adds a new setting, and updates an existing setting.
using System;
using System.Configuration;
namespace ConsoleApplication1
{
    class Program
    {
        static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            ReadAllSettings();
            ReadSetting("Setting1");
            ReadSetting("NotValid");
            AddUpdateAppSettings("NewSetting", "May 7, 2014");
            AddUpdateAppSettings("Setting1", "May 8, 2014");
            ReadAllSettings();
        }
        static void ReadAllSettings()
        {
            try
            {
                var appSettings = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings;
                if (appSettings.Count == 0)
                {
                    Console.WriteLine("AppSettings is empty.");
                }
                else
                {
                    foreach (var key in appSettings.AllKeys)
                    {
                        Console.WriteLine("Key: {0} Value: {1}", key, appSettings[key]);
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (ConfigurationErrorsException)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Error reading app settings");
            }
        }
        static void ReadSetting(string key)
        {
            try
            {
                var appSettings = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings;
                string result = appSettings[key] ?? "Not Found";
                Console.WriteLine(result);
            }
            catch (ConfigurationErrorsException)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Error reading app settings");
            }
        }
        static void AddUpdateAppSettings(string key, string value)
        {
            try
            {
                var configFile = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.None);
                var settings = configFile.AppSettings.Settings;
                if (settings[key] == null)
                {
                    settings.Add(key, value);
                }
                else
                {
                    settings[key].Value = value;
                }
                configFile.Save(ConfigurationSaveMode.Modified);
                ConfigurationManager.RefreshSection(configFile.AppSettings.SectionInformation.Name);
            }
            catch (ConfigurationErrorsException)
            {
                Console.WriteLine("Error writing app settings");
            }
        }
    }
}
Imports System.Configuration
Module Module1
    Sub Main()
        ReadAllSettings()
        ReadSetting("Setting1")
        ReadSetting("NotValid")
        AddUpdateAppSettings("NewSetting", "May 7, 2014")
        AddUpdateAppSettings("Setting1", "May 8, 2014")
        ReadAllSettings()
    End Sub
    Sub ReadAllSettings()
        Try
            Dim appSettings = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings
            If appSettings.Count = 0 Then
                Console.WriteLine("AppSettings is empty.")
            Else
                For Each key As String In appSettings.AllKeys
                    Console.WriteLine("Key: {0} Value: {1}", key, appSettings(key))
                Next
            End If
        Catch e As ConfigurationErrorsException
            Console.WriteLine("Error reading app settings")
        End Try
    End Sub
    Sub ReadSetting(key As String)
        Try
            Dim appSettings = ConfigurationManager.AppSettings
            Dim result As String = appSettings(key)
            If IsNothing(result) Then
                result = "Not found"
            End If
            Console.WriteLine(result)
        Catch e As ConfigurationErrorsException
            Console.WriteLine("Error reading app settings")
        End Try
    End Sub
    Sub AddUpdateAppSettings(key As String, value As String)
        Try
            Dim configFile = ConfigurationManager.OpenExeConfiguration(ConfigurationUserLevel.None)
            Dim settings = configFile.AppSettings.Settings
            If IsNothing(settings(key)) Then
                settings.Add(key, value)
            Else
                settings(key).Value = value
            End If
            configFile.Save(ConfigurationSaveMode.Modified)
            ConfigurationManager.RefreshSection(configFile.AppSettings.SectionInformation.Name)
        Catch e As ConfigurationErrorsException
            Console.WriteLine("Error writing app settings")
        End Try
    End Sub
End Module
Remarks
An AppSettingsSection object contains the contents of the configuration file's appSettings section.