Options, Settings, Properties, Configuration, Preferences — when and why?

Question

There are several words with similar (in some sense) meaning:

Options, Settings, Properties, Configuration, Preferences

English is n

Answer 1

I just did a quick scan and wanted to post this list for reference.

Edge                        Settings
Google Chrome               Settings
Google Chrome DevTools      Settings > Preferences
Mozilla FireFox             Options (about:preferences) > Network Settings
Mozilla FireFox DevTools    Settings > Editor Preferences
Opera                       Settings

DeviantArt                  Settings
Facebook                    Settings, News Feed Preferences
GitHub                      Settings
Google                      Settings
IMDb                        Account Settings > Preferences
Instagram                   Options (aria-label)
JSFiddle                    Settings
StackOverflow               Settings > Preferences
Twitter                     Settings
YouTube                     Settings

FileZilla                   Edit > Settings
GitHub                      File > Options
Notepad++                   Settings > Preferences
VS Code                     Preferences > Settings

Audacity                    Preferences
IcoFx                       Options > Preferences > Options
Process Explorer            Options
TeamViewer                  Tools > Options
uTorrent                    Options > Preferences
Windows Media Player        Tools/Organize > Options

phpmyadmin                  Settings
XAMPP                       Config > Service and Port Settings
                                   > Log Options

MS Word                     File > Options > Proofing > AutoCorrect Options
                                                      > Writing Style Settings

Photoshop                   Edit > Color Settings
                            Edit > Preferences
                            Type > Language Options
                            3D > 3D Print Settings
                            Viev > 32-bit Preview Options
                            Window > Options

Windows                     Settings

Used as the parent (window/choice):

• Settings : 20 times
• Options : 10 times
• Preferences : 4 times
• Config(uration) : 1 time

Total mentions:

• Settings : 24
• Options : 15
• Preferences : 12
• Config(uration) : 1

Based on this, I'd sort these in this order (from general/fixed/app-related to specific/dynamic/user-related):

Settings > Options > Preferences